Sunday, November 23, 2025

Psalm 7:11

As I've been going through my German Psalter, I've found many instances of the same minuscule features.  I'm going to keep them divided by Psalm as I write about them, however, even though this arrangement will result in multiple short posts that may be repetitive and perhaps even insignificant.

In the German Psalter, Psalm 7:12 is "Gott ist ein gerechter Richter und ein Gott, der täglich strafen kann."  In the ESV, this is verse 11:  "God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day."

The phrase "gerechter Richter" ("righteous judge") exhibits consonance, and to a degree, the repetition of these sounds provides a sense of the orderliness involved.  A similar effect is achieved with alliteration ("just judge") in the NKJV:  "God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day."

Last month, the Daily Dose of Hebrew went over this verse (it's verse 12 in the Hebrew):


Before I watched the video, I read the verse in Latin and Italian (I've been referencing this Italian Bible from 1894) and noticed that the corresponding phrases alliterate in these languages, too:
Deus iudex iustus et fortis comminans tota die

Iddio è giusto giudice, e un Dio che si adira ogni giorno.