Robert Alter on 'nephesh' as 'throat' in Psalm 63:2

From Robert Alter:

Thirsting reflects a distinctive aspect of Psalms. These poems, even if many of them were written to be used in the temple cult, exhibit an intensely spiritual inwardness. Yet that inwardness is characteristically expressed in the most concretely somatic terms. Here is another example of the psalmist's longing for God articulated as thirst:

God, my God, for You I search.
My throat thirsts for You,
my flesh yearns for You
in a land waste and parched, with no water. (63:2)

The King James Version, and most modern translations in its footsteps, has the "soul" thirsting for God, but this is almost certainly a mistake. The Hebrew nefesh means "life breath" and, by extension, "life" or "essential being." But by metonymy, it is also a term for the throat (the passage through which the breath travels) or, sometimes, for the neck. As the subject of the verb "thirst" and with the interlinear parallelism with "flesh," nefesh here surely has its physical meaning of "throat." The very physicality, of course, makes the metaphor of thirsting all the more powerful.

- Robert Alter, The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary, p. xxvii-xxviii

Heb

אלהים אלי אתה
אשחרך צמאה לך
נפש כמה לך בשרי
בארץ־ציה ועיף
בלי־מים׃

Heb(ptd)
אֱלֹהִ֤ים׀ אֵלִ֥י אַתָּ֗ה אֲֽשַׁחֲ֫רֶ֥ךָּ צָמְאָ֬ה לְךָ֨׀ נַפְשִׁ֗י כָּמַ֣הּ לְךָ֣ בְשָׂרִ֑י בְּאֶֽרֶץ־צִיָּ֖ה וְעָיֵ֣ף בְּלִי־מָֽיִם׃

Heb(xlit)
’aḵə ’el-’ĕlōhîm dûmîyâ nafəšî mimmennû yəšû‘āṯî:

LXX
ο θεος ο θεος μου προς σε ορθριζω εδιψησεν σοι
η ψυχη μου ποσαπλως σοι η σαρξ μου εν γη
ερημω και αβατω και ανυδρω

LXX(nets)
O God, my God, early I approach you
my soul thirsted for you
How many times did my flesh thirst for you
in a land, desolate and trackless and waterless?

Vulg
Exaudi, Deus, orationem meam cum deprecor ;
a timore inimici eripe animam meam.

Wycliffe
God, my God, Y wake to thee ful eerli. Mi soule thirstide to thee; my fleisch thirstide to thee ful many foold.

KJV
O God, thou art my God;
early will I seek thee:
my soul thirsteth for thee,
my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land,
where no water is;

ASV
O God, thou art my God; earnestly will I seek thee: My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, In a dry and weary land, where no water is.

GNT
O God, you are my God,
and I long for you.
My whole being desires you;
like a dry, worn-out, and waterless land,
my soul is thirsty for you.

NIV
O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

NJB
God, you are my God, I pine for you; my heart thirsts for you, my body longs for you, as a land parched, dreary and waterless.

NRSV
O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

TNIV
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.

CEV
You are my God. I worship you.
In my heart, I long for you,
as I would long for a stream
in a scorching desert.

NLT
O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.

Msg
God—you're my God! I can't get enough of you!
I've worked up such hunger and thirst for God,
traveling across dry and weary deserts.

Alter
God, my God, for You I search.
My throat thirsts for You,
my flesh yearns for You
in a land waste and parched, with no water.

Related Post
Eugene Peterson on 'nephesh'