Psalm 1 Grammar
Psalm 1 Grammar
Back to Psalm 1
Overview
In terms of grammar, Psalm 1 is more complex than other psalms. This is due mostly to the abundance of conjunctions (coordinating and subordinating [e.g. אשר x4]).
The most difficult clause to interpret is the final clause of v. 3.
Grammatical Diagram
v. 1
vv. 2-3
- The final clause of v. 3 might be diagrammed in at least three different ways.
- Option 1: כל אשר יעשה as the subject and יצליח as an intransitive verb: "everything he does is successful."
- Option 2 (preferred): כל אשר יעשה as the object and יצליח as a transitive verb: "he causes everything he does to be successful"
- Option 3: כל אשר יעשה as an adverbial phrase and יצליח as an intransitive verb: "(in) everything he does, he is successful."
Option 1, though common in translations, is unlikely, because the verb הצליח in the hiphil stem is rarely (if ever) used intransitively with an impersonal subject.[1] If the subject is impersonal, then צלח appears in the qal stem (e.g. Jer. 12:1; Num. 14:41; Isa. 53:10; 54:17; etc.). Therefore, either the man is the subject and the verb is transitive and causative (Option 2), or the man is the subject and the verb is intransitive (Option 3).[2] Given the other passages where similar expressions occur (Ps. 37:7; Deut. 28:29; Isa. 48:15; esp. 2 Chron. 7:11), the transitive usage with the man as the subject (Option 2) "is the most natural."[3] Another important piece of evidence for this option is Joshua 1:8, to which Psalm 1 alludes.[4] In Joshua 1:8, the verb is transitive; Joshua is the subject, and "your pathway" is the object.
v. 4
v. 5
v. 6
Full diagram (vv. 1-6)
References
- ↑ Goldingay argues on the basis of Judges 18:5 (ונדעה התצליח דרכנו) that "the verb הצליח (hiphil) can be used intransitively with an impersonal subject." However, the Leningrad Codex's text of Judges 18:5 is questionable (see apparatus). Multiple Hebrew manuscripts read the qal form (הֲתִצְלַח) instead of the hiphil; cf. Targum (הְתַצלַח). The passages in Sirach (Sir. 38:13 כי יש עת אשר בידו מצלחת, in ref. to healing; 39:18 רצונו יצליח) are also questionable. In Sir. 38:13, מצלחת may be pointed as a noun (מִצְלַחַת, "success," cf. LXX ευοδια) and in Sir. 39:18, the subject may instead be God (אל), who "causes his will to succeed."
- ↑ See numerous examples of הצליח in the hiphil stem as intransitive with a personal subject (1 Kgs. 22:12 [= 2 Chron. 18:11], 15 [= 2 Chron. 18:14]; Isa. 55:11; Jer. 2:37; 5:28; 32:5; Prov. 28:13; 8:12, 24; 11:36; Dan. 8:12, 24; 1 Chron. 22:11, 13; 29:23; 2 Chron. 13:12; 14:6; 20:20; 24:20; 32:30.)
- ↑ Delitzsch
- ↑ The connection between Ps. 1:3d and Josh. 1:8 is so strong that the editors of BHS suggest that Ps. 1:3d is a secondary gloss based on Josh. 1:8.