An Off-Duty Archaeologist Looks at Psalm 23

Home > Magazines > Bible Review > April 1992

The warm welcoming words, gentle pastoral setting, simple lyricism, strong sense of devotion and profound truth of divine love and care have made Psalm 23 one of the best-known and best-loved poems in the world. It is so famous that it has influenced the development of the English language. Transcending time, phrases from the King James Version of the Bible-like “the valley of the shadow of death,” “still waters” and “green pastures”—are so familiar that modern translations are loath to change them. As an archaeologist working in Jordan, I found that many of my “off-duty” observations and experiences […]

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Footnotes

The Revised Standard Version translation is used in this article, with the substitution of “Yahweh,” the Hebrew name of God, where the RSV uses “the Lord.”

Endnotes

See Paul R. Raabe, “Deliberate Ambiguity in the Psalter,” Journal of Biblical Literature 110 (Summer 1991), p. 221.