Interpretation of this Interpretation of the Interpretation of the Psalms

I found it was very interesting that so much of Book 2 of On Christian Teaching by St. Augustine could be applied to the reading of the Psalms.

One thing that was surprising to me was Augustine emphasizes that the Psalms are human works, whereas I have even heard people in the present day that they came directly from the mouth of God. He writes,

"Given signs are those which living things give to each other, in order to show, to the best of their ability, the emotions of their minds, or anything that they have felt or learnt...It is this category of signs - to the extent that it applies to humans - that I have decided to examine and discuss, because even the divinely given signs contained in the holy scriptures have been communicated to us by the human beings who wrote them" (30-31).

In the beginning of the chapter he also mentions the power of music, stating that "A trumpet, a flute, and a lyre generally produce not just a pleasant sound but one that is also significant. But these signs are very few compared with words" (31). To me, this statement was especially significant about the power of the Psalms because they are a combination of music and text.

Augustine also references the power of God, saying that "it is therefore necessary above all else to be moved by the fear of God towards learning his will" (33). This seemed to me to be an echo of sentiments expressed in the Psalms.

I also thought his reference to the problems with translation were fitting to our understanding of the Psalms, Alter's interpretation, in particular. Augustine writes, "There are certain words in particular languages which just cannot be translated into the idioms of another language" (38). I think he's absolutely right. This statement makes me question which is the more authentic (not "right", but "authentic") version of the Psalms - the biblical version or Alter's more historically based version? Since Alter goes to great pains to retain the original sentiments and structure of the language, even explaining his word choices in conjunction with the hebrew and its various meanings, are the liberties that the Bible takes with the Psalms valid?

As Augustine writes, "Ambiguity in the original language often misleads a translator unfamiliar with the general sense of a passage, who may import a meaning which is quite unrelated to the writer's meaning" (39). This makes me wonder if Augustine, being a religious figure, would endorse or criticize the liberties taken with the text of the Psalms for the sake of individual interpretation...