Exegetical Issue—Hunter

Introduction

The Hebrew text of Ps 19:4 reads as follows:

אֵֽין־אֹ֭מֶר וְאֵ֣ין דְּבָרִ֑ים

בְּ֝לִ֗י נִשְׁמָ֥ע קוֹלָֽם׃

Consider the following two translations of this clause:

• They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. (NIV)
• There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. (ESV)

There are two ways to understand the syntax of v. 4b:

1. as a relative clause
2. as an independent clause

Argument Maps

Independent Clause

===
model:
    removeTagsFromText: true
    shortcodes:
      ":C:": {unicode: "🄲"}
      ":G:": {unicode: "🄶"}
      ":A:": {unicode: "🄰"}
      ":I:": {unicode: "🄸"}    
      ":L:": {unicode: "🄻"}
      ":D:": {unicode: "🄳"}    
      ":M:": {unicode: "🄼"}   
selection:
    excludeDisconnected: false
dot:
    graphVizSettings:
        concentrate: true
        ranksep: 0.2
        nodesep: 0.2
=== 
[Main point title]: Main point.
 + <Supporting argument title>: Type supporting argument here (Author Date:Page :C:).
  + <Supporting statement title>: Type supporting statement here (Author Date:Page :G:).
   + [Supporting evidence title]: List supporting evidence here.
  <_ <Undercutting statement title>:Type undercutting statement here (Author Date:Page :C:).#dispreferred
  - <Refuting statement title>:Type refuting statement here (Author Date:Page :C:; Author Date:Page :A:).#dispreferred

If an argument map is very wide (i.e., has many propositions at the same level), it may be necessary to adjust the presentation so that the flow of the argument is horizontal instead of vertical. This can be done by adding "rankdir: LR" to "graphVizSettings." E.g.,

===Relative Clause===
<argdown>
===
model:
    removeTagsFromText: true
    shortcodes:
      ":C:": {unicode: "🄲"}
      ":G:": {unicode: "🄶"}
      ":A:": {unicode: "🄰"}
      ":I:": {unicode: "🄸"}    
      ":L:": {unicode: "🄻"}
      ":D:": {unicode: "🄳"}    
      ":M:": {unicode: "🄼"}   
selection:
    excludeDisconnected: false
dot:
    graphVizSettings:
        concentrate: true
        ranksep: 0.2
        nodesep: 0.2
=== 
[Main point title]: Main point.
 + <Supporting argument title>: Type supporting argument here (Author Date:Page :C:).
  + <Supporting statement title>: Type supporting statement here (Author Date:Page :G:).
   + [Supporting evidence title]: List supporting evidence here.
  <_ <Undercutting statement title>:Type undercutting statement here (Author Date:Page :C:).#dispreferred
  - <Refuting statement title>:Type refuting statement here (Author Date:Page :C:; Author Date:Page :A:).#dispreferred

If an argument map is very wide (i.e., has many propositions at the same level), it may be necessary to adjust the presentation so that the flow of the argument is horizontal instead of vertical. This can be done by adding "rankdir: LR" to "graphVizSettings." E.g.,

<argdown>

Research

Translations

Ancient

• LXX: οὐκ εἰσὶν λαλιαὶ οὐδὲ λόγοι, ὧν οὐχὶ ἀκούονται αἱ φωναὶ αὐτῶν
• Aquila: οὐκ ἔστι λόγος, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι ῥήματα, οὗ μὴ ἀκουσθῇ φωνὴ αὐτοῦ
• Symmachus: οὐ ῥήσεσιν, οὐδὲ λόγοις, ὧν οὐκ ἀκούονται αἱ φωναί
• Jerome (iuxta Hebr.): non est sermo et non sunt verba quibus non audiatur vox eorum
• Targum: לית מימר דתורעמתא ולית מילי דשגושא דלא משתמע קלהון
• Peshitta: ܠܝܬ ܡܐܡܪܐ ܐܦ ܠܐ ܡ̈ܠܐ܂ ܕܠܐ ܢܫܬܡܥ ܒܩܠܗܘܢ

Modern

v. 4b Independent Clause

• They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. (NIV)
• They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.(NLT)
• 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)
• There is no actual speech or word, nor is its voice literally heard. (NET)
• 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)

v. 4b 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)