Bay Psalm Book in Metre 1640
5824.BAY PSALM BOOK IN METRE 1640_LOGOS PB.docx
The Bay Psalm Book of 1640 was the first book printed in America.
"It's a book that was not created to be fancy or splendid or valuable in any way other than the significance of its content," says Derick Dreher, the director of Philadelphia's Rosenbach Library, one of the few institutions to hold a Bay Psalm Book. But because the congregation for which it was created literally used the book to death, very few of the copies have survived.
One of the few remaining copies was sold last November for 14.2 million dollars.
"If therefore the verses are not alwayes so smooth and elegant as some may desire or expect; let them confider that Gods Altar needs not our pollishings: Ex. 20. for wee have respected a plaine translation then to smooth our verses with the sweetnes of any paraphrase, and soe have attended Conscience rather then Elegance, fidelity rather then poetry, in translating the hebrew words into english language, and Davids poetry into english meetre…" [Bay Psalm Preface, page 13]
- Format this book as a Bible.
- The title page of the BAY PSALMS found within this Logos Personal Book may be used as a book cover.
- I've carefully checked the Psalms text against two different scans for accuracy but won't admit to perfection. Don't automatically assume a word was misspelled in the digitalized text, the original has numerous spelling variances, sometimes even within a single verse.
- The formatting of each psalm varies widely. I've tried to reproduce the general formatting of each psalm.
- Pages of the original text were not numbered. I've added page numbers to the digitalized text to differentiate where the page changes.
- I've replaced the "long s" (ƒ) in the text with our modern "s" and dismissed the artistic "ct" ligature. I've maintained the sporadic use of the letter "v" in place of "u" (note Ps 29:1, 71:18, and 142:1 where both were used in a single verse) and kept the odd line above some letters which apparently was shorthand for the letter "n" or "m".
- There are a number of psalms that were translated twice within the Bay Psalm Book (51, 85, 100, 117, 133, 138). There is even a verse number not normally found in bibles (50:24).
Comments
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Thank you, thank you, thank you
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Very nice work Rob. Thanks.
Using adventure and community to challenge young people to continually say "yes" to God
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Rob, thanks so much for this.
I found this image online if anyone wants to use it as a cover:
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O how I do love the Psalms!
Thanks so much Rob
Meanwhile, Jesus kept on growing wiser and more mature, and in favor with God and his fellow man.
International Standard Version. (2011). (Lk 2:52). Yorba Linda, CA: ISV Foundation.
MacBook Pro MacOS Sequoia 15.2 1TB SSD
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Beloved said:
O how I do love the Psalms!
Thanks so much Rob
As do I, "Beloved"! *smile* Blessings to all of you and Peace as we continue to enter the Threshold of another Year of Grace!
Thank you Rob! .... and Paul! ... am absolutely delighted! *smile*
would be even happier if someone could explain, please, the meaning of the following ...
"But in the law of Iehovah,
is his longing delight:
and in his law doth meditate,
by day and eke by night." What does "eke" mean, please!?? Can't figure it out although I love Olde English, eh?! Or, at least I think I do! *smile*
Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........
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Milford Charles Murray said:
What does "eke" mean, please!?? Can't figure it out although I love Olde English, eh?! Or, at least I think I do! *smile*
Found this site that says it is obsolete for "also", http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=eke
Wylie, TX
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Brian! *smile* Peace to you! Absolutely perfect! Thank you!Brian Huddleston said:Milford Charles Murray said:What does "eke" mean, please!?? Can't figure it out although I love Olde English, eh?! Or, at least I think I do! *smile*
Found this site that says it is obsolete for "also", http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=eke
Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........
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http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eke#English
seems to agree on the meaning.... unless it is used as a verb or noun...
Adverb
eke
Verb
eke (third-person singular simple present ekes, present participle eking, simple past and past participle eked)
Noun
eke (plural ekes)
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Milford Charles Murray said:
"But in the law of Iehovah,
is his longing delight:
and in his law doth meditate,
by day and eke by night." What does "eke" mean, please!?? Can't figure it out although I love Olde English, eh?! Or, at least I think I do! *smile*
Happy New Year!
Milford,
Grace and Peace
Others have already adequately addressed your question, but, I would like to share that the resource Collins English Dictionary has entries: logosres:cllengdic8;hw=eke;off=0;ctx=~eke$EF$BB$BF1_(i$CB$90k)_vb_tr_archaic_to_increase,_e
or for those who don't have this excellent resource:
eke1 (iːk) vb tr archaic to increase, enlarge, or lengthen [Old English eacan; related to Old Norse auka to increase, Latin augēre to increase]
eke2 (iːk) sentence connector archaic also; moreover [Old English eac; related to Old Norse, Gothic auk also, Old High German ouh, Latin autem but, aut or]
eke out vb tr, adverb 1 to make (a supply) last, esp by frugal use they eked out what little food was left 2 to support (existence) with difficulty and effort 3 to add to (something insufficient), esp with effort to eke out an income with evening work
(2006). Collins English dictionary. Glasgow: HarperCollins.Meanwhile, Jesus kept on growing wiser and more mature, and in favor with God and his fellow man.
International Standard Version. (2011). (Lk 2:52). Yorba Linda, CA: ISV Foundation.
MacBook Pro MacOS Sequoia 15.2 1TB SSD
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Again ... Peace for the New Year! *smile* Thanks again to David and Beloved also! I think my "problem" -- if that's what it is -- is that my personal translation of Psalm 1 -- for me only (!) -- has been for many years - "on His Law doth he meditate both by day and by night .... " I feel very comfortable with that ... ... with the many, many translations I have ... I have never seen anyone else translate it that way ... the "eke" helps me feel a bit more comfortable with my own translation "both by day and by night ..."
The Bay Psalm Book in Metre 1640 seems also to be just a wee bit also of a "commentary" at the same time as a translation,
e.g. v.2
But in the law of Iehovah,
is his longing delight ............ that phrase "longing delight" -- I like it! *smile* where did it come from??? How can I justify that as a translation, and so on ... *smile*
that's why my spiritual ears "perked up" at "by day and eke by night" ...
O.K.! *smile* Back to my meditations on the Instruction of God!
Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........
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Milford Charles Murray said:
just a wee bit also of a "commentary" at the same time as a translation,
This is true of any psalter in metre ... a literal translation will (almost) never naturally be in metre. That is one reason some traditions retained chant despite metrical singing becoming more accessible to the general congregation - and more easily memorized as the population became literate.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Of Course, MJ! Indeed! Thanks so much for your post! How beautiful this PB! I'm truly rejoicing in it - !!! Peace! *smile*
Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........
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Thank you,
I was blessed making this PB.
It was a mix of devotional study and obsessive compulsive work [:)]
I'm in the process of thoroughly checking the work.
No major changes:
- I'm correcting spelling and capitalization
- I'm adding a form of the "ct" ligature (ƈt)
- I'm correcting the direction of the apostrophes
- I'll tighten up the formatting in places.
No timetable (I'd guess a few months) but I'll repost when it is available.
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Peace, Rob! Thanks once again for sharing with us all and enriching our lives! I look forward any "up-dates!" you deem necessary! *smile*
Meanwhile, this is truly one of my "most favourite" PB's!
Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........
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