Thanks all for your contributions! I think that I have created a monster of a thread!!
Regarding the 'possibility' of Psalm 12 referring its meaning to the preservation of words rather than of the 'poor' and 'needy', I will add a little more proof that this verse is NOT teaching the preservation of words. Let me demonstrate this to all, which I will paraphrase from Doug Kutilek's pamphlet and the Hebrew OT text:
Further consideration is in the
usage of the verbs translated "keep" and "preserve". The verb translated "keep" from Hebrew is
shamar. The occurrences of the verb
shamar in Psalms will shed light upon the true meaning of the text in Psalm 12, and I will quote the following verses from the Psalms (KJV):
12:7--Thou shalt "keep" them
16:1--"preserve" me
17:8--"keep" me
25:20--O "keep" my soul
41:2--The Lord will "preserve" him
86:2--"preserve" my soul
** Also see the following verses:
89:28, 97:10, 116:6, 121:3, 121:4, 121:5, 121:7, 121:8, 127:1, 130:3, 140:4, 141:9, 145:20, and 146:9.
If you can see in the preceding verses, the object of the verb
shamar is always a person, people, or group of people, or pertaining to people. The usage of this verb with the object being other than 'person' or 'people' would be foreign in its usage. This verb is consistent with its usage in the Psalms to refer only to people and not to, as some may want to concede, referring to "words" of Psalm 12:6.
Again, the usage of the second verb translated "preserve" (in Hebrew,
natsar) will shed its light upon the consistent meaning of Psalm 12. Consider the following cases of the usage of
natsar in the Psalms:
12:7-- thou shalt preserve them
32:7-- thou shalt preserve me
64:1-- preserve my life
140:1, 4-- preserve me
141:3-- keep the door of my lips
As with the Hebrew verb
natsar ("preserve"), when God is the *subject* of the verb, the object being preserved is 'people' or pertaining to a person or people. The supposition that this is referring to 'words' of verse six is not supported by either of the Hebrew verbs used in translating "keep" and "preserve".
In either case, the verb usage in Hebrew does
NOT reflect the view that Psalm 12:6-7 is referring to God preserving His words, but rather that God is keeping and preserving the 'poor' and 'needy'!
Do you think that your pastor should have a good knowledge of the original languages of the Bible?
[edited]
[ September 19, 2002, 01:19 PM: Message edited by: DocCas ]