Exegetical Issue—Greg

Introduction

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

אֵֽין־אֹ֭מֶר וְאֵ֣ין דְּבָרִ֑ים

בְּ֝לִ֗י נִשְׁמָ֥ע קוֹלָֽם׃

Consider the following three translations of this clause:

• There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard (CSB, NIV, NLT, etc.).
• There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard (ESV, NJPS).
• There is no speech and there are no words without their voice being heard (similarly KJV, NIV84: "where their voice is not heard" carries the same logical-grammatical sense).

There are three different ways to read the syntax of 19:4b:

1. Independent clause, resulting in the meaning that their voice is not heard.
2. Relative clause, resulting in the meaning that their voice is heard.
3. Circumstantial clause, resulting in the meaning their voice is emphatically heard.

Argument Maps

Independent Clause

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[Independent Clause]: Psalm 19:4b is an independent clause, resulting in the sense that "their voice is not heard." #dispreferred
 + <Coherence within the verse>: Interpreting Ps 19:4b as an independent clause results in a coherent reading of Ps 19:4 as a whole. #dispreferred
   + <Ps 19:4 makes sense as a series of negative statements>: Ps 19:4b may simply match the negative statements about speech in Ps 19:4a. #dispreferred
     + [Ps 19:4a is negative]: Ps 19:4a contains two clauses that are both negative statements about sound: "there is no speech" and "there are no words." #dispreferred
 + [Lack of a relative marker]: There is no relative marker such as אֲשֶׁר or -שֶׁ in Ps 19:4b. #dispreferred
   <_ <Ps 19:4b could be an asyndetic relative clause>: The asyndetic relative clause has no distinct relative marker and is found especially in poetry and elevated prose (J-M §158a* :G:, IBHS §19.6 :G:); it is expressed by simple coordination, being juxtaposed to the main clause (GKC §155.b :G:, IBHS §19.6 :G:).
 + <A difficult reading>: Taking Ps 19:4b as an independent clause results in a more difficult reading, which is to be preferred. #dispreferred
   + <Contradicts the context>: If Ps 19:4b means that there are no speech or words, and that their voice is not heard, then this contradicts the context which affirms the existence of speech and words. #dispreferred
     +[Ps 19:3 is positive about speech]: Verse 3 has just affirmed the existence of the speech of the days. The term "אֹמֶר in verse 4 must not be taken in any other sense than in v. 3" (Baethgen 1904, 55 :C:). 
     +[Ps 19:5b affirms the existence of speech]: Ps 19:5b says "their words go out to the end of the world."
     <_ <Logically fallacious>: The contradiction with the context creates a logical fallacy between v 3 and 4.
       + [Law of Noncontradiction]: The Law of Noncontradiction states that something cannot both exist and not exist in the same sense and at the same time.
   + <Lectio difficilior>: A textual critic generally considers a more difficult reading more likely to be the earliest form (Andersen et. al. 2018, 47 (:M:)). #dispreferred
     <_ <Not a textual-critical problem>: The problem is not an issue of textual variation but of correct grammatical interpretation of the MT text. 
     <_ <Not airtight>: By itself, the ''lectio difficilior'' argument does not account for the possibility of egregious copying errors.
 + <The difficulty is poetic>: The independent clause reading creates a tension that is highly poetic and therefore matches the poetic genre the Psalms. #dispreferred
   + <The tension creates a poetic "wonderful idea">: "Here, then, is the origin of this wonderful idea of the mysterious song of the heavens, which is so loud that the ends of the world resound with it, and which nevertheless no man has ever heard" (Gunkel 1903, 282 :A:) and is so "high above human beings and cannot be picked up" (Kraus 1988, 271 :C:). #dispreferred
    <_ <Self-evidently impossible>: The Psalmist could not know or speak of these sounds if he himself could not perceive them; he does perceive the sounds of creation in v 2-3. 
    <_ <The negations are against the flow of the Psalm>: the resultant meaning implies that "the poet would then needlessly check his fervour, producing a tame thought and one that interrupts the flow of the hymn" (Kiel & Delitzsch 1996, 176 :C:).
    - <Does not solve the contradiction>: Verse 3 says the words exist; verse 4 would say they do not.
      + <Logically fallacious>: The contradiction with the context creates a logical fallacy between v 3 and 4.
       + [Law of Noncontradiction]: The Law of Noncontradiction states that something cannot both exist and not exist in the same sense and at the same time.
    <_ <The tension is not marked>: The Psalmist does not mark any tension in the syntax.
      + <Need for a waw adversitivum>: A negative statement followed by a positive statement about the same subject suggests the need for a "waw adversativum" meaning "yet," "still" between them.
         + <Inaudible words, yet they still go out>: "If v. 4 were to be rendered "there is no speech and there are no words, their voice is inaudible, then v. 5 ought at least to begin with a "Waw adversitum" (Kiel & Delitzsch 1996, 176 :C:).
      <_ <Poetic economy>: Poetry sometimes lacks discourse features that would be expected in other forms of communication. #dispreferred

Relative Clause

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[Relative Clause]: The clause is relative, resulting in the translation sense "which are not heard." #dispreferred
  + <Earliest translations agree>: The ancient translations all take Ps 19:4b as a relative clause. #dispreferred
    +[Ancient translations of Ps 19:4b]: LXX, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, Peshitta, Jerome, and Targum all take Ps 19:4b as a relative clause. For example, the LXX supplies the genitive plural relative pronoun ὧν ("of which") to link Ps 19:4b to Ps 19:4a. #dispreferred
    <_ <Ancient translations not always reliable>: Ancient translators are not always reliable interpreters.
      + <Translation principles>: Ancient translators did not always understand the Hebrew text, translation correspondence is not always perfect, and sometimes the LXX and Targum translators show deliberate signs of updating their texts to their own audiences .
      + <Later translations sometimes relied on earlier translations>: The widely-used LXX likely had considerable influence over the translation of subsequent ancient texts. 
  +<An asyndetic relative clause>: Psalm 19:4b is an asyndetic relative clause, meaning that it lacks a relative marker but is still a relative clause. #dispreferred
    + <May be asyndetic>: Hebrew relative clauses may be asyndetic, meaning that there is no relative marker to mark the relative clause. #dispreferred
     + [Lack of relative marker]: There is no relative marker in the MT text of Ps 19:4.
     + <(Un)marking of asyndetic relative clauses>: There is "no formal device to signal the beginning of an asyndetic relative clause (J-M §158db :G:, IBHS §19.6 :G:). #dispreferred
       + [Lack of relative marker]: Ps 19:4:b has no relative marker. #dispreferred
       <_ <Cannot be disproven>: Since an asyndetic relative clause is unmarked, it is virtually impossible to disprove the presence of the relative sense in such clauses on grammatical grounds. #dispreferred 
     + <Asyndetic relatives appear in poetry>: The asyndetic relative clause has no distinct relative marker and is found especially in poetry and elevated prose (J-M §158a* :G:, IBHS §19.6 :G:); it is expressed by simple co-oordination, being juxtaposed to the main clause (GKC §155.b :G:, IBHS §19.6 :G:). #dispreferred
        + [A poetic text]: Ps 19 is poetry and therefore is a prime candidate to contain asyndetic relative clauses. #dispreferred
     + <Asyndetics appear after indeterminate nouns>: Asyndetic relative clauses happen most often after an indeterminate noun (J-M §158a :G:; GKC §155.d :G:). #dispreferred
        + [Indeterminate nouns in Ps 19:4a]: Neither אֹמֶר nor דְּבָרִים are semantically or grammatically determinate (normally translated as "there is no speech and there are no words"). #dispreferred
        + [Other examples of asyndetics after indeterminates]: Dt 32:17 אלהים לא יְדָעוּם gods whom they did not know; Is 51:12 אֱנוֹשׁ יָמוּת a man who dies; 55:13 לְאֹ֥ות עֹולָ֖ם לֹ֥א יִכָּרֵֽת an eternal sign which will not be cut off; etc. #dispreferred
     + <The fronting of the verb>: The fronting of the verb in Ps 19:4b marks the clause as an asyndetic relative clause. #dispreferred
         + [The asyndetic relative clause order]: An asyndetic relative clause usually has its verb at the beginning (J-M §158db :G:). #dispreferred
         + [A participle that precedes its subject is fronted]: It is unusual for a participle to precede its subject; doing so causes it to be grammatically marked. #dispreferred
         + [Verb is fronted in Ps 19:4b]: The verb in Ps 19:4b is at the beginning of the clause and is followed by its subject ("their voice"). #dispreferred
     + <Lack of waw suggests not an independent clause>: "The absence of a ''waw'' at the beginning of v. 4b signals that this clause may not merely continue" the "there is no…and no…" sequence of v. 4a as suggested by the independent clause interpretation (Goldingay 2006, n. 12). #dispreferred
     + <Resumptive pronoun>: The presence of the resumptive pronoun in v. 4b supports the idea that clause 4b is relative (Goldingay 2006, n. 12). #dispreferred
       + [Resumptive pronouns in relative clauses]: Complete relative clauses have a resumptive pronoun (J-M §145a; cf. Jer 28:9; Gen 7:2). #dispreferred
         <_ <Resumptive pronoun usage>: The resumptive pronoun does not attach to another noun as a possessive. 
          + [Resumptive pronoun occurrences]: The resumptive pronoun in Jer 28:9 is attached to a verb; the resumptive pronoun in Gen 7:2 is an independent pronoun.
       <_ <Does not prove>: The resumptive pronoun in verse 4b may suggest against v. 4b as independent, but this does not prove that the clause is relative. There are other possibilities, such as a circumstantial clause.
       - <May be a simple possessive pronoun>: Just because a pronoun has an antecedent does not mean it is a resumptive pronoun. The pronoun suffix in v. 4b may be a possessive pronoun in an independent clause. 
  + <Meaning fits the context>: The relative clause meaning fits the context's affirmation that speech is heard. #dispreferred
    +<The context>: The surrounding verses affirm the breadth of speech's reach. #dispreferred
       + [Speech terms in the context]: Verses 2 and 3 accumulate speech terms (מְסַפְּרִים, מַגִּיד ,אֹמֶר, יְחַוֶּה) topped off by מִלֵּיהֶ֑ם in verse 5. #dispreferred
       + [Breadth terms in the context]: The terms הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם and הָרָקִֽיעַ in verse 2, the merism יֹ֣ום
 and לַיְלָה in verse 3, and the phrases בְּכָל־הָאָ֨רֶץ and וּבִקְצֵ֣ה תֵ֭בֵל point to the breadth of the speech's scope. #dispreferred
    - <Includes too much>: The relative clause includes all speech and words without restriction; it says that "''all'' speech is heard," not just the praises of the heavens and days.
      + [Context is restrictive]: The context specifically speaks of the communication belonging not to every source but to the heavens and the expanse, and the day and the night; furthermore, this communication is about "the glory of God," the "works of his hands," and "knowledge," and not about just any topic.
      + [Indeterminate antecedent]: In the relative clause interpretation, the antecedent of the resumptive pronoun - the 3mp suffix - is either דְּבָרִים alone or דְּבָרִים and אֹמֶר. Both are indeterminate.            

Circumstantial Clause (preferred)

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=== 
[Circumstantial Clause]: Ps 19:4b is a circumstantial clause, meaning "without their voice being heard."
  + <Circumstantial clauses are often unmarked>: "Very frequently...statements of the particular circumstances are subordinated to the main clause by simply being attached, without Waw, either as noun-clauses or as verbal-clauses" (GKC §156.a.1 :G:).
    + [Ps 19:4b is attached without waw]: Ps 19:4b is a verbal clause that is attached to Ps 19:4a without a waw and communicates the circumstances under which one could say that "there is no sound" and "there are no words".
  + <Circumstantial clauses are frequently negative in BH>: Circumstantial clauses are frequently negative (GKC §156.d.3 :G:). 
    +[A negative clause]: Ps 19:4a is a negative clause.
  + <Circumstantial clauses are often negative adverbial ideas>: Among circumstantial clauses in BH are  "a certain number of expressions which may be regarded simply as equivalent to negative adverbial ideas" (GKC §156.d.3 :G:)
     + <Ps 19:4b is a negative adverbial idea>: Based on similar constructions, Ps 19:4b may function as an adverbial idea.
       + [Example of בְּלִי + participle]: Hos 7:8 has בְּלִי הֲפוּכָה - an unprefixed בְּלִי with a passive participle (close to Niphal participle) functioning adverbially (DCH 2, 177 :L:).
         +[A singular exact parallel]: Hos 7:8 is the only other example in the HB of unprefixed בְּלִי + participle (with the possibility of 2 Sam 1:21 also).
       +[Is 14:6 has a similar elements]: In Is 14:6, בְּלִי serves as an adverbial modifier of a finite verb to create a circumstantial clause (GKC §156.g).
  + <Circumstantial clauses feature participles>: There are examples of circumstantial clauses with participles, and so the participle in Ps 19:4b suggests a circumstantial clause.
      + [Examples of participles in circumstantial clauses]: Jeremiah 17:25: יֹשְׁבִים עַל־כִּסֵּא
"sitting on thrones" and רֹכְבִים בָּרֶכֶב "riding on chariots;" 2 Chr 5:6: לִפְנֵי הָאָרֹון מְזַבְּחִם "before the ark, sacrificing" (J-M §159.a :G:).
      +[Example of לֹֹא + participle in a circumstantial clause]: The participle modified by לֹֹא may function adverbially, such as "without hating" לֹא־שֹׂנֵא in Dt 4:42; 19:4, 6.
        +[Equivalent expression]: The negative particles לֹא and בְּלִי are often equivalent; the only difference is that the latter appears in poetry (GKC §152.t :G:). 
        + <Subordinate verbal clauses with לֹא>: Subordinate verbal clauses with לֹא are usually rendered in English by ''without'' and the gerund, if the subject is the same as in the principal clause (GKC §156.f :G:).
  + <Not an independent clause>: Syntax suggests that Ps 19:4b is not an independent clause making the same negative argument about "speech" and "words" as Ps 19:4a
     + <בְּלִי in sequence>: "This third negation בְּלִי denotes...an exception from the former members," that is to say, the אֵין clauses (Calvin 1965, 218 :C:). The pattern of אֵין...אֵין...בְּלִי suggests that בְּלִי has a different function than אֵין here. 
  + <Best semantic fit>: The meaning of Ps 19:4b when translated as a circumstantial clause creates the best fit with the surrounding context.
    + <Affirms the same "speech" of vv. 2-3>: The circumstantial rendering affirms the speech of the surrounding context, specifically relating it to the speech of the "heavens," "expanse," "night," and "day." In sum, "the testimony of the heavens to God is understood by the peoples" (Keil & Delitzsch 1996, 176 :C: citing Calvin).
      +[Pronominal suffix as retrospective pronoun]: In the circumstantial rendering, the pronominal suffix ־ם does not refer to the "words" (as the relative clause must if not coupled with the circumstantial reading) but to the "heavens," "expanse," "night," and "day."
   + <Poetic flourish>: The circumstantial clause creates a hyperbolic figure that fits naturally as an accumulation of the preceding sequence of grandiose ideas about the scope of communication.

Conclusion

An independent clause is the least likely sense of Ps 19:4b. The meaning is counter to the flow of the Psalm and is self-evidentially impossible. From a grammatical standpoint, there are other options available.

A relative clause is a better option for the sense of Ps 19:4b. The meaning is more in step with the context and the asyndetic relative clause is a grammatically viable option. Most (and possibly all) ancient translations understand the clause this way. However, the clause does not match the context exactly.

The preferred reading is as a circumstantial clause. A circumstantial clause may also function as a relative clause, and that is the case here, so the grammatical arguments for the clause as a relative still apply. There is biblical evidence of similar grammatical constructions that function as circumstantial clauses, and this rendering most closely matches the surrounding context. It has the added benefit of affirming the preceding lines with a poetic, hyperbolic flourish.

Thus, the Psalmist is saying, "Nature and time speak of God, and their communication is so universal and important that without them being heard, there would be no other speech or words."

Research

Translations

Ancient

Relative Clause

• 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"
• 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
• 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
  • "There is no word of commotion, nor are there words of confusion, and their voice is not heard."

Conditional Clause

• Peshitta: ܠܝܬ ܡܐܡܪܐ ܐܦ ܠܐ ܡ̈ܠܐ܂ ܕܠܐ ܢܫܬܡܥ ܒܩܠܗܘܢ܂
  • "There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard."

Modern

Independent Clause

• There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. (CSB)
• 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; (GNB)
• There is no actual speech or word, nor is its voice literally heard. (NET)
• They have no speech or words; they have no voice to be heard. (NCV)
• 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. (NASB95)
• Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, (MSG)
• There is no speech and there are no words; their sound is inaudible. (LEB)
• They have no speech or words; they have no voice to be heard. (NCV)
• ohne Sprache und ohne Worte; unhörbar ist ihre Stimme.(LB)
• 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. (ZB)
• 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)
• Sin palabras, sin lenguaje, sin una voz perceptible, (DHH)
• Donde no hay lenguaje ni idioma, La voz de Ellos no es para ser oída, (BTX4)

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.(JPS1985)

Conditional Clause

• There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. (KJV)
• There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. (NIV84)

Secondary Literature

Anderson, Amy, Wendy Widder, and Douglas Mangum. Textual Criticism of the Bible: Revised edition. Lexham Methods Series. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018.

Baethgen, Friedrich. Die Psalmen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1904.

Calvin, John. Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Translated by James Anderson. Grand Rapids: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 1965.

Davidson, A. B. Introductory Hebrew Grammar Hebrew Syntax. 3d ed. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1902.

Gesenius, Friedrich Wilhelm. Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar. Edited by E. Kautzsch and Sir Arthur Ernest Cowley. 2d English ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910.

Goldingay, John. Psalms: Psalms 1–41. Vol. 1. BCOT. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006.

Gunkel, Hermann. 1903. "Psalm 19:1-6: An Interpretation." The Biblical World 21: 281-283.

Joüon, Paul, and T. Muraoka. A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew. Roma: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2006.

Keil, Carl Friedrich, and Franz Delitzsch. Commentary on the Old Testament. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996.

Kraus, Hans-Joachim. Psalms 1–59: A Continental Commentary. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993.

Perowne, J. J. Stewart. The Book of Psalms: A New Translation, with Introductions and Notes Explanatory and Critical. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. Andover: Warren F. Draper, 1876.

Van der Merwe, Christo H. J., Jacobus A. Naudé, and Jan H. Kroeze. A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar. Second Edition. London: Bloomsbury, 2017.

Waltke, Bruce K., and Michael Patrick O’Connor. An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1990.