Dear Amy,
Why should we praise the Lord?
Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for he is beautiful, and a song of praise is fitting.
― Psalm 147:1
To be sure, I am quoting from the ESV alternative translation for that phrase, “for he is beautiful”. The mainline translation is “for it is pleasant”, but that doesn’t seem to me to be such a compelling reason.
It is worth looking into how Bible translation is done, what is the nature of the original language, and how it is that the translators came to the interpretations that are written.
Types of textual footnotes — (1) Footnotes of this kind provide alternative translations for specific words or phrases when there is a strong possibility that such words or phrases could be translated in another way. … In such cases, the translation deemed to have the stronger support is in the text while other possible renderings are given in the note. (2) …
― ESV Bible Explanation of Features
Hebrew pronouns are troublesome! The word translated “he” is the masculine third person pronoun, but this could also mean “it”, referring to the act of singing praises, itself a masculine noun. No wonder Bible translations differ.
How then do we decide on the right translation, the one that honours the Lord and is faithful to what he is saying? And why is it that the ESV translators settled on the mainline of “for it is pleasant”, relegating to a footnote “for he is beautiful”? And furthermore, how is it that I have the cheek to call them out about that as a mistake?!
I considered two factors.
Firstly, what are the other occurrences of the word translated here as pleasant or beautiful, the Hebrew nâ‛îym?
This word is used 14 times in the Old Testament, and I have to admit, mostly to describe a pleasant experience (“The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places” — Psalm 16:6; “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” — Psalm 133:1). Mostly.
But here I deem the second factor to carry more weight, which is, what does the rest of this psalm say? Context is important.
What would we expect in each case? A psalm which starts off with how pleasant it is to praise the Lord could be expected to continue with and expand upon the praise experience. That’s not what happens here.
Instead, our psalm comprises an exposition of the Lord’s character, of his nature, of his deeds. It is entirely about the Lord, the beautiful one. This is why we praise him!
The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.
― Psalm 147:2-6
And so it continues. And it is just like this in Psalm 135, where the same Hebrew word is used. He is beautiful (v3).
While I am grateful to those learned and proficient Bible translators who have made available for us the Bible in language we can understand, I am more grateful to the Lord for how he speaks to my heart through his eternal word.
Praise the Lord, Amy, for he is beautiful! 🙏