User Guide

Background

Over the course of developing the content for Psalms: Layer by Layer, several issues have arisen – relating to both the theoretical foundation (theory) and the practical use of the materials in a translation setting (workflow). Some of the methodological approaches followed require considerable explanation and defence, and some need only a brief mention. Regardless, it is important that our approach and position(s) on these issues is clear and placed in the appropriate context for users.

Introducing Psalms: Layer by Layer

Psalms: Layer by Layer (LBL) is an exegetical resource produced by Cambridge Digital Bible Research in collaboration with Bible translation organisations (esp. SIL and the Seed Company). It is designed to meet the unique needs of Bible translation teams and to support their work to produce Bible translations that communicate with clarity and beauty. Layer by Layer is not a translation methodology, but is intended to support existing processes and translation types of all kinds.

Breadth

Since Bible translators cannot skip over difficult verses, LBL offers substantial information for every verse of the Psalter. Each verse is treated from the perspectives of grammar, semantics, discourse, and poetics.

Depth

For most visuals, LBL displays the Hebrew text and a modern language translation (in English, the “Close-but-clear” translation). The biblical text is the focus for every layer of analysis, so it is no more than a click away. For especially difficult or contested issues in the Psalms, LBL provides additional detailed information. For example, the meaning of elohim in Ps. 8:6 receives extensive attention, and users can see the best arguments for and against each view: “The meaning of אלהים in Ps. 8:6.” The aim is to allow interested users to evaluate the evidence themselves and make a well-informed decision before rendering the passage into the receptor language.

Open Access

Layer by Layer videos are freely available to the public through the CDBR Youtube channel. Verse-by-verse Notes and additional exegetical materials are available on the Psalms: Layer by Layer website. They are intended for the benefit of anyone interested in reading and understanding the Hebrew Psalms. The website also contains links to other open-access resources for additional reading. For example, click here to get to know Rinda, Moses, and Sarah, our personas – three fictional yet realistic characters who represent the target audience of LBL.

Visual Presentation

Layer by Layer presents most information visually – including both diagram and video formats – and keeps extended prose to a minimum. This visual format allows non-academic users to assimilate information more quickly and to see patterns in the text more readily. The visual format also allows users with less proficiency in English to engage meaningfully with the material.

3. Theoretical Foundations

The LBL analysis reflects an intentionally interdisciplinary approach to the biblical text, and therefore draws from a number of different hermeneutic and linguistic theories. Because most scholarly theories have something valuable to offer, if kept within the right context, multiple approaches help provide a fuller understanding and avoid the blind spots of any one theory. This section describes each analytical layer and where it fits within the field, explaining the purpose of a given analytical method for interpretation and translation. For practical instructions on how to perform a given methodology, see the LBL Creator Guidelines.

Biblical Text(s)

The textual starting point—from which our preferred reading may diverge—for Psalms: Layer by Layer is the Hebrew text of the Psalms as represented in the manuscript St Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Firkovich Evr. I, B 19a or, as it is commonly referred to, the Leningrad Codex. The text is Public Domain and is sourced from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible 1, which licences its lemma and morphology data under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

The authority of the Westminster Leningrad Codex derives from the reading tradition it represents as well as the means used to to represent this tradition, both of which are a product of the efforts of the mediaeval textual scholars known as the Tiberian Masoretes. The Masoretes worked to preserve the reading tradition of the Jewish scriptures, and, from about 500–900 C.E., developed the system of graphic signs and paratextual notes that most precisely reflect this reading tradition.

One particular convention developed by the Masoretes was a system of notes that recorded the differences that arose between the written text (ketiv) and the way that text was read (qere). These differences are of various sorts, some of which make a significant difference to exegesis and translation, and others that do not. The value of either reading is not consistent; at times, the ketiv is the original reading, whereas other times the qere is original. Whenever a difference betweeb the qere and ketiv is relevant for translation, the meanings and implications of both the qere and ketiv will be detailed in the Verse-by-verse Notes, along with justification for the preferred reading.

Layer by Layer materials reflect the assumption that the Masoretic Text is a valuable textual tradition, but text- critical issues are considered where relevant for Bible translation. Text- critical decisions depend heavily on the work of Dominique Barthélemy.

Superscriptions

Most Psalms begin with superscriptions (also known as psalm titles). Superscriptions include information about (1) genre (e.g., “psalm” [mizmor]), (2) authorship (e.g., “by David”), (3) recipient/addressee (e.g., “for the director”), (4) musical performance (e.g., “on stringed instruments”), and (5) the historical circumstances surrounding the composition of the psalm.

In the Leningrad Codex (as in the earliest extant Hebrew manuscripts), the superscriptions are represented as part of the text. For this reason, adopting the text of the Leningrad Codex as our base text means taking the superscriptions as part of the text. Practically, this means that we attempt to (1) interpret the meaning and function of the superscriptions, and (2) interpret the psalm to which a superscription is attached in light of the information in the superscription.

Unfortunately, much of the information in the superscriptions is difficult to understand. For example, little is known about the various terms used to designate genre, and the meaning and function of the musical notations is obscure. The precise meaning of the phrase which is often translated “For the director/choirmaster” is likewise unclear. However, some of the information in the superscriptions can be understood with confidence and applied to the interpretation of psalms with meaningful implications. For example, the phrase “by David” (ledavid), which heads nearly half of the Psalms, is probably a designation of authorship. This means identifying the “I” of these psalms as David. The historical notes which head several psalms are also exegetically significant, and, where they appear, they play a significant role in our analysis.

Genre and the Influence of Form Criticism

Literary genre refers to a type of written discourse, e.g. a news article, historical fiction novel, or folktale. It reflects the human tendency to group like things together, to categorise, and to find patterns in the world. The importance of genre, however, goes beyond mere taxonomic interest. Because it sets the reader's expectations, it is foundational for effective communication. Genre is, as Kevin Vanhoozer writes, “a covenant, a covenant of discourse.”

Modern research on the Psalms has been deeply influenced by an interpretive method (or set of questions and aims) known as Form Criticism, pioneered by Hermann Gunkel in the early 20th century. Form Criticism grouped similar psalms together by genre (Gattungen) and then reconstructed the cultic setting (Sitz im Leben) that gave rise to each genre. One important assumption of Gunkel’s is that “mixed” forms (i.e. psalms that don’t fit a single genre model) are likely later than the early oral forms, resulting from the move to written literature. While scholars now question many of Gunkel’s conclusions, his approach to categorising the Psalms by literary form remains influential. See the book summary here for more on Gunkel’s approach.

While the LBL creators accept the possibility that many psalms had an oral history and share the assumption that they were used by the worshipping community, the aim of our exegesis is not to reconstruct the spiritual life of ancient Israel based on the texts. Instead, our focus is on the meaning of the texts themselves, using available historical and cultural background information where possible. LBL materials treat superscriptions as part of the received text, so these are considered when they contain interpretive clues. Where a reconstructed circumstance is proposed, the speculative nature of the interpretive framework is clearly indicated (see unit-level semantics Creator Guidelines).