TRENCH ON PROVERBS.
(Vol. viii., p. 387.)
I hope that neither Mr. Trench nor his critic E. M. B. will consider me interfering by my making an observation or two on the correct rendering of the latter part of Ps. cxxvii. 2. Mr. Trench is perfectly correct by supposing an ellipsis in the sentence alluded to, and the words
יִתֵּן לִידִידוֹ שֵׁנָא
should have been translated, "He will give to his beloved whilst he [the beloved] is asleep." The translation of the authorised version of that sacred affirmation is unintelligible. Mr. Trench has the support of Luther's version, which has the sentence thus:
"Seinen Freunden giebt er es schlafend."
The celebrated German Jewish translator of the Old Testament agrees with Mr. Trench. The following is Dr. Zunz's rendering:
"Das giebt er seinem Liebling im Schlaf."
The following is the Hebrew annotation in the far-famed Moses Mendelsohn's edition of the Book of Psalms: