A Book of Psalms: Selected and Adapted from the Hebrew (Paperback)

by Stephen Mitchell (Author) "Blesses are the man and the woman who have grown beyond their hatred and no longer nourish illusions..." (more)
Key Phrases: mercy endures, Unnamable God, Praise God

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Psalm 93God acts within every moment
and creates the world with each breath.
He speaks from the center of the universe,
in the silence beyond all though.
Mighter than the crash of a thunderstorm,
mighter than the roar of the sea,
is God's voice silently speaking
in the depths of the listening heart.

About the Author

Stephen Mitchell attended Amherst, the University of Paris, and Yale. His many books include The Book of Job, Tao Te Ching, Parables and Portraits, The Gospel According to Jesus, A Book of Psalms, Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke, and Genesis. He is married to Vicki Chang, an acupuncturist, herbalist, and healer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (April 8, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060924705
• ISBN-13: 978-0060924706
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #67,051 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Psalms, sort of, May 29, 2001

By	John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Silver Lake, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Psalms in a contemporary idiom, September 28, 1998

By	Mr. William G. Batz (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews

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.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable but for what audience?, August 4, 2002

By	M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.