Teams and organizations continue to explore the implications of rendering the Word according to local communication conventions. In order to craft passages in a meaningful way, translators, artist-creators, and performers need resources to unlock the high points, connections, and other types of meaning embedded in the structures and aesthetic features of the original text. Given that the extant scholarship on Old Testament poetry has not yet been solidified or synthesized for these purposes, we are conducting additional research in the biblical Hebrew text of the Psalms and beginning to develop representative exegetical resources.
In this session we will survey some of the nearly 30 linguistic, aesthetic, and structural features that appear to shape the messages of the Psalms. A synthesis of these features leads towards a clearer understanding of the communicative function and significant connections among sections, lines, and concepts in the text, even potentially clearing up some exegetical issues. After presenting some initial ideas of resources for making these findings accessible to others, we will welcome participants’ input on how this information can best be crafted in order to serve the needs of both written and oral translation and Scripture Engagement projects around the world.