Notes—Greg

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Welcome to the DRAFT Verse-by-Verse Notes for Psalm #19!

The Verse-by-Verse Notes present scholarly, exegetical materials (from all layers of analysis) in a verse-by-verse format. They often present alternative interpretive options and justification for a preferred interpretation. The Verse-by-Verse Notes are aimed at consultant-level users.

The discussion of each verse of this psalm includes the following items.

1. A link to the part of the overview video where the verse in question is discussed.
2. The verse in Hebrew and English.
3. An expanded paraphrase of the verse.
4. A grammatical diagram of the verse, which includes glosses for each word and phrase.
5. A series of notes on the verse, which contain information pertaining to the interpretation of the psalm (e.g., meaning of words and phrases, poetic features, difficult grammatical constructions, etc.).

The Skies Praise, The Sun Exudes Life (vv. 2-7)

The major challenge of Psalm 19 is discerning its essential unity. Though the major sections of the Psalm carry some sharp distinctions between them, there are strong reasons that the Psalm is a unified poem with a compelling story to tell:

• The first division of Psalm 19 is into two major sections: vv. 2-7 and vv. 8-15. These are boxed in grey below:

The Distinctives in the Major Sections

• The first section has many features that set it apart from the second section:

• • The first section is "a nature hymn" that is "characterized by word pictures drawn from mythology," while the second section "praises the law by enumerating its various aspects and its significance for the godly man."

• • The two sections are characterized by distinct repeated vocabulary:

• • The boundaries of the first major section are marked by the word "the heavens" (הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם) in vv. 2 and 7, while the boundaries of the second major section are marked by the root for "whole/complete" (תמם) in vv. 8 and 14 and the word "heart" (לֵב) in vv. 9 and 15.

• • There is personification throughout the first major section, where the heavens, expanse, day and night all speak (v. 2-3), and the sun is compared to a bridegroom and a warrior (v. 5). In the second major section, the instruction of YHWH is never personified (vv. 8-10) and is only comapared to inanimate objects like gold and honey (v. 12).

• • The contextual domain "universe" characterizes the first main section of the Psalm (vv. 2-7), where it appears 12 times, but nowhere else in the Psalm. Also predominant in this section is the contextual domain of light and darkness, which appears 7 times to describe elements of creation.

• • The first major section contains many third person pronouns, which helps cohere the section. In contrast, the first several verses of the second section (vv. 8-11) lack any pronouns or pronominal suffixes. This lack seems to indicate that the second major section does not refer back to the first major section, and consequently that there is a sharp break between verse 7 and verse 8.

• • The divine name YHWH (יְהוָה) does not occur in the first major section at all, but occurs 7 times in the second major section.

• • The scope described in the first major section is all-encompassing in terms of area: "heavens" (שָׁמַיִם, v. 2, 7), "in all the earth" (בְּכָל־הָאָ֨רֶץ, v. 5), "to the limits of the inhabited world" (בִקְצֵ֣ה תֵ֭בֵל, v. 5), and "to their limits" (עַל־קְצוֹתָם, v. 7). It is also broad in terms of time, including both "day" (יוֹם) and "night" (לַיְלָה).

• • The central emotions elicited by the first major section are awe and reverence as David describes creation praising God. Awe happens when one is in the presence of beauty, exceptional ability, virtue, and supernatural causality.

The Unity of the Psalm

• The distinctives of the two sections should not be overstated to drive a dichotomy between the two sections as though they are unrelated, for the following reasons:

Words as Worship

• • The psalm nearly begins (v. 3) and ends (v. 15) with the term "words/speech" (אֹמֶר), binding the psalm together as a whole. In fact, the first major subsection (vv. 2-5b) is dominated by words for communication, as the picture below shows:

• • • These terms for speech form an inclusio in the Psalm. At the beginning of the Psalm, they describe creation's praise to YHWH. In the final verse, David desires that his words to YHWH be acceptable, suggesting that David wants to praise YHWH as well.

• • • The primary question as the Psalm unfolds, then, is: "How can David praise God like creation does?"

From the Heavens to David's Heart

• • • There is a narrowing of focus on two fronts that takes place as the Psalm progresses. First is by refining its scope of activity from the heavens to David's heart:

• • • As noted earlier, the first major section describes the scope of activities in the broadest way possible, including terms like "heavens" (v. 2) and "in all the earth" (v. 5). The subsequent subsection (vv. 8-11) narrows the scope, describing the actions of YHWH's revelations as taking place within a single, prototypical person. The final subsection narrows the scope further, describing all of the action as taking place within David's own heart.

The Redeemer Reveals Himself

• • The second way that the Psalm narrows focus as it progresses is in the way YHWH reveals himself, which may be seen in the following chart:

• • • In the first major section of the Psalm, God is mentioned only one time. He is called by the name "El," which was the general term for creator God used by most of the peoples of the Ancient Near East (ANE), including Israel. In the first section of the Psalm, then, God is distant and can only be known generally through creation. As the Psalm progresses, though, the divine name YHWH is used six times in vv. 8-10. This name is specific for the God of Israel who revealed himself to Moses (Ex 6:3). What is more, there is a tension in vv. 11-14 as the audience would have waited for the name YHWH to appear a seventh time, since the number seven indicated perfection in the ANE. The name finally appears again for a seventh time at the end of the Psalm! Not only that, but the Psalmist adds that YHWH is "my rock" and "my redeemer," two names for God that communicated relationship, security, and intimacy. The overall effect is that the Psalm progresses from a portrait of God that is distant and vague to one that is close and personal.

Emotional Drift

• David's emotions shift throughout the Psalm, but these changes are not characterized by jarring swings between opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. Rather, he drifts between related clusters of emotions as he embarks on a healthy but profound journey, as illustrated by the chart below:

Other Unifying Features

• • The second section "describes the excellence of the Law using many terms often used to describe the sun," and the sun is a major feature of the first section. An example of a characteristic of the sun used to describe the Law is the word "enlightening" (Hiphil participle מְאִירַת) in clause 9d.

• • The two major sections both nearly end with the verb "hidden" (Niphal of סתר), thus creating a symmetry between the two major sections. The inability to hide from the sun's heat foreshadows David's desire to be cleansed from hidden things before God.

• • The theme of victory and dominion appears throughout the Psalm.
    • The term "measuring line" (v. 5a) regularly denotes the dominion of God over a large geographic area.
    • The sun is "like a warrior charging on the warpath" (v. 6b).
    • David asks that insolences not "rule over" him in verse 14.

• • Contrary to the claims of some scholars, these two major sections are not characterized by their own distinct, regular metres.

The Skies Praise (v. 2-5b)

• The first major section may be divided into two subsections, vv. 2-5b and vv. 5c-7, for the following reasons:

• • As mentioned above, verses 2-5b contain many words for communication. Verses 5c-7 do not.

• • Vv. 5c-7 are dominated by the topic of the sun, which is not mentioned at all in verses 2-5b.

• • The lines in verses 2-5b are short and contain chiasm (v. 2) and tight parallelism (3a||3b; 4aα||4aβ; 5a||5b), while the lines in verses 5c-7 are longer (8-12 syllables each) with looser parallelism.

• • The lines in verses 2-5b are grouped in pairs, while the lines in verses 5c-7 are grouped in threes.

• The activities of verses 2-5b may be described as a story. In the story triangle below, imagine that the triangle is a mountain path that one climbs, meets the peak, and then descends:

v. 2

Watch the Overview video on v. 2.

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-Clear
2a	הַשָּׁמַיִם מְסַפְּרִים כְּבוֹד־אֵל	The heavens recount God's tangible splendor,
2b	וּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדָיו מַגִּיד הָרָקִיעַ	and the expanse reports his handiwork.

Expanded Paraphrase

(Other religions say that the sun-god is the creator god. But God created the world with his words, established his authority over it, and continues his work in it. Created things may be personified, therefore) The heavens (witness and) recount God's glory (telling us that God is worthy of honor), and the expanse (witness and) reports his handiwork (telling us that God is worthy of praise).

Grammatical Diagram

Notes

• This verse has an abc//cba chiastic structure:

• • Chiasm is a common kind of balanced pair in Hebrew, designed to be memorable, aesthetically pleasing, and persuasive. Chiasm also serves to bring prominence to the terms at its center, which in this case are the glory of God and his handiwork.
  • This is the only chiastic verse in the Psalm.
  • In languages that are word-order dependent (such as English), recreating the chiasm may not be possible.

• God's glory (כבוד): Jewish scholar Benjamin Sommer points out that "God's kabod ["glory"] in several nonpriestly Biblical texts means God's body and, more specifically in many passages, God's intensely bright body."
  

  "Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle." (Ex. 40:34, ESV)
  It may also be a non-substantial attribute of God, or honor due to God, so that seeing God's glory may be metaphorical. In the priestly documents, "the kabod [glory] consists of unspeakably bright light" so intense that it is surrounded by a cloud to protect humans from its radiance. The LXX translates this term with "doxa" (δόξα), a term that in ancient Greek meant "reputation" but did not carry connotations of visible splendor. However, the LXX translators, especially in Isaiah, clearly have the Hebraic sense in mind when using δόξα.

• The phrase his handiwork (ESV, KJV, NET, NJB, JPS) is literally "the work of his hands" (CSB, LEB, NIV84, NASB95). This phrase is also sometimes rendered as "his craftsmanship" (NLT) or "what his hands have made" (NCV). The emphasis is on two features: 1) God is anthropomorphized, so that he has "hands," which is similar to the personification of the heavens who can "recount"; and 2) the activity is concrete, or has concrete manifestations in creation, so that it is not simply God's general activity in history. The latter point matches with concrete qualities of God's glory. Therefore the rendering "what he has done" (CEV, GNB) is dispreferred.

• The expanse (רָקִיעַ): A single English modern word cannot accurately account for the meaning of this Hebrew word. SDBH defines this term as: "something like a rounded vault placed on top of the surface of the earth; separating the water on the earth from the water in the atmosphere; place where sun, moon, and stars are suspended; described in Ezekiel's vision as a structure borne by heavenly creatures, on top of which God's throne was located" and provides the glosses "firmament," "dome," "vault," "expanse." In ancient cosmology the expanse looked something like this:

• In the story of creation in Genesis, God calls the the expanse by the name the heavens, suggesting a rough equivalence (Gn 1:8).
  

  photo by ForestWander
  In Ps 19:2, the heavens and expanse occupy the "a" slots in the abc//cba chiasm, suggesting that the Psalmist also believed the two were basically equivalent. The heavens and expanse are the dwelling place of the sun and moon (Gn 1:14-15) who rule over the day and night (Gn 1:16-18; cf Ps. 19:3).

• The heavens and the expanse are personified so that they can recount (מְסַפְּרִים) and report (מַגִּיד). The emphasis is on verbal communication, which is prominent throughout the subsection. The NLT renders the second verb "display" while GNB renders it "shows," which is less than accurate and probably an attempt to match the expanse, which in reality cannot speak. However, the word refers to verbal communication, and the heavens and expanse are portrayed with figurative language, just as the day and night (v. 3) and sun (v5c-7) will be.

• The verbs recounts (מְסַפְּרִים) and reports (מַגִּיד) are both participles. They may be taken to have continuous aspect, in which case they would be translated into English as "are recounting" and "is reporting." In this case, the action happens always and without ceasing. Alternatively, these participles may be taken as having habitual aspect, in which case they are translated into English as simple present tense verbs. Ironically, the English translation of continuous aspect places so much emphasis on the present unfolding of the action that it could imply that the action may cease in the future ("the heavens are recounting now, but may not soon"), which is not the intent of the psalmist. The English translation of the habitual present, in contrast, may be taken as gnomic, meaning that it occurs at any time, which fits the sense better. For this reason, the habitual aspect is the preferred reading here. However, when translating into other languages, attention should be placed upon translating these verbs as though they can occur at any time and always, as opposed to strictly translating them as present tense.

v. 3

Watch the Overview video on v. 3.

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-Clear
3a	יוֹם לְיוֹם יַבִּיעַ אֹמֶר	Day gushes speech to day
3b	וְלַיְלָה לְּלַיְלָה יְחַוֶּה־דָּעַת	and night reports knowledge to night.

Expanded Paraphrase

(The days accumulate witness about God; that's why) Day gushes speech to day and (the nights accumulate knowledge about God; that's why) night reports knowledge to night.

Grammatical Diagram

Notes

• This verse does not continue using chiasm, as the previous verse did, but is rather a simple ab||ab parallel. Still, the verse is highly poetic and memorable due to the tight matching of the syntax of the two clauses, which most literally reads:
  • Day to day gushes speech
  • And night to night reports knowledge

• There are two main ways to read the syntax of this verse:

• • The preferred rendering of verse 3 treats "day" and "night" as personified subjects communicating to (another) "day" and (another) "night," respectively. This sense is reflected in the majority of English, German, French, and Spanish translations.

• • The alternate rendering treats "day to day" and "night to night" as adverbial phrases, meaning something akin to "daily" and "nightly." This rendering is followed by NET, NIV, NLT, and CSB. To see a grammatical diagram of this reading, click "Expand."

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• • NRSB, JPS, and LXX are ambiguous and may be interpreted according to either the preferred or the alternate reading.

• • Some have argued that the particular syntax for rendering "day to day" (יֹום לְיֹום), which occurs only here, cannot be adverbial (meaning "daily") because the adverbial sense is never written this way elsewhere. However, there was no fixed way to write the adverbial form in Hebrew, and so there are a variety of combinations for expressing "day to day" in the Hebrew Bible. The LXX is also inconsistent in its rendering of these phrases.

• • The adverbial reading has no explicit subjects and therefore day and night are not personified in this reading. The verse does have pronouns that may point to a previously mentioned ("antecedent") subject in verse 2, and so the adverbial reading requires the reader to make a guess as to the subject (probably "the heavens" and "the expanse" from verse 2). In contrast, the preferred reading has explicit subjects and maintains the personification of created elements that began in verse 2 and will continue in verse 5 with the sun.

• The first verb gushes (נבע) occurs 11 times in the HB, all in the wisdom literature. It is always used in the Psalms (6x) of speaking or communicating, which is the most important sense of this word in Psalm 19. The word has an inherent liquid quality which is applied figuratively to communicating, even if other liquid imagery may not be present in the context.
  Clear examples of the "liquid" nuance to this word are in Prv. 18:4, where a brook is said to talk, and in 1QHa 16:19, where the word is found in the context of waters and the sea. It also has the meanings of liquid "bubbling up" or "pouring out" in the cognate languages: Assyrian nabû, Arabic نَبَعَ, Aramaic ܢܒܰܥ, Ethiopic ነብዐ (DCH). Elsewhere in Proverbs it always refers to verbal communication (15:2, 28; 18:4); also in Ben Sira (3x) and many of the Qumran documents (1QM/1Q33 19:7; 4Q301 Frag. 1; 4Q525 Frag. 24 Col. 2). The LXX translates this word with "to belch, vomit" (ἐρεύγεται) but Aquila and Symmachus use the less crass "to spurt, flow out, overflow" (ἀναβλύζω).

• The verb reports (חוה) occurs only 6 times in this stem (Piel) in the HB. Every other occurrence than here in Ps 19 is in Job. Interestingly, in Job it is used 3 times in a single passage: by Elihu (Job 32:6, 10, 17) to communicate his "knowledge, opinion" (דֵּעַ). This is very close to Ps 19:3's use of "reports" (חוה) to communicate knowledge (דַּ֫עַת) of YHWH. This connection is the first of many between Ps 19 and Job (for exmaple v. 5 "measuring line," קַו, cf. Job 38:2-5). The LXX translates "to bring news, announce" (ἀναγγέλλω). The verb also occurs in Ben Sira 16:25, 42:19 strictly as communicating knowledge.

• The verbs gushes (נבע) and reports (חוה) are in the wayiktol form. Basic Hebrew grammars sometimes wrongly encourage students to default to translating these forms as simple future tense. More accurate descriptions of verb forms take into account the context, aspect, and the presence or absence of "reference time movement." The lack of reference time movement here prompts us to render the verbs in English as habitual present or gnomic (timeless) present tense, similarly to the verbs in the preceding verse.

v. 4

Watch the Overview video on v. 4.

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-Clear
4a	אֵין־אֹמֶר	There is no speech
4b	וְאֵין דְּבָרִים	and there are no words
4c	בְּלִי נִשְׁמָע קוֹלָם	without their voice being heard.

Expanded Paraphrase

There is no speech and there are no words without their voice (that is, the voice of the heavens, expanse, day and night) being heard (by people).

Grammatical Diagram

Notes

Exegetical Issue

• The syntax of verse 4 is perhaps the most controversial in the Psalm. 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).

• Thus, there are three different ways to read the syntax of 19:4b:

• • Independent clause, resulting in the meaning that their voice is not heard.
  • Relative clause, resulting in the meaning that voices (in general) are heard.
  • Circumstantial clause, resulting in the meaning their voice is emphatically heard.

• The Circumstantial clause is the preferred reading. A detailed discussion is found here; in summary:

• • The syntax of the second clause is unusual, with no exact parallels in the Hebrew Bible. In particular, the rare Hebrew particle "beli" (בְּלִי) usually appears before an indicative verb; nowhere else does it occur unprefixed before a participle as it does in Ps 19:4b. However, in one of the four occurrences before an indicative verb it clearly means "without" (Isa 14:6, "persecution without ceasing)." Taken this way, the resultant translation is: "There is no speech and there are no words without their voice being heard." In other words, this rendering emphatically affirms the efficacy of the speech described in verses 2 and 3. The preferred reading has the advantages of fitting the context well semantically and of not requiring emendation.

• • The Relative clause has the support of the earliest Greek translations. However, this reading requires the translator to supply a relative pronoun. Furthermore, semantically this reading overshoots the context. Instead of simply affirming that the voices of the "heavens, expanse" (v. 2) and "day and night" (v. 3) are heard, this reading affirms that all voices are heard because it discards the resumptive pronoun attached to "voice." To view a diagram of this reading, click "Expand."

• • The Independent clause reading, followed by CSB, NBS, Gute Nachricht and REB, has several disadvantages. Not only is it self-evidentially impossible that the Psalmist could report hearing speech that is not audible, but it contradicts the context, since the verse negates the idea that the heavens and expanse from verse 2 have speech or words at all, or that their voice is heard. To make the second alternate reading fit the context better, many scholars and translators supply an adversative particle (i.e., "yet") at the beginning of verse 5 so that, in spite of being both non-existent and inaudible, the words and speech go out across the world. To see a diagram of this reading, click "Expand."

Other notes on v. 4

• Verbless clauses, such as 4a and 4b, derive their tense from context. The context so far has contained verbs in the habitual present or, preferably, the gnomic (timeless) present.

• The verb in 4c is a passive participle, and context suggests that the aspect is habitual. Coupled with a lack of reference time movement, the English translation here reflects a gnomic (or timeless) present.

• The pronoun their most naturally refers to the collection of the heavens, expanse, night, and day in vv. 2-3. All of these participants communicate, and in v. 4 the point is that the words of all the participants who communicate are being heard. It would be difficult to make a case for excluding the day and night from "them" here.

Legends

Grammatical diagram

For legend, click "Expand" to the right

Grammatical Term	Definition	Diagram	Example
Clausal Additions
Subject	The subject performs the action of the active verb or receives the action of a passive verb. With intransitive verbs	Indicated at the beginning of the main clausal line, and followed by a vertical line that crosses over the main clause line (separating the subject from the predicate).
Direct Object	Object that receives the direct action of a (transitive) verb	Indicate with a vertical line up from main clausal line
Predicate adjective/ Subject complement	A word used with a linking verb (ex. "to be"), renaming or restating the subject. Can be a whole prepositional phrase.	Indicate with a vertical slanted line up from the main clausal line. It can be on a stand if it is an embedded clause.
Object Complement	Word following a direct object to state what it has become.	Indicate with a vertical slanted line up from the main clausal line.
Infinitives	Can be subject, adverbial, or an infinitive construct.	Indicate with double vertical lines that cross the main clausal line. If used adverbially (ie. an embedded clause), place on a stand.
Participles	A verbal noun/adjective that can be used in three positions: (1) substantival; (2) attributive; (3) predicative.	Indicate with a round vertical line. Substantival participles are placed on a stand (they are embedded). Attributive participles are placed with a rounded line underneath what is modified.
Modifiers
Adjectives	A word modifying a noun to indicate quality, quantity, extent, or differentiating something from something else.	Indicate with a slanted line down from what is modified.
Adverbs	A word that modifies a verb, adverb, adjective, prepositional phrase, clause, or sentence to express a relation (ex. manner, quality, or time).	Indicate with a slanted line down from what is modified.
Construct relationships	Construction can express many different relationships between two (or more) nouns. English grammarians call this construction a ‘Construct’ (our term) or ‘Genitive’ phrase; Hebrew grammarians call it smīḵūt (סְמִיכוּת).	Indicate with a stair-step down from the modified word/clause/phrase.
Prepositional phrases	A phrase that consists of a preposition and its object and has adjectival or adverbial value	Indicate with a slanted vertical line connecting to a new clause.
Connectives	(1) Coordinating conjunctions join together words or word groups of equal grammatical rank (2) Subordinating conjunctions join a main clause and a clause which does not form a complete sentence by itself.	Indicate with a dashed line down from a vertical line marker.
Embedded clause	A clause inside another clause which can include substantival participles, adverbial infinitives, and prepositional phrases.	Indicate using stilts.
Particles
Subordinating particle	Indicates a dependent clause.	Indicate with a dashed line down from the antecedent to the pronoun.
Apposition	A word that is functioning as an explanatory equivalent as another in the sentence	Place on a line apart from the diagram but next to the word it is the equivalent of with an equal sign in between.
Vocative	Indicating a person being addressed (usually with a 2nd person verb)	Place on a line apart from the diagram next to the '()' indicating the gapped subject an equal sign in between.

Master Diagram

Shapes and colours on grammatical diagram

For legend, click "Expand" to the right

	Prepositional phrase	Construct chain	Construct chain within a prepositional phrase	Phrase-level waw	Article and כֹּל
Diagram Shading
Definition	- A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition plus its object. The phrase usually modifies the clause or another constituent in the clause.	- A construct chain, also called a 'genitive phrase', is a grammatical encoding of the relationship 'A of B,' in which A is a phonologically modified noun (in the construct state), and B is a phonologically unmodified noun (the absolute state).	- Some construct chains occur within prepositional phrases	- A waw conjunction can join units of all sizes. Phrase level waw join units at the word or phrase level (i.e., below the level of the clause).	- Definite articles tell you something about the identifiability or inclusiveness about the word it is attached to - כֹּל is a quantifier that tells you about the scope of a word it is attached to

Expanded paraphrase

For legend, click "Expand" to the right

• Close but Clear (CBC) translation
• Assumptions which provide the most salient background information, presuppositions, entailments, and inferences

Bibliography

Anderson, A.A. Psalms 1-72. New Century Bible Commentary, Vol. 1. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981.

Dahood, Mitchell. Psalms 1-50. Anchor Yale Bible Commentary 16. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965.

James, Elaine T. An Invitation to Biblical Poetry. Oxford University Press, 2021.

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

Lugt, Pieter van der. Cantos and Strophes in Biblical Hebrew Poetry: With Special Reference to the First Book of the Psalter. Brill, 2006.

Lunn, Nicholas P. Word Order Variation In Biblical Hebrew Poetry: The Role of Pragmatics and Poetics in the Verbal Clause. Brunel University, 2004.

Moshavi. Adina. Word Order in the Biblical Hebrew Finite Clause. Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2010.

Sommer, Benjamin D. The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Sonik, Karen. Awe as Entangled Emption: Prosociality, Collective Action, and Aesthetics in the Sumerian Gilgamesh Narratives and Ulrike Steinert. In Sonik, Karen and Ulrike Steinert, ed. The Routledge Handbook of Emotions in the Ancient Near East. London: Routledge, 2023. 487-524.

Footnotes

1. "#" is not a number.