4. The Style and Translation Technique of The Psalms

Violent or unforgiving language is also toned down, whether by completely changing the meaning (e

Finally, while most alterations have theological implications, sometimes theology seems to be the driving factor, serving either to advance the author’s favourite themes or to bring potentially problematic statements into his theological comfort zone. I will mention three broad types of theological alteration that pervade the translation.

However, the stylistic hallmark of The Psalms is not its linguistic freshening-up, but its genre

(1) Changes aimed at explaining Christology, e.g., TPT Ps b, ‘And they will all declare, “It is finished!”’; TPT Ps 110:1, ‘Jehovah-God said to my Lord, the Messiah’. These changes can become perilous. The softening in TPT of Ps 22:1 – ‘Why would you abandon me now?’ – is explained by an addition to the biblical text in v. 24: ‘He was there all the time.’

(2) Changes that seek to soften extreme statements that modern readers find uncomfortable, such as the psalmist’s claims to be righteous. Here are examples from Psalm 18, NIV (or ESV) > TPT:

• I have kept the ways of the Lord > I will follow his commands (v. 21)
• I am not guilty > I’ll not sin (v. 21)
• I have been blameless > I’ve done my best to be blameless (v. 23)
• [I] have kept myself from sin > keeping my heart pure (v. 23)
• God … made my way blameless (ESV) > you’ve shared with me your perfection (v. 32)

g., TPT Ps 23:5, ‘You become my delicious feast / Even when my enemies dare to fight’), or by spiritualising and blunting the force of the original (e.g., Ps 137:9, ‘Great honor will come to those / Who destroy you and your future, / By smashing your infants / Against the rubble of your own destruction’).

(3) Most troubling are changes that tamper with statements about God, whether it be his attitude towards sin (e.g., TPT Ps 51:4, ‘Everything I did, I did right in front of you’); judgment (e.g., TPT Ps , ‘The haughty you disregard’); or death (e.g., TPT Ps 88:5, ‘They’re convinced you’ve forsaken me, / Certain that you’ve forgotten me completely-/ Abandoned, pierced, with nothing / To look forward to but death’). Sometimes even God’s own character is impugned, e.g., TPT Ps , 26, ‘So you were fed up and decided to destroy them … so you gave up and swore to them’.

In the early 4th century the great Church Father Athanasius wrote a letter commending passionate, Christ-focused, Spirit-filled interpretation of the psalms. But he concluded with the following warning:

There is, however, one word of warning needed. No one must allow himself to be persuaded, by any arguments whatever, to decorate the Psalms with extraneous matter or make alterations in their order or change the words themselves. They must be sung and chanted with entire simplicity, just as they are, so that … the Spirit, Who spoke by the saints, recognizing the selfsame words that He inspired, may join us in them too.’6

Simmons’s style is certainly striking and absolutely contemporary. The book is a treasure trove of one-liners. ‘You are my prize, my pleasure, and my portion’ (16:5); ‘My tears are liquid words, and you can read them all’ (38:9); ‘You call yourself a mighty man, a big shot?’ (52:1). ‘Here’s my story: I came so close to missing the way’ (73:2). ‘Like a river bursting its banks, I’m overflowing with words’ (45:1). Of course, many of these are not part of the text, but there are many vigorous, fresh and accurate translation choices that do faithfully reflect major theological themes, such as ‘Yahweh now reigns as king!’ (Pss 93:1; 97:1).