View source for Psalm 110 Grammar

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=About the Grammar Layer=
{{GrammarIntro}}
=Grammar Visuals for Ps. 110=
==Grammatical Diagram==
{{Grammatical Legend}}

==v. 1==
[[File:Psalm 110 - Grammar v 1.jpg|class=img-fluid|825px]]
* "Such a case as לדוד מזמור (Ps. 24:1; etc.) is not to be regarded as a transposition, but מזמור is used epexegetically for the general term omitted before לדוד (as it were, a poem of David, a psalm)."<ref>GKC 129c.</ref>

==v. 2==
[[File:Psalm 110 - Grammar v 2.jpg|class=img-fluid|825px]]

==v. 3==
[[File:Psalm 110 - Grammar v 3.jpg|class=img-fluid|825px]]
* On the text, see [[The Text, Grammar, and Meaning of Ps. 110:3]]. 
* After the textual issues have been worked out, one main grammatical issue remains: what is the syntactic function of לך?
**Option 1: לך as predicate complement (lamed of possession). "The dew of your youth will be yours" (ESV, cf. KJV, JPS, REB, NET, RVR95).<ref>So Jenni 2000, 69; cf. Gen. 31:16; Ex. 32:24; Deut. 33:8; etc.</ref>
**Option 2 (preferred): לך as adverbial (lamed dativum) modifying implied verb. "The dew of your youth comes to you" (cf. RSV, NRSV, ZÜR; cf Targum: יסתרהבון לך ["will hasten to you"]). Cf. 2 Sam. 12:4; ; Isa. 49:18; Amos 6:1; Zech. 9:9. A verb like בוא is "implied in the preposition 'to'"<ref>Waltke 2010, 497; cf. Baethgen 1904, 338; Briggs 1908.</ref> as well as by the other prepositional phrases which specify the location of some activity: the king's young men will come "from the womb of the dawn on the holy mountains."
**Option 3: לך as adverbial modifying טל (interpreted as a 3ms qal of טלל, cf. קל as 3ms qal of קלל). Cf. Ug. denom. ṭll to drop (dew) (1 Aqht 41, Gordon Ugaritic Textbook). According to DCH, two possible occurrences of this verb in the Hebrew Bible are in Hag. 1:10 and Deut. 33:13, though both require revocalization of the vowels). This view is unlikely because ילדות is a feminine noun.

==v. 4==
[[File:Psalm 110 - Grammar v 4.jpg|class=img-fluid|825px]]
* See [[The Grammar and Meaning of Ps. 110:4]].

==v. 5==
[[File:Psalm 110 - Grammar v 5.jpg|class=img-fluid|825px]]
* Verse 5 may be either one clause ("YHWH, who is at your right hand, has crushed..."; cf. KJV, NEB, LUT, ELB) or two clauses ("YHWH is at your right hand. He has crushed..."; cf. NIV, NLT, ESV, REB, JPS85, GNT, CEV, HFA, NGÜ, ZÜR). The division of the MT accents (atnach) may suggest two separate clauses, while the lack of any line division in most LXX mss (see Rahlfs) may suggest one clause (so also Jerome according to Weber-Gryson 5th edition). The fact that יְמִֽינְךָ֑ is a contextual form and not a pausal form (יְמִינָךְ) may support reading these lines as a single clause.

==v. 6==
[[File:Psalm 110 - Grammar v 6.jpg|class=img-fluid|825px]]
* The verb מלא may be intransitive ("it is full of corpses"; cf. Ps. 33:5) or transitive ("he fills [it/them] with corpses"; cf. 1 Kings 18:24). The LXX reads it in a transitive sense: πληρώσει πτώματα ("will make full with corpses" NETS), as does the Targum, which supplies the word "land" (ארעא) from the following line: מלי ארעא גושמי רשיען קטילין "he has filled the earth with the corpses of the wicked that have been slain."<ref>Stec 2004. Cf. Baethgen 1904, 339; Hupfeld 1871, 203; Olshausen 1853, 424.</ref> Others read it in an intransitive sense (e.g., Radak: ועשה דין ומשפט בגוים עד שמקום המלחמה מלא גויות). In either case, something must be supplied, either the subject or the object.
* Another option is to read מלא גויות as an asyndetic relative clause (= אשר מלא גויות) modifying גוים. This interpretation is supported by two considerations: (1) Analyzing מלא גויות as an asyndetic relative clause solves the problem of the missing constituent. There is no need to supply "the earth" in order to make the sentence grammatical. Instead, the text reads: "He will judge the nations whom he has filled with corpses." (2) The two clauses (ידין בגוים and מלא גויות) constitute a single poetic line; the prosodic unity supports the possibility of a syntactic unity. See e.g, Ps. 7:7c (וְע֥וּרָה אֵ֝לַ֗י מִשְׁפָּ֥ט צִוִּֽיתָ) in which the two clauses within a single line are probably to be read, with the LXX, as a single sentence: ἐξεγέρθητι, κύριε ὁ θεός μου, ἐν προστάγματι, ὧ ἐνετείλω.
* Some may object that מלא גויות cannot be an asyndetic relative clause, because the antecedent (גוים) is not resumed (e.g., מלא גויות אותם). Resumption of the direction object is optional, however, in cases in which the direct object lacks the definite direct object marker (את).<ref>See e.g., Neh. 9:29 and Ps. 7:16 for non-resumption in a bare relative clause; cf. Holmstedt 2002, 97.</ref>
* Others may object that it would be odd to fill a "nation" with something; usually the act of "filling" involves some kind of container. But the word “nation” (גוי) implies both “people” and “land” (cf. phrase like אַרְצ֣וֹת גּוֹיִ֑ם in Ps. 105:44), and lands can be filled (e.g., Ezek. 8:17; 30:11).. Ps. 106:26-27 speak of the גּוֹיִם in the sense of “nations > land.” The fact that a beth preposition is prefixed to goyim in Ps. 110:6 (as in Ps. 106:27 above) might support this interpretation here: “He will judge among (localization) the nations whom he filled with corpses.” I had previously analyzed this beth as a beth of social contact (“he will judge the nations”), but it could also indicate location as DCH suggests: “בְּ of place, among, + גּוֹי nation Ps 110:6.”
* What does עַל אֶרֶץ רַבָּה modify?
** Option 1: the PP עַל אֶרֶץ רַבָּה modifies the noun רֹאשׁ (e.g., NIV, ELB). This option is likely if ראש refers to a leader<ref>Cf. Briggs 1907, 381; Waltke 2010, 511.</ref>, since "heads" (=leaders) are said to be "over" people (Ex. 18:25; Deut. 1:15; Jdg. 11:11). Some point out that if עַל אֶרֶץ רַבָּה were intended to describe "heads," then we might have expected a construct chain (ראש ארץ רבה<ref>So Hengstenberg 1867.</ref>) or a lamed preposition (ראש לארץ רבה<ref>Cf. Num. 1:4, so Baethgen 1904, 339. So Hupfeld 1871, 203.</ref>). But the analogous noun phrases מלך על (2 Kgs. 8:13; Job 41:26; Eccl. 1:12) and פקיד על (2 Kgs. 25:19=Jer. 52:25; Neh. 11:9) support reading ראש על in the sense of "head=leader over."<ref>So Driver 1964, 26.</ref> This interpretation is further supported by the parallel in the previous verse (מָחַץ...מְלָכִים).
** Option 2 (preferred): the PP עַל אֶרֶץ רַבָּה modifies the verb מָחַץ (e.g., NET, JPS, EÜ). When the phrase מחץ ראש occurs in Ps. 68:22 (יִמְחַץ רֹאשׁ אֹיְבָיו // קָדְקֹד שֵׂעָר) and Hab. 3:13, "head" refers not to leaders but to the literal body part (so Delitzsch 1871:195). If "head" is to be understood literally (as a body part), then עַל אֶרֶץ רַבָּה probably modifies מָחַץ. The construction is similar to Ps. 74:13: שִׁבַּ֖רְתָּ רָאשֵׁ֥י תַ֝נִּינִ֗ים עַל־הַמָּֽיִם.
* The singular noun רֹאשׁ is probably a collective (cf. LXX κεφαλὰς) as in Ps. 68:22 (רֹאשׁ אֹיְבָיו), and it may be short for רֹאשׁ מלכים (cf. Targum: רישי מלכיא), מלכים being implied from the previous verse (v. 5b).
* The word רַבָּה probably modifies אֶרֶץ with which it agrees in gender (f) and number (s) and to which it is prosodically bound (merka).<ref>So HALOT 1171 - "the wide earth" >> "the universe"; so Hupfeld 1871.</ref> Some have argued that because "earth" (אֶרֶץ) is never described as רַבָּה, the word רַבָּה must be an adverb as in Ps. 62:3 and 78:15 (cf. Pss. 123:3).<ref>So e.g., Nordheim 2008, 33.</ref> But the phrase אֶרֶץ רַבָּה, though unique, is analogous to the common phrase תְּהוֹם רַבָּה (Gen. 7:11; Amos 7:7; Ps. 36:7; etc.).

==v. 7==
[[File:Psalm 110 - Grammar v 7.jpg|class=img-fluid|825px]]
* What does בדרך modify?
** Option 1: The prepositional phrase בדרך modifies ישתה ("he will drink on the way"<ref>So ELB, EÜ, ZÜR, NGÜ, RVR95, DHH.</ref>). The accents group בדרך prosodically with ישתה and not with נחל, suggesting that בדרך does not modify נחל but ישתה: "on the way he will drink from the stream" (ELB) >> "on his campaign the king will drink from the stream" (NGÜ).<ref>So Delitzsch; Hupfeld 1871, 204; Baethgen 1904; Zenger.</ref> Cf. Ps. 102:24 (עִנָּה בַדֶּרֶךְ כֹּחוֹ); Ezra 8:22 (לְעָזְרֵנוּ מֵאוֹיֵב בַּדָּרֶךְ). This view is likely if דרך refers to a military campaign (cf. 1 Sam. 15:18, 20).
** Option 2 (preferred): The prepositional phrase בדרך modifies נחל ("a stream by the road"<ref>So NET, GNT, HFA, GNB; Jenni 1992, 176.</ref>). The simplest explanation of the word order is that בדרך modifies נחל. Otherwise one must explain why two constituents (instead of just one constituent) are fronted.

=Bibliography=
:Baethgen, Friedrich. 1904. [https://archive.org/details/diepsalmen00baet/page/n57/mode/2up?view=theater ''Die Psalmen'']. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht. 
:Briggs, Charles and Emilie Briggs. 1907.  ''A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Psalms''. International Critical Commentary. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons.
:Delitzsch, Franz. 1877. [https://archive.org/details/biblicalcommenta03deli/page/66/mode/2up ''Biblical Commentary on the Psalms: Vol. 3'']. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. 
:Driver, G. R. 1964. "Psalm CX: Its Form Meaning and Purpose." In ''[https://archive.org/details/studiesinbiblepr0000unse/page/n7/mode/2up Studies in the Bible: Presented to Professor M.H. Segal by His Colleagues and Students]''. Edited by J. M. Grintz & J. Liver. Jerusalem: Published for the Israel Society for Biblical: 17-31.
:Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm. 1867. [https://openlibrary.org/books/OL16664943M/Commentary_on_the_Psalms ''Commentary on the Psalms'']. Vol III. 4th ed. Edinburg: T&T Clark.
:Hossfeld, Frank-Lothar, and Erich Zenger. 2011. [https://archive.org/details/psalms3commentar0000unse/page/n5/mode/2up ''Psalms 3: A Commentary on Psalms 101-150'']. Edited by Klaus Baltzer. Translated by Linda M. Maloney. Hermeneia. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress.
:Hupfeld, Hermann. 1871. ''Die Psalmen''. Vol. 4. Gotha: F.A. Perthes.
:Jenni, Ernst. 2000. ''Die Hebräischen Präpositionen Band 3: Die Präposition Lamed''. Stuttgart: Verlag W. Kohlhammer.
:Nordheim, Miriam von. 2008. ''Geboren von der Morgenröte? Psalm 110 in Tradition, Redaktion und Rezeption''. Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener.
:Olshausen, Justus. ''Die Psalmen''. Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1853.
:Stec, David M. 2004. ''The Targum of Psalms: Translated, with A Critical Introduction, Apparatus, and Notes''. Collegeville: Liturgical Press.
:Waltke, Bruce K., J. M. Houston, and Erika Moore. 2010. ''The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Commentary''. Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.

=References=