Welcoming-Dawning

שָּׁמַיִם, מְסַפְּרִים כְּבוֹד-אֵל; וּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדָיו, מַגִּיד הָרָקִיעַ.

יוֹם לְיוֹם, יַבִּיעַ אֹמֶר; וְלַיְלָה לְּלַיְלָה, יְחַוֶּה-דָּעַת.

אֵין-אֹמֶר, וְאֵין דְּבָרִים: בְּלִי, נִשְׁמָע קוֹלָם.

בְּכָל-הָאָרֶץ, יָצָא קַוָּם, וּבִקְצֵה תֵבֵל, מִלֵּיהֶם;

Psalm 19:2-4, Hebrew

The welcoming dawning are the ones declaring Glorious-God

and broadcasting intimate handicraft.

Gathering-light, overflows in joy with Displaying-God speech,

and even the dangerous darkness demonstrates God’s-know-how.

Without human speech or human language, these proclaim!

And their words trail off to the distant horizons of the earth.

Psalm 19:2-4, English - mechanical

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English is a precise language; its aim is to dissect whatever to which it applies itself. Conversely, Hebrew is an evocative language; its aim is to effervesce life itself. Hebrew is a deeply connotative, discursive, and emotive expression of people’s actual relationships with the world around them. When you compare modern English translations of the Hebrew Bible it is hard to believe that you are even talking about the same thing.

In the creation account found in Genesis 1, the English translation of boqer as morning, while not literarily incorrect, misses the intent of the Hebrew who wrote it. Thinking back to life as it was lived four thousand years ago, the Hebrew word innately conveys the joy that accompanies the arrival of daylight after the uncertainty and dread of what can happen in darkness, ...and there was welcome dawning that arose on that first day, is how we should read it.

Likewise, Psalm 19 (above) is an inspired song that pours out of someone's heart whose intuition links them to this same blessing of light, and which lifts them out of themselves. Far from being a nature-based religion it nevertheless rejoices(!) that they will once again be cared for and know God today because it is in the dawning itself the world that God arrives and is faithful to them personally. Through this they emotively know their place in the world and are anchored in it. They are integrated and fully human. This welcoming-dawning is a singular reality, but it is so spectacularly magnanimous that it is stated in the plural, and hence the above translation is not a misprint, the welcoming dawning are the ones.

Hebrew, this very earthy, tangible, and real language, makes our hearts leap at the possibilities of encountering the-God-of-glory on earth. The world, God, life, is so much more intimate than we can ever dissect with our words. It is a gift that can only be received by stripping ourselves of our thoughts and simply receiving it simply. The welcoming dawning are the ones declaring Glorious-God...