This is a comparison of Mary Herbert's rendering of Psalm 52 with the King James Version (KJV) and New Living Translation (NLT). Unless comparing the words of the translations, Herbert's words will be used.
The passage begins to chide someone. Herbert calls him a "tyrant", the KJV calls him a "mighty man" and the NLT calls them a "great warrior". Herbert's "tyrant" more aptly depicts the subject of the psalm. It asks him why he "swell'st [thou thus,] Of mischief vaunting? Since help from God to us is never wanting." She then goes on to say that the tongue's lies are "sharper than the sharpest knives," and "with lies it woundeth." The other two translations liken lies to a "sharp razor". She poetically states, "Falsehood thy wit approves, All truth rejected: Thy will all vices loves, Virtue neglected." She says God will "displace", …show more content…
The KJV says "God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living." The NLT says God will "strike [him] down once and for all" and also that he will be pulled out of his home and uprooted from the land of the living. They say the righteous people will see all this, laugh at him and say (in the words of Herbert), "Lo, lo, the wretched wight, Who, God disdaining, His mischief made his might, His guard his gaining." The line "His mischief made his might" is alluding to the second line of the psalm say that he boasts "of
The passage begins to chide someone. Herbert calls him a "tyrant", the KJV calls him a "mighty man" and the NLT calls them a "great warrior". Herbert's "tyrant" more aptly depicts the subject of the psalm. It asks him why he "swell'st [thou thus,] Of mischief vaunting? Since help from God to us is never wanting." She then goes on to say that the tongue's lies are "sharper than the sharpest knives," and "with lies it woundeth." The other two translations liken lies to a "sharp razor". She poetically states, "Falsehood thy wit approves, All truth rejected: Thy will all vices loves, Virtue neglected." She says God will "displace", …show more content…
The KJV says "God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living." The NLT says God will "strike [him] down once and for all" and also that he will be pulled out of his home and uprooted from the land of the living. They say the righteous people will see all this, laugh at him and say (in the words of Herbert), "Lo, lo, the wretched wight, Who, God disdaining, His mischief made his might, His guard his gaining." The line "His mischief made his might" is alluding to the second line of the psalm say that he boasts "of