Psalm 110 Grammar

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• Grammar
• Semantics
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• Discourse
• Poetics

About the Grammar Layer

The grammar layer visually represents the grammar and syntax of each clause. It also displays alternative interpretations of the grammar. (For more information, click "Expand" to the right.)

The grammatical diagram provides a way to visualise how different parts of a sentence work together. It represents the “surface-level” grammar, or morphosyntax, of a sentence. Morphosyntax includes both the form of words (morphology) and their placement in the sentence (syntax). This approach to visualising the text, based on the Reed-Kellogg diagramming method, places the grammatical subject in one slot, the verb in another slot, and modifiers and connectives in other slots.

For a detailed description of our method, see the Grammar Creator Guidelines.

Grammar Visuals for Ps. 110

Grammatical Diagram

The grammar layer visually represents the grammar and syntax of each clause. It also displays alternative interpretations of the grammar. (For more information, click "Grammar Legend" below.)

Grammar Legend

Visualization	Description
	The clause is represented by a horizontal line with a vertical line crossing through it, separating the subject and the verb.
	The object is indicated by a vertical line that does not cross the horizontal line of the clause. Infinitives and participles may also have objects. If the direct object marker (d.o.m.) is present in the text, it appears in the diagram immediately before the object. If the grammar includes a secondary object, the secondary object will appear after the object, separated by another vertical line that does not cross the horizontal line of the clause.
	The subject complement follows the verb (often omitted in Hebrew) separated with a line leaning toward the right. It can be a noun, a whole prepositional phrase or an adjective. The later two appear modifying the complement slot.
	When a noun further describes or renames the object, it is an object complement. The object complement follows the object separated by a line leaning toward the right.
	In a construct chain, the noun in the absolute form modifies the noun in the construct form.
	Participles are indicated in whatever position in the clause they are in with a curved line before the participle. Participles can occur as nominal, where they take the place of a noun, predicate, where they take the place of a verb, or attributive, where they modify a noun or a verb similar to adjectives or adverbs.
	Infinitives are indicated by two parallel lines before the infinitive that cross the horizontal line. Infinitive constructs can appear as the verb in an embedded clause. Infinitive absolutes typically appear as an adverbial.
	The subject of the infinitive often appears in construct to it. In this situation, the infinitive and subject are diagrammed as a construct chain.
	The object of the infinitive is indicated by a vertical line that does not cross the horizontal line of the infinitival clause.
	Modifiers are represented by a solid diagonal line from the word they modify. They can attach to verbs, adjectives, or nouns. If modifying a verb or adjective, it is an adverb, but if modifying a noun, it is an adjective, a quantifier, or a definite article. If an adverb is modifying a modifier, it is connected to the modifier by a small dashed horizontal line.
	Adverbials are indicated by a dashed diagonal line extending to a horizontal line. These are nouns or infinitives that function adverbially (modifying either a verb or a participle), but are not connected by a preposition.
	Prepositional phrases are indicated by a solid diagonal line extending to a horizontal line. The preposition is to the left of the diagonal line and the dependent of the preposition is on the horizontal line. They can modify verbs (adverbial) or nouns (adjectival).
	Embedded clauses are indicated by a "stand" that looks like an upside-down Y. The stand rests in the grammatical position that the clause fulfills. Extending from the top of the stand is a horizontal line for the clause. If introduced by a complementizer, for example כִּי, the complementizer appears before the stand. Embedded clauses can stand in the place of any noun.
	When clauses are joined by a conjunction, they are compound clauses. These clauses are connected by a vertical dotted line. The conjunction is placed next to the dotted line.
	Within a clause, if two or more parts of speech are compound, these are represented by angled lines reaching to the two compound elements connected by a solid vertical line. If a conjunction is used, the conjunction appears to the left of the vertical line. Almost all parts of speech can be compound.
	Subordinate clauses are indicated by a dashed line coming from the line dividing the subject from the predicate in the independent clause and leading to the horizontal line of the subordinate clause. The subordinating conjunction appears next to the dashed line.
	Relative clauses also have a dashed line, but the line connects the antecedent to the horizontal line of the relative clause. The relative particle appears next to the dashed line.
	Sentence fragments are represented by a horizontal line with no vertical lines. They are most frequently used in superscriptions to psalms. They are visually similar to discourse particles and vocatives, but most often consist of a noun phrase (that does not refer to a person or people group) or a prepositional phrase.
	In the body of the psalm, a horizontal line by itself (with no modifiers or vertical lines) can indicate either a discourse particle or a vocative (if the word is a noun referring to a person or people group). A discourse particle is a conjunction or particle that functions at the discourse level, not at the grammatical level. Vocatives can appear either before or after the clause addressed to them, depending on the word order of the Hebrew.
	Apposition is indicated by an equal sign equating the two noun phrases. This can occur with a noun in any function in a sentence.

Hebrew text colors
Default preferred text	The default preferred reading is represented by a black line. The text of the MT is represented in bold black text.
Dispreferred reading	The dispreferred reading is an alternative interpretation of the grammar, represented by a pink line. The text of the MT is represented in bold pink text, while emendations and revocalizations retain their corresponding colors (see below).
Emended text	Emended text, text in which the consonants differ from the consonants of the Masoretic text, is represented by bold blue text, whether that reading is preferred or dispreferred.
Revocalized text	Revocalized text, text in which only the vowels differ from the vowels of the Masoretic text, is represented by bold purple text, whether that reading is preferred or dispreferred.
(Supplied elided element)	Any element that is elided in the Hebrew text is represented by bold gray text in parentheses.
( )	The position of a non-supplied elided element is represented by empty black parentheses. For example, this would be used in the place of the noun when an adjective functions substantivally or in the place of the antecedent when a relative clause has an implied antecedent.

Gloss text colors
Gloss used in the CBC	The gloss used in the Close-but-Clear translation is represented by bold blue text.
Literal gloss >> derived meaning	A gloss that shows the more literal meaning as well as the derived figurative meaning is represented in blue text with arrows pointing towards the more figurative meaning. The gloss used in the CBC will be bolded.
Supplied elided element	The gloss for a supplied elided element is represented in bold gray text.

v. 1

• "Such a case as לדוד מזמור (Ps. 24:1; etc.) is not to be regarded as a transposition, but מזמור is used epexegetically for the general term omitted before לדוד (as it were, a poem of David, a psalm)."

v. 2

v. 3

• On the text, see The Text, Grammar, and Meaning of Ps. 110:3.
• After the textual issues have been worked out, one main grammatical issue remains: what is the syntactic function of לך?
  • Option 1: לך as predicate complement (lamed of possession). "The dew of your youth will be yours" (ESV, cf. KJV, JPS, REB, NET, RVR95).
  • Option 2 (preferred): לך as adverbial (lamed dativum) modifying implied verb. "The dew of your youth comes to you" (cf. RSV, NRSV, ZÜR; cf Targum: יסתרהבון לך ["will hasten to you"]). Cf. 2 Sam. 12:4; ; Isa. 49:18; Amos 6:1; Zech. 9:9. A verb like בוא is "implied in the preposition 'to'" as well as by the other prepositional phrases which specify the location of some activity: the king's young men will come "from the womb of the dawn on the holy mountains."
  • Option 3: לך as adverbial modifying טל (interpreted as a 3ms qal of טלל, cf. קל as 3ms qal of קלל). Cf. Ug. denom. ṭll to drop (dew) (1 Aqht 41, Gordon Ugaritic Textbook). According to DCH, two possible occurrences of this verb in the Hebrew Bible are in Hag. 1:10 and Deut. 33:13, though both require revocalization of the vowels). This view is unlikely because ילדות is a feminine noun.

v. 4

• See The Grammar and Meaning of Ps. 110:4.

v. 5

• Verse 5 may be either one clause ("YHWH, who is at your right hand, has crushed..."; cf. KJV, NEB, LUT, ELB) or two clauses ("YHWH is at your right hand. He has crushed..."; cf. NIV, NLT, ESV, REB, JPS85, GNT, CEV, HFA, NGÜ, ZÜR). The division of the MT accents (atnach) may suggest two separate clauses, while the lack of any line division in most LXX mss (see Rahlfs) may suggest one clause (so also Jerome according to Weber-Gryson 5th edition). The fact that יְמִֽינְךָ֑ is a contextual form and not a pausal form (יְמִינָךְ) may support reading these lines as a single clause.

v. 6

• The verb מלא may be intransitive ("it is full of corpses"; cf. Ps. 33:5) or transitive ("he fills [it/them] with corpses"; cf. 1 Kings 18:24). The LXX reads it in a transitive sense: πληρώσει πτώματα ("will make full with corpses" NETS), as does the Targum, which supplies the word "land" (ארעא) from the following line: מלי ארעא גושמי רשיען קטילין "he has filled the earth with the corpses of the wicked that have been slain." Others read it in an intransitive sense (e.g., Radak: ועשה דין ומשפט בגוים עד שמקום המלחמה מלא גויות). In either case, something must be supplied, either the subject or the object.
• Another option is to read מלא גויות as an asyndetic relative clause (= אשר מלא גויות) modifying גוים. This interpretation is supported by two considerations: (1) Analyzing מלא גויות as an asyndetic relative clause solves the problem of the missing constituent. There is no need to supply "the earth" in order to make the sentence grammatical. Instead, the text reads: "He will judge the nations whom he has filled with corpses." (2) The two clauses (ידין בגוים and מלא גויות) constitute a single poetic line; the prosodic unity supports the possibility of a syntactic unity. See e.g, Ps. 7:7c (וְע֥וּרָה אֵ֝לַ֗י מִשְׁפָּ֥ט צִוִּֽיתָ) in which the two clauses within a single line are probably to be read, with the LXX, as a single sentence: ἐξεγέρθητι, κύριε ὁ θεός μου, ἐν προστάγματι, ὧ ἐνετείλω.
• Some may object that מלא גויות cannot be an asyndetic relative clause, because the antecedent (גוים) is not resumed (e.g., מלא גויות אותם). Resumption of the direction object is optional, however, in cases in which the direct object lacks the definite direct object marker (את).
• Others may object that it would be odd to fill a "nation" with something; usually the act of "filling" involves some kind of container. But the word “nation” (גוי) implies both “people” and “land” (cf. phrase like אַרְצ֣וֹת גּוֹיִ֑ם in Ps. 105:44), and lands can be filled (e.g., Ezek. 8:17; 30:11).. Ps. 106:26-27 speak of the גּוֹיִם in the sense of “nations > land.” The fact that a beth preposition is prefixed to goyim in Ps. 110:6 (as in Ps. 106:27 above) might support this interpretation here: “He will judge among (localization) the nations whom he filled with corpses.” I had previously analyzed this beth as a beth of social contact (“he will judge the nations”), but it could also indicate location as DCH suggests: “בְּ of place, among, + גּוֹי nation Ps 110:6.”
• What does עַל אֶרֶץ רַבָּה modify?
  • Option 1: the PP עַל אֶרֶץ רַבָּה modifies the noun רֹאשׁ (e.g., NIV, ELB). This option is likely if ראש refers to a leader, since "heads" (=leaders) are said to be "over" people (Ex. 18:25; Deut. 1:15; Jdg. 11:11). Some point out that if עַל אֶרֶץ רַבָּה were intended to describe "heads," then we might have expected a construct chain (ראש ארץ רבה) or a lamed preposition (ראש לארץ רבה). But the analogous noun phrases מלך על (2 Kgs. 8:13; Job 41:26; Eccl. 1:12) and פקיד על (2 Kgs. 25:19=Jer. 52:25; Neh. 11:9) support reading ראש על in the sense of "head=leader over." This interpretation is further supported by the parallel in the previous verse (מָחַץ...מְלָכִים).
  • Option 2 (preferred): the PP עַל אֶרֶץ רַבָּה modifies the verb מָחַץ (e.g., NET, JPS, EÜ). When the phrase מחץ ראש occurs in Ps. 68:22 (יִמְחַץ רֹאשׁ אֹיְבָיו // קָדְקֹד שֵׂעָר) and Hab. 3:13, "head" refers not to leaders but to the literal body part (so Delitzsch 1871:195). If "head" is to be understood literally (as a body part), then עַל אֶרֶץ רַבָּה probably modifies מָחַץ. The construction is similar to Ps. 74:13: שִׁבַּ֖רְתָּ רָאשֵׁ֥י תַ֝נִּינִ֗ים עַל־הַמָּֽיִם.
• The singular noun רֹאשׁ is probably a collective (cf. LXX κεφαλὰς) as in Ps. 68:22 (רֹאשׁ אֹיְבָיו), and it may be short for רֹאשׁ מלכים (cf. Targum: רישי מלכיא), מלכים being implied from the previous verse (v. 5b).
• The word רַבָּה probably modifies אֶרֶץ with which it agrees in gender (f) and number (s) and to which it is prosodically bound (merka). Some have argued that because "earth" (אֶרֶץ) is never described as רַבָּה, the word רַבָּה must be an adverb as in Ps. 62:3 and 78:15 (cf. Pss. 123:3). But the phrase אֶרֶץ רַבָּה, though unique, is analogous to the common phrase תְּהוֹם רַבָּה (Gen. 7:11; Amos 7:7; Ps. 36:7; etc.).

v. 7

• What does בדרך modify?
  • Option 1: The prepositional phrase בדרך modifies ישתה ("he will drink on the way"). The accents group בדרך prosodically with ישתה and not with נחל, suggesting that בדרך does not modify נחל but ישתה: "on the way he will drink from the stream" (ELB) >> "on his campaign the king will drink from the stream" (NGÜ). Cf. Ps. 102:24 (עִנָּה בַדֶּרֶךְ כֹּחוֹ); Ezra 8:22 (לְעָזְרֵנוּ מֵאוֹיֵב בַּדָּרֶךְ). This view is likely if דרך refers to a military campaign (cf. 1 Sam. 15:18, 20).
  • Option 2 (preferred): The prepositional phrase בדרך modifies נחל ("a stream by the road"). The simplest explanation of the word order is that בדרך modifies נחל. Otherwise one must explain why two constituents (instead of just one constituent) are fronted.

Bibliography

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Briggs, Charles and Emilie Briggs. 1907. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Psalms. International Critical Commentary. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons.

Delitzsch, Franz. 1877. Biblical Commentary on the Psalms: Vol. 3. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.

Driver, G. R. 1964. "Psalm CX: Its Form Meaning and Purpose." In Studies in the Bible: Presented to Professor M.H. Segal by His Colleagues and Students. Edited by J. M. Grintz & J. Liver. Jerusalem: Published for the Israel Society for Biblical: 17-31.

Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm. 1867. Commentary on the Psalms. Vol III. 4th ed. Edinburg: T&T Clark.

Hossfeld, Frank-Lothar, and Erich Zenger. 2011. Psalms 3: A Commentary on Psalms 101-150. Edited by Klaus Baltzer. Translated by Linda M. Maloney. Hermeneia. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress.

Hupfeld, Hermann. 1871. Die Psalmen. Vol. 4. Gotha: F.A. Perthes.

Jenni, Ernst. 2000. Die Hebräischen Präpositionen Band 3: Die Präposition Lamed. Stuttgart: Verlag W. Kohlhammer.

Nordheim, Miriam von. 2008. Geboren von der Morgenröte? Psalm 110 in Tradition, Redaktion und Rezeption. Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener.

Olshausen, Justus. Die Psalmen. Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1853.

Stec, David M. 2004. The Targum of Psalms: Translated, with A Critical Introduction, Apparatus, and Notes. Collegeville: Liturgical Press.

Waltke, Bruce K., J. M. Houston, and Erika Moore. 2010. The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Commentary. Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.