In Ps. 50 in Orthodox literature (Jordanville prayer book, Psalter According to the Seventy, etc.) we find the words: "Against thee only have I sinned and done this evil before Thee, that Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, and prevail when Thou art judged." (v. 4) The KJV and other Bibles translate it differently (Ps. 51:4), saying something like: "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest."
The Contos translation of the Psalms says,
It is You alone I have offended I have done what is evil in your sight. Wherefore You are justified in your charges and triumphant in your judgment.Now I don't comprehend Greek, though I can read it phonetically (for the most part) and do pick up on some common phrases and such, but I cannot say exactly what the Greek is saying here, but what you posted is really the only thing I have against HTM's translations, is that the most literal and "accurate" translation isn't necessarily always the "best", because ",that Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, and prevail
when Thou art judged" simply doesn't make sense to me, an American Native English speaker.
In fact I'm glad you asked this question, because I've never understood that phrase until reading some of the other replies here today....but should I have to go "look up" something in a Greek lexicon when I come across a translation such as this, which to my English speaking mindset simply doesn't make sense? I mean, I'm using English for a reason....if every time some bizarre phrasing or archaic word pops up I have to go "look up what it says in greek" to me that defeats the whole purpose of using English to begin with.
I'm not bashing HTM's stuff, because I really do think they have the best translations out there, generally speaking....I use their prayerbook at home, and use Fr. Ephraim's musical setting in Byzantine notation at the cantors stand, so it's great work....but ocassionally, particular in the Psalms, I come across stuff like that phrase and it just doesn't work for me.
Now that I know what it means and the context of the Greek, then yeah I think I'll have a better understanding, but for "praying" the Psalms at home, I prefer what I'm used to, the Contos translation which we use in all our service books at Church, and while it might be a looser translation, it appears to be getting the point the Greek is making, and bringing to a native English speaker like me. And of course the KJV/NKJV which most of us are at least fairly familiar with. (can anyone really "pray" the 23 Psalm in anything but KJV? I sure can't. Study is one thing, prayer is something else.
Anyways, great topic which I'm glad you brought up, as you weren't the only one who thought that "God being judged" sounded a little weird.
