Genesis 6-9

Years ago, I noticed the resemblance between the words arca (ark) and arcus (bow or rainbow) in the Latin Vulgate's account of the flood in Genesis 6-9.  (When the Daily Dose of Septuagint went through these chapters recently, I was following along in Italian and noticed that this holds true there, too:  arca and arco, respectively.)  I thought that this similarity was significant, but it took me a long time to sort it out.

The resemblance between these words helps to highlight that the ark and the rainbow have the same basic function:  showing God's dedication to His people.

First, the ark acts as the literal means of deliverance from the flood for Noah and his family specifically:

"But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you." (Genesis 6:18)

After the flood, the rainbow represents a broader covenant with God:

"I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."  And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:  I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth."  (Genesis 9:11-13)

Galatians 5:17

On the Worship Anew program for the Third Sunday after Pentecost (29 June), the Epistle reading was from Galatians 5, and I noticed verse 17 in particular:

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

The first part of this features a chiasm:

For the desires of the flesh are

against the Spirit,

and the desires of the Spirit

are against the flesh

Such a structure illustrates this opposition.

This chiasm is also in the Greek:

ἡ γὰρ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμεῖ

κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος

τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα

κατὰ τῆς σαρκός

It's maintained in all of the other translations I referenced, too.

German:

Denn das Fleisch begehrt auf

gegen den Geist

und der Geist

gegen das Fleisch

French:

Car la chair a des désirs

contraires à ceux de l'Esprit,

et l'Esprit en a

de contraires à ceux de la chair

The Latin Vulgate:

caro enim concupiscit

adversus spiritum

spiritus autem

adversus carnem

Italian:

Poichè la carne appetisce

contro allo Spirito,

e lo Spirito

contro alla carne

Psalm 35:18, 22

I found a couple minor features in Psalm 35 when I read it in German.

First in verse 18:

Ich will dir danken in großer Gemeinde; unter vielem Volk will ich dich rühmen.

In the ESV, this is:

I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.

The repetition involved in the alliteration of "großer Gemeinde" ("great congregation") and the consonance of "vielem Volk" ("mighty throng" or more prosaically "many people") provides a slight sense of abundance.

Second in verse 22:

HERR, du hast es gesehen, schweige nicht; HERR, sei nicht ferne von mir!

In the ESV, this is:

You have seen, O LORD; be not silent!  O Lord, be not far from me!

As if to demonstrate this distance, "HERR" ("LORD") and "mir" ("me") are at opposite ends of the clause.  This is also true of the Hebrew (אֲדֹנָי and the suffix on מִמֶּֽנִּי):

רָאִיתָה יְהוָה אַֽל־תֶּחֱרַשׁ אֲדֹנָי אֲל־תִּרְחַק מִמֶּֽנִּי׃

the Latin Vulgate ("Domine" and "me"):

vidisti Domine ne taceas Domine ne elongeris a me

and - excepting the vocative "O" - the Italian Bible I've been referencing ("Signore" and "me"):

O Signore, tu hai vedute queste cose; non tacere; O Signore, non allontanarti da me.

Psalm 9:4, 18

When I read Psalm 9 in my German Psalter, I found the same sort of feature that I noticed in Psalm 7:11.  In German, it's in verse 5:

Denn du führst mein Recht und meine Sache, du sitzest auf dem Thron, ein rechter Richter.

But in the ESV, this is verse 4:

For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgement.

To a degree, the repetition of the consonance in "rechter Richter" ("just judge," comparable to the ESV's "giving righteous judgement") lends a sense of orderliness.

As with Psalm 7:11, the corresponding Latin and Italian phrases exhibit alliteration, providing a similar effect (in the Latin Vulgate, it's also verse 5):

fecisti enim iudicium meum et causam meam sedisti super solium iudex iustitiae

Conciossiachè tu mi abbi fatta ragione e diritto; tu ti sei posto a sedere sopra il trono, come giusto giudice.

---&---

A number of qualities highlight the parallelism in verse 19 of the German:

Denn er wird den Armen nicht für immer vergessen; die Hoffnung der Elenden wird nicht ewig verloren sein.

In the ESV, this is verse 18:

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

Vergessen (forgotten) and verloren (lost, comparable to the ESV's perish) alliterate and have the same number of syllables, and the emphasis falls on the same syllable in each (the second).  The similar sounds of the words match the parallel structure in which they appear.

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.