The NoTEBOOK

The Liturgical Year for the Jerusalem Orthodox Church begins on the third holiest feast of the year, Theophany (commonly called "Epiphany"). Because the Liturgical Day begins at sunset the previous evening, Theophany Vespers are the first reading. The very familiar "Psalm 23" (we called it "22") is read aloud. A quick translation from the Clementine Vulgate reads something like this:

PSALM 23

1 The   Psalm of David.
 OUR Lord rules me, and nothing shall be wanting to me:
 2 in place of pasture there he has placed me.
 Upon the water of reflection he has brought me up:
 3 he has converted my soul.
 He has conducted me upon the paths of justice, for his name.
 4 For, although I shall walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not fear evils: because you are          with me.
 Your rod and your staff: they have comforted me.
 5 You have prepared in my sight a table, against them that trouble me.
 You have fatted my head with oil: and my chalice inebriating: how goodly is it! 

6 And your mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
 And that I may dwell in the house of our Lord, in longitude of days. 

Just to show you how we exegete an Old Testament passage, let's dive a little deeper, with the assistance of the Hebrew Old Testament called the Masoretic Text, and the Greek Old Testament, called the Septuagint. We'll also need to keep the Clementine Vulgate (Latin) of 1550 at hand. Generally speaking, the Septuagint was the Bible of Jesus, and the one we all used. They didn't even have the Masoretic text until more than 100 years after Yeshua died, and the main purpose behind it was to scrub out references as much as possible which could point to Him as their Messiah!

First we want to see if there are any glaring examples that can be tightened up. The Hebrew word   יַרְבִּיצֵנִי (yarbitseni)  is causative, so we'll change to "he allows me to lie down in lush pastures." (Though the Hebrew would also lend itself to "tender grass." The Greek word is even better translated this way than the traditional "green pastures," so it warrants adding to the passage, even if this is more dynamic equivalence than is usually used in serious exegesis. 

In the next passage, the Septuagint tells us that (through  αναπαύσεως ), "waters of rest." In the Hebrew,  מְנֻחוֹת implies the waters are at a "resting place." The Hebrew  נַפְשִׁי (nafshi) is almost always translated "soul" (though the Greek has "life," and the accompanying verb  שׁוּב [shuv]  means to refresh or strengthen. Conversion of soul is the most epic expression of "restoration," the most literal version, and syncs up with the Septuagint's  επέστρεψεν  meaning returned. "Conducted" implies being led, but is more so than that, almost a project managing, or a "herding" like a train conductor has to do...there is so much more to being led than following someone in a given direction. At the very least,  ωδήγησέ  in the Greek version means "guided." The "right" or "correct" paths were tempting to translate, "orthodox paths," but it probably isn't worth the high chance of being misunderstood. 

Looking a little closer at the Hebrew,  לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ (lmaʿan shmo) has more of a "for the sake of his name" connotation, so we'll add those couple words. The Greek Septuagint has evils pluralized (κακά), so unlike the King James Version ("fear no evil"), we'll be sure to add that "s." 

At the end of verse 5,  רְוָיָה (rvayah) indicates a chalice so full it can contain no more, guaranteed to satiate the thirst with its "new wine." In the Greek we see that the cup is "intoxicating" (μεθύσκον). I'll add the word "active" before "mercy" in the last verse, seeing as  חֶסֶד (khesed) is indicating an emotion, but almost something more, as a works-producing-passion. Where the "goodness" comes from in the King James translation in their rendering "goodness and mercy," I'm not sure...but then again, the KJV translators did a lot of questionable things in their Bible translation efforts. A Lot! Also in the last verse, I'll tweak follow to read "pursue," so as to reflect the verb  רָדַף (radaf) connotation of "chasing," which is also the meaning of the Greek word there, "καταδιώξει." So you can see, the Hebrew and Greek did have something, a little at least, to offer the rough translation from the Latin. (The Vulgate is considered the most authentic to the original Scriptures because Jerome was translating only three centuries into the Church, and was able to access many manuscripts which have since been lost to time (though for the Gospels, there are many places the Peshitta deserves primacy, since both it and the words spoken in much of the Gospels, for instance, were in Aramaic). 

Our Liturgical year begins with what is undoubtedly the most-loved Old Testament passage throughout the entire Church, and after a light analyzation of the original texts in their ancient languages, the resulting reading for Psalm 23 ends up being:

1 The   Psalm of David.
 OUR Lord rules me, and nothing shall be wanting to me:
 2 He allows me to lie down in lush pastures of tender, green grass.
 Upon the quiet water of reflection he has brought me up to rest:
 3 he has converted my soul.
 He has conducted me upon the paths of justice, for the sake of his name.
 4 For, although I shall walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not fear evils: because you are          with me.
 Your rod and your staff: they have comforted me.
 5 You have prepared in my sight a table, against them that trouble me.
 You have fatted my head with oil: and my chalice inebriating: how good is it! 

6 And your active mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life:
 And that I may dwell in the house of our Lord, in longitude of days. 

I just wanted to give you an example of how exegesis is conducted on our Scripture for liturgical reading (also called a "Liturgical Bible,"), but we won't do that with every verse used in the Sacred Scriptures. The next reading, taken from the Gospel of Luke, is the first Gospel reading of the year. 

Allelulia...Alleluia...O shepherd of Israel, hear, you who lead...Alleluia...Alleluia

The Gospel according to Luke...Glory to you O Lord, Glory to you.

8. And there were in the same country shepherds watching and keeping the night watches over their flock.
9. And Behold! An Angel of our Lord stood beside them, and the brightness of God did shine round about them, and they feared with a great fear. 

10. And the Angel said to them, “Don’t fear: for behold I evangelize to you great joy, that shall be to all the people:
11. Because this day is born to you a SAVIOR which is Christ our Lord, in the city of David.

12. And this shall be a sign to you; you shall find the infant swaddled in clothes: and laid in a manger.”
13. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the Heavenly army, praising God, and saying, 

14. “Glory in the highest to God: and in earth peace to men of good will.”
15. And it came to pass: after the Angels departed from them into Heaven, the shepherds spoke to one another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see what this word is done, which our Lord has showed to us.
16. And they came with speed: and they found MARY and Joseph, and the infant laid in the manger.
17. And seeing it, they understood of the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child.
18. And all that heard, did marvel: concerning those things that were reported to them by the shepherds.
19. But MARY kept these words, protected[1] them in her heart.
20. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God in all things that they had heard, and seen, as it was said to them. 

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!

[1] Or, “kept, preserved.” Douay-Rheims reads, “conserving.” From Latin conservare.