PSALM 12
“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.” (Psalm 12:6-8)
Psalm 12 is an important Psalm in that it is the Psalm that tells us that God promises to preserve his Word, and it alerts us that it was purified seven times. It is not at all surprising that one of history’s worst Bible perverters, the Jesuit Dahood, would pervert this verse.
The following contortion of these verses from one of Dahood’s volumes of the Anchor Bible show how thoroughly these corrupters of God’s Word have perverted the very verses that warn them not to do so, and which warn others to stay clear of those who do.
6 (7) The promises of Yahweh are promises unalloyed, silver purged in a crucible, of clay refined seven times.
7 (8) You, O Yahweh, have protected us, you have guarded us from everlasting, O Eternal One.
8 (9) On every side the wicked prowl, digging pits for the sons of men.1
The word that Dahood has rendered as promises is a common word for ‘word’ in Hebrew, and even more common in Aramaic. It never occurs in the Bible with the meaning of promise, although God’s word to man may, by extension be viewed as a promise. The reason that this Jesuit chose ‘promises’ is obvious. This an attempt to conceal a warning against tampering with God’s Word, but it also, probably without Dahood’s knowledge, hides the significance of the fact that the King James Bible is the seventh English Bible translation from the original languages
God’s warning not to exult wicked men makes verse 8 a very important verse, and one that needs to be heeded today more than ever. Dahood, like most modern scholars, theologians, and “Christian” celebrities, wished to be exulted above God’s word, so he felt uncomfortable with the way it reads. This is how he explains his emendation.
“digging pits. The translation is problematical. Reading (for MT kerüm zullüt) infinitive absolute krh mezolt. The verb krh “to dig,” is well known, but the verb mzl, evidently related to nzl, “to fall,” is hypothetical. Cf. UT, krt:99-100, ‘wr mzl ymzl, a disputed clause, but which in view of Matt xv 14 might be rendered, “The blind man falls into the ditch.” In Qumran Hodayot, 11.5, the phrase mzl ‘spty may possibly mean “the flow of my lips,” from mzl, “to fall.” She Gregorianum 43 (1962), 78.”2
In other words, we are to invent a new verb for Hebrew based on a hypothetical verb in two other languages, and then use this hypothetical verb to take a perfectly understandable and profound verse, and convert it into one that makes less sense. Think of how much fun Bible perverters could have with this technique. No further commentary is necessary. The only pit in this verse is the one into which Dahood has dug himself.
For the record, I have not forgotten verse 7. That article will be much too large to include here. It will be coming later.
1 Dahood, Anchor Bible Psalms I, p. 72.
2 Dahood, Psalms I, p. 75.
John Hinton, Ph.D.
Bible Restoration Ministry
A ministry seeking the translating and reprinting of KJV equivalent
Bibles in all the languages of the world.