Abstract
The Directory for Masses with Children emphasizes the importance of explaining the readings of the Mass to children. This, according to the Directory, may help children “make the biblical readings their own . . . [and] appreciate better the value of God’s word” (Dicastery for Divine Worship, 1973, para. 47). This note aims to explicate Psalm 145:8-14 in a way that would be comprehensible to young children around five years old.
Explaining this psalm, as well as other readings, entails simplification. There is no use in explaining a complex word, such as sacrifice, through a no less complex word, such as offering. A child who does not understand the meaning of offering will not grasp that of sacrifice either. The simplicity of the language pertains, not only to the vocabulary, but also to their combinations. The words come and be are among the 1,000 most frequent words in English, and children around five years of age know their meanings. It is doubtful, however, that the phrase ‘come into being’ would be understood by these children, as its meaning is idiomatic. Figurative language, which includes idioms and metaphors, is not always semantically transparent to young children, and its use should be limited, if not avoided.
One method that can ensure semantic transparency is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach. NSM has been developed by Anna Wierzbicak, Cliff Goddard, and colleagues for over five decades. It relies on three key constructs: semantic primes, universal grammar, and semantic molecules.
Semantic primes are 65 semantically irreducible and linguaculturally universal concepts. They are so simple that one cannot define them employing simpler concepts. They are also universal, as they have exact equivalents in (nearly) all languages. Their simplicity and universality have been proven through meticulous research and empirical evidence (Goddard & Wierzbicka, 1994, 2002; Habib, 2011; Levisen, 2024; Peeters, 2006; Wierzbicka, 1972, 1985). The following is a list of these semantic primes:
These semantic primes can be combined into phrases and sentences that have exact equivalents in (nearly) all languages, e.g., ‘someone saw something.’ Thus, NSM researchers speak of universal grammar, namely rules that show how semantic primes can be combined in ways that can be expressed by any language without any change in meaning.
Semantic molecules are relatively, but not absolutely, simple concepts. Some of them—such as the word child—can be defined using semantic primes only, while others can be defined using semantic primes and simpler semantic molecules, e.g., woman. Some semantic molecules are universal, and others are language-specific. The word father is universal, while God is language- and culture-specific.
Semantic primes and molecules have been used in the analysis of a wide variety of concepts, including theological concepts and texts (Ameka, 2025; Habib, 2025, 2026; Wierzbicka, 2001, 2019, 2025c, 2025b, 2025a). This note applies NSM to Psalm 145:8-14, which is read on the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Year A) in the Church of England, as well as other Churches. This psalm is one of several acrostic psalms found in the Book of Psalms. Each of its verses begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Like any acrostic poem, this psalm does not develop a certain theme but comprises “loosely connected statements” (Senior & Collins, 2006, p. 784). In what follows, each verse will be presented, followed by a brief commentary and an explication of the verse using NSM.
God is good; there is no one else like him.
He always feels something very good toward all people.
He always wants to do very good things for them.
It can be like this: Very bad things happen to people. When they happen, people feel something very bad. They can’t do anything. When it is like this, God feels something toward these people. Because of it, God does some good things for them. Because of it, these people can feel something very good afterward.
At the same time, it can be like this: When people don’t live like God wants, something very bad happens to them: They cannot live with God anymore. This thing will not happen if these people say something like this to God: ‘We didn’t live like you want. Because of it, we cannot live with you anymore. We feel something very bad because of it. We don’t want it to be like this. We want to live with you. We want to live like you want. We want you to feel something toward us now. We want you to do something for us. Because of it, we can live with you.’
God always feels something good toward everyone, toward everything.
Very bad things can happen to anyone, to anything.
When they happen, God feels something.
Because of it, God does some good things.
Because of it, good things happen to everyone, to everything.
Note that the use of always in the components above is warranted, because as Simian-Yofre and Dahmen (2004, p. 441) point out, “Yahweh’s compassion is as constant as that of a father for his child.”
As for the Biblical Hebrew word bêraḵ (ברך), it means bless when its object is a human being, a thing, or a place, but it means praise when its object is God (Habib & Sakaba, 2025a). Praising God means acknowledging a very good feeling because God is very good and the source of all goodness.
People can live like this: They do good things for other people because bad things happened to these other people; these other people cannot do anything.
I want to think about these people; at the same time, I want to think about you, God.
I want to say this to you, God: ‘You did very many good things. You always do good things. When these people think about these good things, they will want to say this to you: ‘You, God, did all these good things. When we think about them, we feel something very good toward you. We want you to know this.’ At the same time, these people will want to say more: ‘You, God, are someone good; no one else is like you. Because you want, very good things happen to us. Because of it, we feel something very good.’’
These people will want to say this about you, God: ‘God is someone good; no one else is like him. He is a king, not like other kings. He is someone above everyone, above everything. If he wants to do anything, he can do it. If he wants anything to happen, it happens.’
Notably, in the Hebrew Bible, the psalmist shifts from addressing God using the second person singular pronoun to referring to him in the third person singular. The Septuagint—the third-century BC translation of the Bible into Greek—retains the second person singular (Kirkpatrick, 1906, Section 145:12).
These people will want to say this about you, God, to all other people: ‘God does many good things; no one else can do this. God is a king above everyone, above everything. When we think about him, we feel something very very good. We don’t feel like this toward anyone else, toward anything else.
It is noteworthy that the Hebrew Bible does not contain the words equivalent to “The LORD is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds.” These words were added to the Septuagint, 1 and the reason for this addition is as follows. As has been mentioned above, Ps 145 is an acrostic poem, with each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Verse 13 starts with the letter <מ> ‘m,’ and v. 14 should start with <נ> ‘n.’ However, v. 14 starts with the letter <ס> ‘s,’ which—in the Hebrew alphabet—follows the <נ> ‘n.’ The Septuagint translators were aware of this, and they opted for the addition of a sentence whose Hebrew counterpart starts with a <נ> ‘n.’
The Greek sentence starts with the word pistos (πιστὸς) ‘faithful,’ which corresponds to the Biblical Hebrew word ne’ĕmān (נֶאֱמָ֥ן). Jepsen (1974, p. 295) remarks that this Hebrew word is rarely applied to God, but when used, it means that God is a being “on whom one can rely, who keeps his promise.” In simpler language, God’s being faithful to his words means that whatever he says that he will do, he will end up doing. Whatever he promises will happen, he will make it happen.
As for the Greek word hosios (ὅσιος), it is used in the Septuagint to render the Biblical Hebrew word ḥăsîḏ (חֲסִיד) ‘faithful’ (Ringgren & Fabry, 1985, p. 78). This Hebrew word, too, is rarely applied to God. As discussed above, a ḥăsîḏ ‘faithful’ is someone who helps others who are in difficulty and cannot help themselves. Describing God as ḥăsîḏ in all his deeds is tantamount to saying that God’s actions are ultimately directed toward the good of his creatures. This, I would argue, follows logically from the fact that the existence of the whole creation depends on God, who is the source of all goodness.
You are a king, above everyone, above everything. You were always like this; you will always be like this.
It is always like this: When you say: ‘Something will happen,’ it happens. When you say: ‘I will do something,’ you do it.
Everything you do is good for everyone, for everything.
When very bad things happen to people, you always do very good things for them.
Footnotes
1
The addition reads pistos Kyrios en tois logois autou, kai hosios en pasin tois ergois autou (πιστὸς Κύριος ἐν τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὅσιος ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ)