The most quoted hymn in the Bible is Psalm 23. Yet it contains a translator's mistake often overlooked. The psalm pictures God as a shepherd and human beings as sheep. The sheep "lie down in green pastures"; they graze "beside the still waters". The shepherd arranges everything for the sheep.
But suddenly there is an intrusion: a "table is prepared in the presence of my enemies". Biblical interpreters have labored over that text, proposing a number of scenes that these words depict. But there is no adequate explanation of a table laid out in a meadow..........flat land chosen above a hilly area.
The picture changes when " table" is properly translated. The original meaning is "table land" or "flat meadow". The shepherd prepares the meadow, clearing out the enemies of the sheep, the jackals and snakes and poisonous weeds all for the protection of the sheep.
So God is pictured as providing a safe living place for us, His sheep. The psalm might better read "Thou preparest a safe meadow for us". Then the entire hymn paints a harmonious picture of the Good Shepherd loving and caring for His sheep.
One final word: at the end of the psalm we read that that "goodness shall follow us.....". But the original word is much stronger. That word is better translated "pursue.". The last word, then, is that "goodness shall pursue me all the days of my life." That completes the picture of the Good Shepherd who actively cares for us all our life long.
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