Dissertation Studies Milton's Knowledge of Hebrew
Rabbi Jack Goldman, pro-
fessor of English at Macomb
County Community College,
was awarded a PhD in Eng-
lish from the University of
Detroit, following completion
of his dissertation on "Mil-
ton's Knowledge of Hebrew
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unresolved among Milton
scholars—on the basis of his
renditions of the Psalms,
some of which allegedly were
done directly from the He-
brew.
and His Renditions of the
Psalms."
The study of John Milton's
translations of 19 chapters
from the Book of Psalms was
to determine the extent of his
knowledge of Hebrew — a
question long debated and yet
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—
brew at the University of
Detroit in 1966.
Former chairman of the
Hebrew department at Mem-
phis State University, he has
been teaching English at
Macomb since 1967. Rabbi
Goldman also is the college's
Jewish chaplain and is the
rabbinic representative of the
central states region of the
kashruth division, Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congrega-
tions of America.
r-sABRA
Rabbi Goldman explained
that what complicates the
problem of Milton's knowl-
edge of Hebrew is the fact
that there were no Jews in
England during most of Mil-
ton's lifetime (1608-1674).
Jews were expelled from
England in the year 1290,
during the reign of Edward
I. They were not permitted
to return until 1665, long af-
ter Milton had completed his
efforts with the Psalms.
"The mystery that sur-
rounds Milton's Hebrew is,
from whom he could have
learned at a time when there
was no scholarly community
of Jews living in England,"
writes Rabbi Goldman.
"Milton's abiding interest
in the Psalms stems from
the deeply religious Puritan
background in which he was
raised and is evidenced by
the fact that he wrote his
translations in four periods
of his life.
"His first efforts with the
Psalms were in 1624, at age
15. At that time, Milton did
an English paraphrase of
Psalms 114 and 136.
"Ten years later, in 1634,
he returned to Psalm 114 for
a Greek paraphrase. In 1648,
at the height of his political
career. while serving as sec-
retary of state to Oliver
Cromwell, he translated
Psalms 80-88, this time offer-
ing a promise in the head-
note that 'all but what is in
a different Character, are the
very words of the Text, trans-
lated from the Original.'
"These nine Psalms are ac-
companied by marginal notes
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I in which Milton provides a
qualification for his rendi-
tions supported by transliter-
ations of Hebrew words into
Latin letters.
"Finally, in 1653, when he
already was totally blind,
Milton returned to the Psalms
to do a rendition of Psalms
1-s.
is remarkable,"
Rabbi Goldman said, "is that
Milton's psalms seem to re-
veal that he possessed a
knowledge of Hebrew super-
ior to that of the 47 scholars
who collaborated on the King
James version of the Bible of
1611, and of most of Milton's
contemporaries who attempt-
ed a translation of the Scrip-
tures from the originals.
"For example, in several
of the psalms, the psalmist
employs an unusual term
which is obscure because of
its rarity. Most translators
avoid these terms by trans-
literating them. In Psalm
83:7, the psalmist enumer-
ates the enemies of Israel:
`ohalei Edom, veYishmaelim,
Moav, veHagrim,' that is,
`the tents of Edom, the Ish
maelites, Moab and Hagrim.'
'The unusual term here is
`Hagrim.' No nation by that
name is known to have vexed
the nation of Israel during
the reign of King David, or
at any other time, for that
matter. The King James ver-
sion renders the term 'Flag-
arenes.'
"Even the Revised Stand-
ard version, done in 1881, at-
tempting to improve upon
this, offers `Hagrites,' but
neither of these offers an ex-
planation of the term.
"Milton renders the pas-
sage 'them of Hagar's blood,'
thus identifying the term as
a reference to descendants of
Hagar, Abraham's concu-
bine."
In Psalm 87:4, adds Rabbi
Goldman, the psalmist notes
that in the end of days, Is-
rael's ancient enemies will
come to recognize the Al-
mighty. Speaking of them, he
says, 'azkir Rahav u'Vavel
le'yodeai,' that is, 'I will re-
call Rahab and Babylon
among those that know Me.'
"Here, the term 'Rahab' is
obscure. The King James
version and all the other
English translations of the
16th and 17th centuries avoid
the issue by transliterating
the term as `Rahab.' Milton
translates it 'Egypt.'
"What attracts our atten-
tion in these two instances is
that in both of them the ren-
ditions offered by Milton are
identical with the rabbinic
glosses of Rashi, Ibn Ezra,
David Kimchi and the Ara-
maic paraphrase to the
Psalms, the Targum."
Goldman mentioned
that he hopes to publish the
dissertation in commemora-
tion of the tercentenary of
Milton's death next year.
Rabbi Goldman taught the
first course in biblical He-
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