View source for Psalm 88/Test/Participant Analysis/Set

<noinclude>
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</noinclude>There are 4 participants/characters in Psalm 88: 
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{| style="width:33%; border: 1px solid #C3C3C3;" |  
 | style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background-color:#F1E84B;" | Psalmist 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 | style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background-color:#F1E84B;" | The psalmist's soul 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 | style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background-color:#F1E84B;" | The psalmist's eye 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 | style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background-color:#BEAF22;" | The psalmist's prayer 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 |}<br>  
 {| style="width:33%; border: 1px solid #C3C3C3;" |  
 | style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background-color:#A06FE2;" | YHWH  
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 | style="text-align:left; " | "God of my salvation" (v. 2) 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 | style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background-color:#E0BBF6;" | YHWH's waves 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 | style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background-color:#E0BBF6;" | YHWH's outbursts of wrath 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 | style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background-color:#E0BBF6;" | YHWH's terrifying assaults 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 |}<br>  
 {| style="width:33%; border: 1px solid #C3C3C3;" |  
 | style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background-color:#C47C52;" | Friends 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 | style="text-align:left; " | "Acquaintances" (v. 9) 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 | style="text-align:left; " | "Companions" (v. 19) 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 |}<br>  
 {| style="width:33%; border: 1px solid #C3C3C3;" |  
 | style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background-color:#2E9BF1;" | The dead 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 | style="text-align:left; " | "those who go down to the Pit" (v. 5) 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 | style="text-align:left; " | "departed spirits" (v. 11) 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
 | style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background-color:#18C9DD;" | The slain 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
|}  
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* <mark style="background-color: #BF78F0;">'''YHWH's outbursts of wrath'''</mark> (חֲמָתֶךָ, חֲרוֹנֶיךָ v. 8a, 17a), <mark style="background-color: #BF78F0;">'''YHWH's waves'''</mark> (ָמִ֝שְׁבָּרֶ֗יך v. 8b), <mark style="background-color: #BF78F0;">'''YHWH's terrifying assaults'''</mark> (אֵמֶ֣יךָ, בִּ֝עוּתֶ֗יךָ v. 16b, 17b) are taken as YHWH's agents of destruction sent to afflict the psalmist (cf. [https://psalms.scriptura.org/w/Psalm_88_Story_behind_the_Psalm#Propositions_and_Assumptions_table common-ground assumption for v. 17b in Story Behind the Psalm] for a more detailed argumentation). Since their role in the context of the psalm is identical with YHWH's, but they are not identical to him, they are considered related participants.
* The '''soul (נֶפֶשׁ) '''is often used as a substitute for a personal pronoun, particularly in poetry (e.g. Psa 11:1; 7:3; cf. [https://psalms.scriptura.org/w/Psalm_88_Semantics#vv._3-4 comment next on נֶפֶשׁ in Semantics]), while the eye (עֶיִן) may be used, like in v. 10a, as a synecdoche for the whole person (e.g. 1Sam 14:27, 29; Gen 27:1; Job 17:7; Ps 6:8; 38:11; cf. [https://psalms.scriptura.org/w/Psalm_88_Story_behind_the_Psalm#Propositions_and_Assumptions_table common-ground assumption for v. 10a in Story Behind the Psalm] and [https://psalms.scriptura.org/w/Psalm_88_Semantics#v._10 comment on v. 10a in Semantics], esp. Goldingay 2007). Therefore, '''<mark style="background-color: #FEF445>the psalmist's soul</mark>''' and '''<mark style="background-color: #FEF445>the psalmist's eye</mark>''' are understood as synonymous participants of the <mark style="background-color: #FEF445>'''Psalmist'''</mark>.
* In a similar way to YHWH's waves, outbursts of wrath and terrifying assaults, which were taken as YHWH's semi-independent agents and thus as related participants (see box above), we consider <mark style="background-color: #BDB41B>'''the psalmist's prayer'''</mark> as an agent acting on behalf of the psalmist in front of YHWH, as also indicated by virtue of it being the subject of a dynamic verb, and therefore define it as a related participant.
* The <mark style="background-color: #C37C4D>'''friends'''</mark> of the psalmist are not strictly agentive, but are still taken as participants for two reasons. First, they constitute the causee in both causative verbs of v. 9a and v. 19a (הִרְחַקְתָּ, "to make shun") and would therefore be the agents of a corresponding underlying non-causative clause. In this sense, they are similar to YHWH's messengers expounded in the previous paragraph. Second, they are pivotal to the message of the psalm, as their estrangement from the psalmist is a major reason for his misery.
* <mark style="background-color: #12CDD4>'''The slain'''</mark> have an identical function in the psalm to the one of <mark style="background-color: #2D9BF0>'''the dead'''</mark>, as the psalmist's situation is compared to both of them. However, being a subset of the larger set of <mark style="background-color: #2D9BF0>'''the dead'''</mark>, they are not identical with it. The specific choice of <mark style="background-color: #12CDD4>'''the slain'''</mark> in v. 6b is deliberate and meaningful (cf. [https://psalms.scriptura.org/w/Psalm_88_Story_behind_the_Psalm#Propositions_and_Assumptions_table common-ground assumption for v. 6b in Story Behind the Psalm for a more detailed argumentation]) and they are therefore considered related, not synonymous, participants.