Property: Text
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
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* '''v. 11, 13 : singular of פֶּלֶא as a collective noun'''
:We find in poetry the singular of פֶּלֶא representing the totality of wonders that have been performed by God, e.g. אֶזְכּוֹר מַעַלְלֵי-יָהּ כִּי-אֶזְכְּרָה מִקֶּדֶם פִּלְאֶךָ (Psa 77:12) "I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old" (ESV), in which פֶּלֶא stands parallel to the plural מַעַלְלֵי-יָהּ. The plural reading is backed by the ancient translations.
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* The lack of reference point movement & gnomic aspect prompt us to translate יְסֻפַּר in English as a simple present tense.
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* '''v. 12''' Just like in v. 13, the interrogative particle הֲ spans over both parts of the disjunctive question. In fact, the question here is merely rhetoric and not disjunctive: "Double questions... need not always be mutually exclusive; frequently the disjunctive form serves (especially in poetic parallelism) merely to repeat the same question in different words, and thus to express it more emphatically... The second member may, therefore, just as well be connected by a simple וְ" (Gesenius §150h). We therefore assume an elided ''waw'' here, like the one explicit in v. 13. This ''waw'' is also attested in LXX and some Hebrew manuscripts.
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* '''v. 12: אֲבַדּוֹן'''
:The verbal noun אֲבַדּוֹן, literally "destruction" (cf. Job 31:12) is likewise translated in LXX and Jerome. However, in most other places it is metonymically used as "place of destruction" with clear reference to death, and is so translated by Targum as "the house of destruction". We find an ambiguity with some places identifying this "place of destruction" as the underworld (cf. Prov 15:11; Job 26:6), while in our verse it stands parallel to the physical tomb itself. "Physically, it means being in the grave, which is itself visibly the place of destruction. As a term for Sheol, Destruction, too, comes only here in the Psalms (but see Job 28:22; Prov. 15:11)... When you take the rock off a tomb to put another body there, you can see that death is a place of destruction. The body dissolves" (Goldingay 2007).
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* '''v. 12: בַּקֶּבֶר'''
:Taking the context into account, בַּקֶּבֶר can be understood metonymically as the "realm of the dead", in which case the definite article is semantically interpreted as "Identifiability - unique referent".
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* The modality of 'possibility' for יִוָּדַע is understood as a combination of posteriority & reference point movement, since 'possibility' is analyzed as a semantic derivative of futurity ('Your wonders will be known at any point in the future' --> 'Your wonders are able to be known now').
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* '''v. 11, 13: singular of פֶּלֶא as a collective noun'''
:See note under %5Bhttps://psalms.scriptura.org/w/Psalm_88_Semantics#v._11 v. 11%5D.
* '''v. 13: חֹשֶׁךְ used figuratively'''
:The direct context of חֹשֶׁךְ, namely vv. 12-13 each of which appear in parallel, reveals a sequence of '''places''' which serve as the locations of each its respective clauses: בקבר, באבדון and בארץ נשיה. It therefore calls for a similar reading of בחשך, metonymically, as "place of darkness" or "dark region" referring to the world of the dead, rather than as a natural phenomenon in our world, namely "at night, when it's dark". This reading is backed by NET and NIV.
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* '''v. 13: אֶרֶץ נְשִׁיָּה'''
:LXX has a passive participle "a forgotten land" (καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη σου ἐν γῇ ἐπιλελησμένῃ;), which strengthens the semantic analysis of this construct chain as of a verb with its object. The Hebrew noun נְשִׁיָּה itself is a verbal noun of the קְטִילָה pattern derived from the root נשי ('forget').
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* The lack of movement and an habitual process (indicated by the context) prompts us to render שִׁוַּעְתִּי in English as a present perfect progressive.
* The lack of reference point movement and ''yiqtol'' verbal form prompt us to read תְקַדְּמֶךָּ as an imperfective future with implied habituality that is anchored in the present: "my prayer will keep welcoming you, as it has up until now."
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* The '''''waw''''' opening the verse is not understood as a coordinative one connecting v.14 with v.13, but as a marker of a topic-shift (אני), beginning a new section in the psalm. It is therefore represented in the diagram as an element belonging to clause-level.
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The lack of reference point movement and ''yiqtol'' verbal forms prompt us to translate תִּזְנַח and תַּסְתִּיר in English as relative imperfective present tenses, with implied continuity (not habituality), to get 'keep doing...'. +
* A nominal clause in v. 16a has the implied semantics in grey (see next line for an explanation of the analysis).
* The participle גֹוֵעַ indicates an on-going state that started in the past and has been extending continuously until the present point. It is best rendered in English with a present perfect continuos tense, but may be rendered with other tenses in other languages (for example, with a present tense)
* The lack of movement and an habitual process (indicated by the context) prompts us to render נָשָׂאתִי in English as a present perfect progressive.
* Formally identical to a cohortative form, we understand אֶפּוֹרָה semantically as a ''yiqtol'' one and prefer to take the paragogic ה as a stylistic coloring, rather than a cohortative marker: "... forms chosen merely for euphony... due to considerations of rhythm" (Gesenius §108g); cf. also JM §114c, footnote #3). Similar instances, all from poetry, are Jer 4:21, 6:10, Ps 57:5. ** for emendation see exegetical issue on v. 16d (MT: אָפֽוּנָה)
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* '''v. 16 יָגֵעַ''' LXX, Jerome, and Peshitta have יָגֵעַ instead of גֹּוֵעַ. We consider the former a dispreferred emendation, as גוע is ''lectio difficilior''. The reason is that גוע, a perfective glossed as "expire one's last breath" is not attested anywhere in the Bible in its participle form. This would turn it into an imperfective-telic verb ("to be about to expire one's last breath"), a hard but very possible (and highly graphic) reading. In addition to that, since the psalm is obsessive with the idea of death, we take גוע as the preferred reading, also supported by all modern translations.
%5B%5BFile: Psalm 088 - grammar v. 16b alt.jpg%7Cclass%3Dimg-fluid%7C825px%5D%5D
* '''v. 16b alt #1 נִשֵֹּאתִי אִמָּךָ''' Alternative is based on the LXX (ὑψωθεὶς δὲ ἐταπεινώθην) and Peshitta (ܐܬܬܪܝܡܬ ܘܐܬܡܟܟܬ), which can be translated as: ‘I'm lifted up and (then) brought low’. The alternative is made possible through a revocalisation of both words: נִשֵֹּאתִי is read as a Niph'al verb instead of Qal, while אִמָּךָ is read as a Niph'al verb of the root מככ (‘be brought low, humiliated’) instead of the noun אֵמֶיךָ, with an omission of the mater lectionis in the MT. This reading is dispreferred as it is not clear how ‘being lifted up’ is compatible with the message of the psalm, especially as the preceding line is emphasizing how he's been afflicted since youth. The MT text, on the other hand, fits well with the psalm's message.
%5B%5BFile: Psalm 088 - grammar v. 16c.jpg%7Cclass%3Dimg-fluid%7C825px%5D%5D
* '''v. 16c אָפוּנָה''' The MT reading אָפוּנָה from the unattested root פונ is emended here to אֶפּוֹרָה from the root פור (cognate to פרר "tear/break") to get "I keep being torn apart") in Niphal. This text is attested in 4Q98c, which Longacre and Strawn (2022) argue is part of the proto-Massoretic 4Q85. Skehan et al. (2000) explains LXX ἐξηπορήθην "I am desperate" as onomatopoeia for the 4Q98c reading, although the meaning is different. BHS suggests an emendation to אָפוּגָה "I keep being numb" from the root פוג, which otherwise it not supported by any version and fits in less with the context. For a full analysis of this line, see %5B%5BThe Text and Meaning of Ps. 88:16b%5D%5D.
* '''v. 16: אֵמָיךָ'''
:In a similar way to the analysis of חֲמָתֶךָ in v. 8, the general term אֵמִים "terrors" could be better rephrased in a materialistic and countable form of e.g. "terrifying assaults". The same goes for בִּעוּתֶיךָ in the next verse, a synonym of אֵמָיךָ.
* '''v. 16b: The form and meaning of the verb אֶפּוֹרָה'''
:For a detailed analysis, see %5B%5BThe Text and Meaning of Ps. 88:16b%5D%5D.
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* The lack of movement and an habitual process prompts us to render עָבְרוּ in English as a present perfect progressive.
* The lack of movement and an habitual process prompts us to render צִמְּתוּנִי in English as a present perfect progressive. ** for emendation verse-by-verse note v. 17b (MT: צִמְּתוּתֻֽנִי)
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* '''v. 17 צִמְּתוּתֻנִי''' MT has an anomalous form, which Gesenius calls "barbarous"(cf. §55d). Seemingly a ''Pilel" form (with its second ת), the ''shuruq'' vowel at the first ת, is not compatible with the expected morphology of ''Pilel''. The MT form seems to be a corruption of the 3rd person plural ''qatal'' ending. We therefore go with the emendation of BHS (supported by some medieval Hebrew manuscripts) and prefer to read the form as the basic ''Piel'' צִמְּתוּנִי.
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* '''v. 17 צִמְּתוּתֻנִי''' MT has an anomalous form, which Gesenius calls "barbarous"(cf. §55d). Seemingly a ''Pilel'' form (with its second ת), the ''shuruq'' vowel at the first ת, is not compatible with the expected morphology of ''Pilel''. The MT form seems to be a corruption of the 3rd person plural ''qatal'' ending. We therefore go with the emendation of BHS (supported by some medieval Hebrew manuscripts) and prefer to read the form as the basic ''Piel'' צִמְּתוּנִי.
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* '''v. 17: חֲרוֹנֶיךָ'''
:For the paraphrase "outbursts of wrath", cf. comment for חֲמָתֶךָ in v. 8 above.
* '''v. 17: עָלַי'''
:In addition to the concrete spatial sense of the preposition על, definitely an element in the picture depicted in this verse, it often has a nuance of hostility, e.g., עָלָיו עָלָה שַׁלְמַנְאֶסֶר מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר in 2 Kgs 17:3 (cf. Waltke & O’Conner §11.2.13.14).
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* The lack of movement and a continuous process prompts us to render סַבּוּנִי in English as a present perfect progressive, with the notion of graduality.
* The lack of movement and a continuous process (indicated by the context) prompts us to render הִקִּיפוּ in English as a present perfect progressive.
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* '''v. 18: יָחַד'''
:The noun יָחַד ("unitednees) is, bar one instance, always used adverbially with the sense of "together, in union", cf. JM §126d
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