Masoretic Text vs. Original Hebrew?
I am not completely sure, but you seem to be rating the common translations based on how the completely unvocalized, unaccented Hebrew could be read. But - with the exceptions of translations based on the Septuagint or the Latin Vulgate - the majority of English translations are based on the medieval Masoretic Hebrew Text and not the original, unvocalized Hebrew.
I think it is correct - as you demonstrate - that the completely unvocalized words also have unique meanings, but it seems that at least in the case of the verses you cite, certain vowels were understood to have been implied.
Of course, one could argue (perhaps often successfully) that the Masoretes got some of the vocalizations wrong, but when I compared what the Masoretic Text implies to how the Septuagint and Vulgate interpreted proto Hebrew texts older than that consulted by the Masoretes, the conventional translations (e.g. both Christian and Jewish, below) of these verses seem to be in order.
Verse 3
He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake (KJV)
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake (RSV)
He renews my life; He guides me in right paths as befits His name (JPS Tanakh)
He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake (Chabad.org)
You wrote:
The accepted translations are saying
He leads me in paths of righteousness.
?
In Hebrew, it actually says, at least what I believe to say,
He-marshalls(guide by contraints)-me within realm/circle of righteousness.
There is no word "path" in the sentence at all. Does anyone see the
word "path" (דרך, רחוב)?
You quoted the unvocalized Hebrew:
ינחני במעגלי צדק
but the translations are working with the vocalized and accented Masoretic Text:
יַֽנְחֵ֥נִי בְמַעְגְּלֵי־צֶ֝֗דֶק
The Masoretic מַעְגָּל (mǎʿ·gāl) - translated as "path" - is related to the word for wagon - עֲגָלָה (ʿǎḡā·lā(h)). The connection is "path" as a wagon rut. The unvocalized Hebrew that you wrote (and is presumably in the "original" written text) is עגל - 'gl' which is the root of circle (e.g. עָגֹל - "round"; עָגִיל - "earring".
That "path" really what was intended in the original Hebrew was witnessed by the Septuagint, which translates the word in the proto-Hebrew as τρίβος - which means "path" or "pathway" in Greek. Jerome, working with a later Hebrew text, but still earlier than the source of the Masoretic text, also interpreted עגל as "path" (Latin semita).
Rashi comments on the phrase: "In straight paths, so that I should not fall into the hands of my enemies."
Verse 5
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over (KJV).
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows (RSV).
You spread a table for me in full view of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my drink is abundant (JPS Tanakh).
You set a table before me in the presence of my adversaries; You anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows (Chabad.org).
You wrote:
תערך לפני שלחן - You arrange before me a table
נגד צררי - against/affronting my enemies.
However, the accepted translations are saying,
You prepare a table before me in the "presence" of my enemies.
ערך would be to arrange and place per item deliberately following a plan or principle.
Again, you are referring to the unvocalized Hebrew in your interpretation:
תערך לפני שלחן נגד צררי
The Masoretic Text reads:
תַּעֲרֹ֬ךְ לְפָנַ֨י ׀ שֻׁלְחָ֗ן נֶ֥גֶד צֹרְרָ֑י
The word you are referring to - ערך - is rendered as עֲרֹ֬ךְ. The unvocalized root of the Masoretic interpolation עֲרֹ֬ךְ (ʿē·rěḵ) - ערך ('rk) does mean, I think, what you say; but the Masoretic word implies "preparing" as the translations suggest. Again, this is born out in the Greek and Latin witnesses as well: ἑτοιμάζω and parō, respectively. But even 'rk is not off, if one visualizes preparing a table as setting out plates and utensils.
Verse 6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever (KJV).
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever (RSV).
Only goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for many long years (JPS Tanakh).
May only goodness and kindness pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for length of days (Chabad.org).
You quoted the Hebrew as:
לארך ימים
In the Masoretic Text this is׃
לְאֹ֣רֶךְ יָמִֽים
which is literally "length of days" (l - ʾō·rěḵ - yôm). I think perhaps one could argue that it simply means "more time" on the basis of another reading of the unvocalized Hebrew, since ארך ('rk) is used in the sense you suggest, but it seems that this was not what the Masoretes understood the original Hebrew to say. Again, this seems borne out in the Greek and Latin witnesses as well, where the phrase לארך ימים was translated as εἰς μακρότητα ἡμερῶν by the Alexandrian Jewish Septuagint translators and as in longitudinem dierum by Jerome, both more or less saying "in length of days".
