(Vol. viii., p. 387.)
I hope that neither Mr. Trench nor his critic E. M. B. will consider me
interfering by my making an observation or two on the correct rendering of
the latter part of Ps. cxxvii. 2. Mr. Trench is perfectly correct by
supposing an ellipsis in the sentence alluded to, and the words
[Hebrew: YTN LYDYDW SHN']
should have been translated, "He will give to his beloved whilst he [the
beloved] is asleep." The translation of the authorised version of that
sacred affirmation is unintelligible. Mr. Trench has the support of
Luther's version, which has the sentence thus:
"Seinen Freunden giebt er es schlafend."
The celebrated German Jewish translator of the Old Testament agrees with
Mr. Trench. The following is Dr. Zunz's rendering:
"Das giebt er seinem Liebling im Schlaf."
{520}
The following is the Hebrew annotation in the far-famed Moses Mendelsohn's
edition of the Book of Psalms:
[Hebrew: YTNHW HQB-H LYDYDW 'SHR HW' CHPTS BW B`WDNW YSHN WBLY MRCHH:]
"The holy and blessed One will give it to his beloved, in whom He delights,
whilst he is yet asleep and without fatigue."
I need not adduce passages in the Hebrew Psalter, where such ellipsises do
occur. E. M. B. evidently knows his Hebrew Bible well, and a legion of
examples will immediately occur to him.