Psalm 57:2 and Providence

[Stephen L Smith]

I am reading John Flavel's The Mystery of Providence with great spiritual profit. Much of the book expounds Psalm 57:2 in the KJV " I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me." The Geneva Bible and the NKJV say something similar.

However I noticed that the ESV (and some other modern translations) read " I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me."

I was wondering which is the better translation of the original- "performeth all things for me" or "fulfills his purpose for me". Just curious

 

[iainduguid]

There's no text critical issue; the issue is simply the translation of the word gamar, which means "to come to an end, bring to an end, complete", or according to HALOT "avenge", You'll notice that the KJV has "all things" in italics, since the object of the verb is not specified in the Hebrew; modern translations have similarly added "his purpose" to make sense of it. The alternative (noted in the CSB footnote) "he avenges me" requires no object and forms a nice parallel for the following verse "he will put to shame him who tramples on me", so is probably to be preferred as a translation. Of course Rom 8 asserts that God works all things for God for his people, so you could still legitimately make that point from the Bible, even if not from this verse.

 

[MW]

I was wondering which is the better translation of the original- "performeth all things for me" or "fulfills his purpose for me". Just curious

The phrase is גֹּמֵר עָלָי.

The basic meaning of גמר is to complete, finish, bring to an end, accomplish, perfect. עָלָי = "upon me," "concerning me," "on my behalf." So the literal sense is God who completes/accomplishes for me. This explains the literal rendering in the tradition.

To include the word "purpose" is to fill out the sense in terms of what is being accomplished. One will note in Flavel's exegesis that he gives different options for how it could be filled out. In the end he goes with "promise." Either way, this is a theological inference, not a lexical one. The Hebrew does not contain the word "purpose" or "promise." Flavel's reference to Piscator is probably the closest to the mark, where the immediate context speaks of mercy and truth. As Flavel notes, these are related to the concept of "promise."

Modern comparative studies have demonstrated other affinities in the ANE context. I think it is Dahood who sees it in terms of avenging. One study I have read suggests the Annihilator, drawing on storm-god ideas. This type of thing can be endless and "accomplish" nothing (pun intended). As the pool of linguistic possibilities widens it only gives more power to the exegete to be the determining factor in arriving at the meaning of a text.

 

[Stephen L Smith]

gamar, which means "to come to an end, bring to an end, complete

basic meaning of גמר is to complete, finish, bring to an end, accomplish, perfec

Thank you for these insights. I wondered if Phillipians 1:6 was alluding to this. The ESV and the CSB read 'bring it to completion'.

Piscator is probably the closest to the mark, where the immediate context speaks of mercy and truth. As Flavel notes, these are related to the concept of "promise."

Yes I saw these comments by Flavel. Note that Flavel starts his quote "unto God that performeth his kindness and mercy". Throughout this page (page 18 in The Mystery of Providence) Flavel emphasises that the most strict and proper notion of Providence is the performance of God's gracious purposes and promises to his people.