Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Walter Mattfeld" <mattfeld AT mail.pjsnet.com>]

Professor Cumming translates Psalm 132:2 thusly-

"How he sware unto Yahwe,
And vowed to the Bull of Jacob."

I note the RSV and JPS Tanakh render instead of  Bull, Mighty One. My
question to the scholars who frequent this list, where is Cumming getting
the notion "Bull of Jacob" rather than "Mighty One of Jacob" ?  I note that
the Bull was associated with various gods as a symbol of great strength,
power, and might. Does "his translation" have any merit ?

Cumming:

"In the hymns proper, there is no crass representation of Yahwe, but it is
well to recall that Yahwe was not only represented by Bull images at Bethel
and Dan, but is referred to as the 'Bull of Jacob'."
(p.115, Professor Charles Gordon Cumming, The Assyrian and Hebrew Hymns of
Praise, New York, NY, AMS Press, [1934], 1966)

Any comments or observations ?

All the best,

Walter

Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld
Walldorf by Heidelberg
Baden-Wurttemburg
Germany