Psalms 147:10: “He delighteth not in the strength of horses; he takes no pleasure in the legs of man.”

 

This afternoon I listened to an amazing story told by a woman who related how she became a Christian as a teenager and was just so in love with God and was desperate to know what to do to please God.  This lead her to attend a church where she really felt the presence and power of God being manifested.  Being a new Christian she naturally followed whatever this pastor taught.  I mean this pastor obviously spoke the truth of God otherwise there would not have been the demonstration of the power of prayer and manifestation of the presence of God.  The pastor of this church was a strong charismatic preacher who kept her little empire together by exercising strong control over her congregation and held the final say in how Scripture was to be interpreted. When this young woman reached the age of 22 it was considered time for her to marry. Of course she could only marry someone who was a member of her church and a couple men had stepped forward quite anxious to have the honors of being her husband, but this pastor rejected each one. Finally a young man who was a new Christian himself was deemed a proper mate for this young woman and they got married.  This young woman really could not say she was in love with this man, only that her pastor convinced her it was God’s will and wanting to please God she married this man who turned out to be abusive, a drug addict and alcoholic who stoled the family’s finances to feed his addictions.  Of course following a strict interpretation of Scripture divorce was out of the question in her church.

 

I met this woman today who is now divorced and freed from this controlling church and pastor. She is today at peace with her world and with God. She has two grown children, one who has a promising career and will be married in a few weeks to a woman that he chose and is in love with, although he is not really a believer.  At the end of this story it was almost like I could see this person now in her early fifties as a young woman who only wanted to please God and found herself in years of abuse and heartbreak because of a controlling pastor fearful of losing her congregation and putting her own spin on Scripture to maintain control.  Even today this woman pointed to a passage of Scripture and said, “but that is what it says, you can’t ignore that.”  She still struggles with much of the teaching of this pastor.  Yet, I can look at that passage in the Greek and Aramaic, I can point to different commentaries and read a number of different interpretations.

 

Such an exchange by experts of ancient languages and Biblical scholars is not uncommon. Such give and take was and is very common among Jewish rabbis as they study the Holy Scriptures, for they are also experts in the Hebrew language and understand the difficulties of translating an ancient language.   Most rabbis do not trust English translations of the Bible, because they know it can be the result of one man’s or one group’s opinion and that translation could be just as bias as the translation of one pastor trying to control her congregation.  That is why we have over 110 modern English translations of the Bible and more coming.

 

I would like to hold out as an example Psalms 147:10. The KJV renders this passage as “He delighteth not in the strength of horses, he takes no pleasure in the legs of man.”   I have read a number of commentaries on this passage with varied interpretations.  It seems the most common understanding is that horses were considered in that day to be the most beautiful animals in existence and the legs of a man that have been properly conditioned were a thing of beauty but God does not take pleasure in such natural beauty.  Since that is the most common understanding, it is the accepted as the proper understanding and if anyone thinks differently then woe to them for they are heretics.

 

I am not a brilliant linguist; and still I can challenge the renderings of three words: bigeburath from the root word gavar which is rendered as strength, the word yechepats from the root word chapats which is rendered as delight and the word yaretseh from the root word ratsah which is rendered as pleasure.

 

I would suggest that the word for delight chapats in its context would suggest a bending toward or inclining before.  In other words God is not saying that He does not delight in the strength of horse, I mean how could He say such a thing when He created the horses strength in the first place. It would make more sense to use the alternative rendering and  say that He will not bend, incline or yield to the strength of horses.  In context I would not use gavar as strength but its secondary usage as mastery or control over horses.   Finally, I do not see God as not taking pleasure over man’s legs, but I would view the word ratsah which is rendered as pleasure in its secondary meaning which is an association.

 

Thus, I would respond to the KJV rendering by saying: “No, in context it would be more like: ‘I will not yield to the mastery or control over horses nor do I associate with the strength of man’s legs.”

 

You see I am not using any secret devices, just exercising good hermeneutics and examining the context which gives me a different understanding than many commentators.  The context shows that David is faced with a threat from the Assyrian nation.  The Assyrians have the most powerful army in the world.  They were considered invincible because they had the strongest and largest war chariots than any other nation.  They spent 20 years breeding horses that were powerful enough and wild enough to pull these chariots and about the same amount of time training warriors and building the leg and arm strength of warriors to control or master these horses so they could be the charioteers.

 

I am not saying the KJV is in error in its translations for indeed, they have chosen English words which match the Hebrew words, but we must be aware that there are other options out there to choose from and the writers of the KJV version did not have the benefits of recent archeological discoveries which revealed the nature of the ancient Assyrian war horses or chariots.   Had they had 21st Century knowledge, I have no doubt they would have tweaked their translation and instead of using English words which suggest that God takes no pleasure in the beauty of horses and man’s legs, they would have used words which express that God will not yield even to the most powerful weapons on the face of the earth nor its strongest warriors. You don’t need a seminary education to see this, google this information, it is right at your finger tips.

 

Had this woman as a young Christian been encouraged and taught how to study the Scriptures,  and guided in her dependence upon the Holy Spirit to reveal His truth to her rather than to accept the teaching of one person her life might have been very different.  Just because someone seems to manifest the power of God and can perform signs and wonders does not mean we check our brains at the door and believe all they have to say.  The credibility comes from the Holy Spirit not signs and wonders.

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