How to study 5 languages simultaneously (or, the 3-year Psalms Project)

I feel overwhelmed. How is a girl (or guy, like me) supposed to master five different languages while having to read vast amounts of material just to keep up with doctoral studies?

Here is a proposal. I’m just thinking this one through before making a full commitment. I’m thinking of reading through the entire book of Psalms in three years. Each week will focus on a particular psalm (or portion of a larger psalm). Each morning will devote a half hour to this study, which will go one verse at a time, starting with the Greek, then encountering the Hebrew, Latin, German, French, and English (of course).

Here’s a screenshot from BibleWorks9 so you can see my setup:

 

Looks fun, right?

The best part of this whole exercise (if I can commit), is the tremendous benefit of soaking oneself in the living waters of the psalms. They are packed full of vibrant theology, like a suitcase packed so full of clothing for you trip to England that you can’t even close the zipper. Yeah, you literally have to sit on a psalm and jump up and down on it just to move the zipper one inch. And when you do that, some old sweater your mom gave you pops out the other end.

My point: you can’t contain their rich theology.

That’s what each morning is going to feel like, really. Straining and fighting and sweating through the different languages, all the while getting showered with fresh thoughts of and prayers to God.

And at the end of the week? Well, by that time I should be able to read through that particular psalm in all five languages without too much difficulty.

Even if that old sweater still hangs out.