Customer Reviews

A Book of Psalms: Selected and Adapted from the Hebrew

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When you open to Psalm 1 and find that it begins: "Blessed are the man and the woman / who have grown beyond their greed," you know that this is not your fathers' Psalter.

Fair enough. Stephen Mitchell gives fair warning in his title (it's "a," not "the" Book of Psalms) and his short introduction (in which he states his intent to "[s]ing to the Lord a _new_ song" by following the spirit rather than the letter).

And like all of Mitchell's work, these are lovely poetic renderings. But be aware that quite a few of them are (or at least include) improvisations that depart radically from the original text. Then, too, the local references to Jerusalem and/or the Temple have been erased and replaced with more universal allusions. (Other portions of the text are rendered even more politically correct.)

My biggest beef is that Mitchell has turned most of the "complaining" Psalms (when he includes them at all; there are only fifty "psalms" in this volume) into statements of spiritual acquiescence. And he characterizes that acquiescence itself in terms that are foreign to the Psalms: e.g. Psalm 133's "my heart is not proud" is Buddhized to "my mind is not noisy with desires."

But it's excellent poetry, and Mitchell at least has the good sense not to stray too far from the text when he renders perennial favorites like Psalm 23.

As poetry, then, this book is one of Mitchell's better works. Just don't expect the biblical Psalms.

Regrettably this author only treats us to a selection of psalms, not the whole psalter, but his translation from the Hebrew into contemporary idiom is strikingly beautiful, as one might expect from a poet. This book opened my eyes to new meanings in some of my favorite psalms.

Imagine the Tao Te Ching translated into Islamic terms, the Rg Veda reworked as a Judaic text, the Diamond Sutra translated as a Christian text; you are imagining something similar to these reworkings of the Psalms by Stephen Mitchell. While Norman Fischer in his Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms tried to translate the psalms into the universal religious concepts shared with Zen Buddhism, Mitchell recreates the psalms with Zen-specific terminology and contemporary scientific terminology which may clash with the images of the original psalms.

Example: from Psalm 148 "Praise him, you bodhisattvas, / you angels burning with his love. / Praise him in the depths of matter; / praise him in atomic space. / Praise him, you whirling electrons, / you unimaginable quarks."

The result is a set of poems which are sometimes "selected & adapted" as the book title implies, but which are often "inspired by". In those poems which speak from a consistent viewpoint, in which the mix of Judaism, Zen and science does not clash, there are excellent poems - the quality and sensativity one associates with Mitchell. Otherwise, this is one of his weaker efforts. It may be read as poetry but does not serve as a way into the psalms.

Year after year, people have come to the Psalms in their spiritual quests. Here, the author adds one more layer of experience and tradition to the unnumbered people who have added their own input to the historic tradition. For people looking for a fusion with eastern thought, this could be helpful. Also, there is a rich variety of resources on the psalms interconnecting with tradition and experience, particularly those written or editted by Stephen Breck Reid

Disappointing Taoist Buddhist Interpolation.
This is Stephen Mitchell's Psalms inspired by David.
that is ok, but lets be clear about it.
Mitchell's trans of Rilke are superb, a god-send.

i loved it. reading the bible always makes me feel spanked. mitchell has done with the psalms what G did for moveable type. something about universal accessibility.

This book was first given to me as a gift and I in turn have given copies as gifts many times. It is uplifting and joyful. It is perfect for someone suffering from a loss too. This is my favorite collection and translation of the psalms. Highly recommended

The author writes:"I have translated fairly closely where that has been possible; but I have also paraphrased, expanded, contracted, deleted, shuffled the order of verses and freely improvised on the themes of the originals.". This was not bad devotional free verse poetry but to call it specifically a translation of the book of psalms is very misleading. King James version and JPS have done it better. It is more inspired from the book of psalms than an actual translation. I give it a pass.

I love this book and the service was great. I jsut wish Stephen Mitchell chose to use inclusive languauge.