Exegetical Issue—Katia

Introduction

The Hebrew text of Ps 19:3 reads:

אֵין־אֹמֶר וְאֵין דְּבָרִים בְּלִי נִשְׁמָע קוֹלָם

The syntax of v. 3b can be read either as an independent clause, i.e., "There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard" (NRSV; cf. NIV, NLT, CEV, GNT, NET, NEB/REB, NJBNIV, NLT, etc.) or as a relative clause, i.e., "There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard" (ESV; cf. JPS 1985, RUSV, UBG, etc.)

Discussing vv. 2–3, Tanner et al. observe, “Though the two verses have similar structure, they have dissimilar meaning. Verse 2 emphasizes that creation speaks a message about God and passes on knowledge of God; v. 3 denies that the message can be interpreted. Thus the similar structure of these two verses underscores their dissimilar theological message essentially by making the two verses 'like' and 'unlike' at the same time.”

Regarding the second reading, Delitzsch in turn explains, “The discourse of the heavens and the firmament, of the day (of the sky by day) and of the night (of the sky by night), is not a discourse uttered in a corner, it is a discourse in speech that is everywhere audible, and in words that are understood by all.”

Notably, some scholars view v. 3 as a scribal correction introduced to the text at a later stage to tone down the radical assertion of v. 2: “There is no speech and there are no words, their voice is not heard.” If Ps 19:1–6 consists of two strophes, each of six tri-meters, then v. 3 reads as a prosaic insertion, which compromises the neat arrangement of vv. 1–6. As such, it should be deleted.

Argument Maps

Independent Clause

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Relative Clause

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A Later Gloss

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Research

Translations

Ancient

• LXX: οὐκ εἰσὶν λαλιαὶ οὐδὲ λόγοι ὧν οὐχὶ ἀκούονται αἱ φωναὶ αὐτῶν.
  • “There are no conversations, nor are there words, the articulations of which are not heard.” (NETS)
• Aquila: οὐκ ἔστι λόγος καὶ οὐκ ἔστι ῥήματα οὗ μὴ ἀκουσθῇ φωνὴ αὐτοῦ.
• Symmachus: οὐ ῥήσεσιν οὐδὲ λόγοις, ὧν οὐκ ἀκούονται αἱ φωναί.
• Theodotion: οὐκ εἰσὶ λαλιαὶ οὐδὲ λόγοι ὧν οὐχὶ ἀκούονται αἱ φωναὶ αὐτῶν.
• Peshitta: ܠܝܬ ܡܐܡܪܐ ܐܦ ܠܐ ܡ̈ܠܐ܂ ܕܠܐ ܢܫܬܡܥ ܒܩܠܗܘܢ܂
  • “There is no speech or words, for their voice is not heard.
• Targum: לית מימר דתורעמתא ולית מילי דשגושא דלא משתמע קלהון
  • "There is no word of commotion, nor are there words of confusion and their voice is not heard."
• Jerome: non est sermo et non sunt verba quibus non audiatur vox eorum.
  • "There is no speech and there are no words by which their voice is not heard."

Modern

v. 3b as an independent clause

• There is no actual speech or word, nor is its voice literally heard. (NET)
• They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. (NIV)
• They don’t speak a word, and there is never the sound of a voice. (CEV)
• No speech or words are used, no sound is heard. (GNT)
• They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. (NLT)
• There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. (NRSV)
• No utterance at all, no speech, not a sound to be heard. (NJB)
• and this without speech or language or sound of any voice. (NEB/REB)
• … ohne Sprache und ohne Worte; unhörbar ist ihre Stimme. (Luther 2017)
• Dies alles geschieht ohne Worte, ohne einen vernehmlichen Laut. (HFA)
• Sie tun es ohne Worte, kein Laut und keine Stimme ist zu hören. (NGÜ)
• … ohne Rede und ohne Worte, mit unhörbarer Stimme. (ELB)
• … ohne Rede und ohne Worte, ungehört bleibt ihre Stimme. (EÜ)
• Kein Wort wird gesprochen, kein Laut ist zu hören. (GNB)
• … ohne Sprache, ohne Worte, mit unhörbarer Stimme. (ZÜR)
• Ce n'est pas un récit, il n'y a pas de mots, leur voix ne s'entend pas. (TOB)
• Ce n'est pas un langage, ce ne sont pas des paroles, on n'entend pas leur voix. (NBS)
• Ce n'est pas un langage, ce ne sont pas des paroles, Leur voix n'est pas entendue. (NVSR)
• Ce ne sont pas des paroles, ce ne sont pas des discours, ni des voix qu’on peut entendre. (BDS)
• Ce n’est pas un discours, il n’y a pas de paroles, aucun son ne se fait entendre. (PDV)
• Ce n’est pas un discours, ce ne sont pas des mots, l’oreille n’entend aucun son. (NFC)
• Ce n’est pas un langage, ce ne sont pas des paroles, on n’entend pas leur son. (S21)
• No hay lenguaje ni palabras ni es oída su voz. (RVR95)
• Sin palabras, sin lenguaje, sin una voz perceptible, ... (NVI)
• Aunque no se escuchan palabras ni se oye voz alguna, ... (DHH)
• Donde no hay lenguaje ni idioma, La voz de Ellos no es para ser oída, ... (BTX4)
• Хотя они не используют ни речи, ни слов, и от них не слышно ни звука, ... (NRT)
• ... без мови й без слів, не чутний їхній голос, ... (UKR)

v. 3b as a relative clause

• There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. (ESV)
• There is no utterance, there are no words, whose sound goes unheard. (JPS 1985).
• Нет языка, и нет наречия, где не слышался бы голос их. (RUSV)
• Nie ma języka ani mowy, w których nie słychać ich głosu. (UBG)

Secondary Literature

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• Amos Ḥakham, 2003. The Bible: Psalms with the Jerusalem Commentary, ed. Israel V. Berman, vol. 1. Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook.
• Andersen, F.I., and A.D. Forbes. 1983. “Prose Particle Counts of the Hebrew Bible,” in C. Meyers and M. O’Connor (eds), The Word of the Lord Shall Go Forth: Essays in Honor of David Noel Freedman in Celebration of His Sixtieth Birthday. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns and American Schools for Oriental Research. 165–83.
• Barr, James. 1993. Biblical Faith and Natural Theology: The Gifford Lectures for 1991, Delivered in the University of Edinburgh. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Barth, Karl. 1936–1977. Church Dogmatics. Trans. by G.T. Thomson et al.; 14 vols.; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, Vol. 2.1.
• Bauckham, Richard. 2011. “Joining Creation’s Praise.” in Living with Other Creatures: Green Exegesis and Theology. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 147–162.
• Briggs, Charles A. and Briggs, Emilie G. 1906. Psalms: Volume 1: 1–50. International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T& T Clark.
• Brown, William B. 2002. Seeing the Psalms. Westminster John Knox Press.
• Bullock, C. Hassell. 2015. Psalms: Volume 1. Teach the Text Commentary Series. Baker Publishing Group.
• Burnside, Jonathan P. 2019. “Natural Law and Biblical Law.” In Research Handbook on Natural Law Theory. eds. Jonathan Crowe and Youngwon Lee. Edward Elgar Publishing. 181–203.
• Coad, Dominic. 2009. “Creation’s Praise of God: A Proposal for a Theology of the Non-Human Creation.” Theology 112: 181–189.
• Coetzee, Johan H. 2009. “Listen to the Silent Voice of the Heavens and Taste the Sweetness of Torah: Reading Psalm 19 from a ‘Body phenomenological’ and an ‘Embodied understanding’ Perspective.” OTE 22: 281–301.
• Cooley, Jeffrey L. 2014. “Psalm 19: A Sabbath Song.” Vetus Testamentum 64: 177–95.
• Cooper, Alan. 1994. “Creation, Philosophy and Spirituality: Aspects of Jewish Interpretation of Psalm 19,” in Pursuing the Text: Studies in Honor of Ben Zion Wacholder on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday. ed. John Reeves and John Kampen; JSOTSup 184; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 15–33.
• Coote, Robert B. 2006. “Psalm 19: Heavenly Law and Order.” in From Biblical Interpretation to Human Transformation: Reopening the Past to Actualize New Possibilities for the Future. A Festschrift for Herman C. Waetjen. ed. Douglas R. McGaughey and Cornelia Cyss Crocker. Salem, MA: Chora Strangers.
• Craigie, Peter C., and Marvin E. Tate. 2004. Psalms 1–50. Word Biblical Commentary 19. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
• DeClaissé-Walford, Nancy, Rolf A. Jacobson, and Beth LaNeel Tanner. 2014. The Book of Psalms. New International Commentary of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
• Delitzsh, Franz. 2006. Psalms. Commentary on the Old Testament 5. trans. Francis Bolton. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.
• Eaton, J.H. 1995. Psalms of the Way and the Kingdom: A Conference with the Commentators. JSOTSup 199; Sheffiled: Sheffield Aacdemic Press.
• Ehrlich, Arnold B. 1905. Psalmen. Neu uebersetzt und erklaert. Berlin: Poppelauer.
• Fretheim, Terence E. 1987. “Nature’s Praise of God in the Psalms.” Ex Auditu 3: 16–30.
• Fretheim, Terence E. 2005. God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
• Goldingay, John. 2006. Psalms. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic Press.
• Gruber, Mayer I., trans., 2004. Rashi’s Commentary on Psalms. Leiden: Brill.
• Gunkel, Hermann. 1926. Die Psalmen: Übersetzt und Erklärt. Göttingen: Vandenhoef & Ruprecht.
• Holmstedt, Robert D. 2016. The Relative Clause in Biblical Hebrew. LSAWS 10. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.
• Jorstad, Mari. 2019. “An Articulate World: Personalistic Nature Texts in the Writings,” in The Hebrew Bible and Environmental Ethics: Humans, NonHumans, and the Living Landscape. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 157–195.
• Kavusa, K.J. 2019. Water and Water-Related Phenomena in the Old Testament Wisdom Literature: An Eco-Theological Exploration. LHBOTS, 685; London/New York: T&T Clark.
• Kilcrease, Jack D. 2012. “Creation’s Praise: A Short Liturgical Reading of Genesis 1-2 and the book of Revelation.” Pro Ecclesia 21: 314–325.
• Klouda, Sheri L. 2000. “The Dialectical Interplay of Seeing and Hearing in Psalm 19 and Its Connection to Wisdom.” Bulletin for Biblical Research 10: 181–195.
• Knierim, Rolf P. 1995. The Task of Old Testament Theology: Substance, Method, and Cases. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans.
• Kraus, Hans-Joachim. 1972. Psalmen 1–63. Biblischer Kommentar Altes Testament XV/1. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag.
• Loader, James A. 2011. “What Do the Heavens Declare? On the Old Testament Motif of God’s Beauty in Creation,” HTS Theologiese Studies 67: 1–8.
• Miller-Naudé, Cynthia L., and Jacobus A. Naudé. 2015. “The Participle and Negation in Biblical Hebrew.” KUSATU 19: 165–199.
• Ross, Allen P. 2011. A Commentary on the Psalms: Volume I (1–41). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic.
• Sommer, Benjamin. 2015. “Nature, Revelation, and Grace in Psalm 19: Towards a Theological Reading of Scripture.” HTR 108: 376–401.
• Stone, K. 2017. Reading the Hebrew Bible with Animal Studies. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
• Strawn Brent A., and Joel M. LeMon. 2007. “‘Everything That Has Breath’: Animal Praise in Psalm 150:6 in the Light of Ancient Near Eastern Iconography.” in Bilder als Quellen/Images as Sources: Studies on Ancient Near Eastern Artefacts and the Bible Inspired by the Work of Othmar Keel. eds. S. Bickel, S. Schroer, R. Schurte, and C. Uchlinger. OBO Sonderband; Fribourg: Academic Press. 451–485.
• Strawn, Brent. 2012. A. “On Vomiting: Leviticus, Jonah, Ea(a)rth.” CBQ 74: 445–64.
• Strickman, H. Normann, trans, 2009. Abraham Ibn Ezra’s Commentary on the First Book of Psalms: Chapters 1–41. Boston, MA: Academic Studies Press.
• Van Zyl, A.H. 1966. “Psalm 19.” Neotestamentica 1: 142–158.
• VanGemeren, Willem. 2008. Psalms. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary; revised edition; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
• Vos, C.J.A. 2004. “Theopoetical and Liturgical Patterns of the Psalms with Reference to Psalm 19.” in Psalms and Liturgy. ed. D.J. Human and C.J.A. Vos. JSOTSup 410; London/New York: JSOT, 251–289.
• Wagner, J.R. 1999. “From the Heavens to the Heart: The Dynamics of Psalm 19 as Prayer.” CBQ 61: 245–261.
• Walton, John H. 2008. “Creation in Genesis 1: 1–2: 3 and the Ancient Near East.” Calvin Theological Journal 43: 48–63.
• Walton, John. 20007. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. Nottingham: Apollos.
• Weber, Beat. 2012. “Toward a Theory of the Poetry of the Hebrew Bible: The Poetry of the Psalms as a Test Case.” Bulletin for Biblical Research 22: 157–188.
• Weiser, Artur. 1962. The Psalms. Old Testament Library. Trans. by Herbert Hartwell. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press.