Psalm 100 Discourse

Psalm Overview

• Grammar
• Semantics
• Story behind the Psalm
• Discourse
• Poetics

About the Discourse Layer

Our Discourse layer includes four analyses: macrosyntax, speech act analysis, emotional analysis, and participant analysis. (For more information, click 'Expand' to the right.)

Macrosyntax

The macrosyntax layer rests on the belief that human communicators desire their addressees to receive a coherent picture of their message and will cooperatively provide clues to lead the addressee into a correct understanding. So, in the case of macrosyntax of the Psalms, the psalmist has explicitly left syntactic clues for the reader regarding the discourse structure of the entire psalm. Here we aim to account for the function of these elements, including the identification of conjunctions which either coordinate or subordinate entire clauses (as the analysis of coordinated individual phrases is carried out at the phrase-level semantics layer), vocatives, other discourse markers, direct speech, and clausal word order.

For a detailed explanation of our method, see the Macrosyntax Creator Guidelines.

Speech Act Analysis

The Speech Act layer presents the text in terms of what it does, following the findings of Speech Act Theory. It builds on the recognition that there is more to communication than the exchange of propositions. Speech act analysis is particularly important when communicating cross-culturally, and lack of understanding can lead to serious misunderstandings, since the ways languages and cultures perform speech acts varies widely.

For a detailed explanation of our method, see the Speech Act Analysis Creator Guidelines.

Emotional Analysis

This layer explores the emotional dimension of the biblical text and seeks to uncover the clues within the text itself that are part of the communicative intent of its author. The goal of this analysis is to chart the basic emotional tone and/or progression of the psalm.

For a detailed explanation of our method, see the Emotional Analysis Creator Guidelines.

Participant Analysis

Participant Analysis focuses on the characters in the psalm and asks, “Who are the main participants (or characters) in this psalm, and what are they saying or doing? It is often helpful for understanding literary structure, speaker identification, etc.

For a detailed explanation of our method, see the Participant Analysis Creator Guidelines.

Discourse Visuals for Psalm 100

Macrosyntax

Notes

Paragraph Divisions

• vv. 1-3 | vv. 4-5

Macrosyntactic analysis of Ps 100 points to one major division in the psalm, between vv. 3-4. This divides the psalm into two mirroring sections following an AB|AB pattern. This pattern involves (A) an independent clause (vv. 1b-2) followed by (B) subordination (v. 2), and is then repeated with another (A) independent clause (v. 4), followed again by (B) subordination (v.5). This can be seen visually in the text layout above, and can be represented as:

A (1b-2)

B (3)

______________________

A (4)

B (5)

• Alternative delimitation = 1-4 | 5

It is important to note that when Ps 100 is examined through a primarily poetic lens, the primary division in this psalm shifts to vv. 1-4 and v. 5, with v. 5 providing a closing כי statement grounding the whole preceding psalm and vv. 1-4 being unified by a concentric ABCB'A' structure. This follows a common pattern in the psalms where the final verse provides a closing כי statement (see e.g. Ps 1, 5, and 11, BHRG §40.29.2f).

Word Order

• v. 3 יְהוָה֮ ה֤וּא אֱלֹ֫הִ֥ים YHWH, he is God + הֽוּא־עָ֭שָׂנוּ He made us:
  • Casus Pendens/left dislocation: Syntactically, the subject יהוה is dislocated from the matrix clause and re-activated by the resumptive pronoun הוּא "he" (BHRG §48.1.3 - for whether to read this clause as a casus pendens construction with a resumptive pronoun (הוּא) or a tripartite clause with a copular pronoun (הוּא), see notes in grammatical diagram).
  • The semantic function of this construction is to establish YHWH as the topic of the two subsequent clauses (v. 3a-b), and specifically to identify him "as the sole entity to whom the following predications could be attributed" (BHRG §48.2.2b). In other words, "YHWH, and he alone, is God, there is no other, and he alone made us, there is no other creator. This is illustrated more fully in the similar construction in Deut 4:35, לָדַ֔עַת כִּ֥י יְהוָ֖ה ה֣וּא הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ין ע֖וֹד מִלְבַדּֽוֹ׃ "...that you might know that YHWH, he is God; there is no other besides him"). Other similar constructions include Deut 4:39; 1 Kgs 8:60; 18:39; 2 Chr 33:13.
  • In the second clause הֽוּא־עָ֭שָׂנוּ "He made us", the pronoun is fronted before the verb here for marked focus (i.e. "He (alone, and no one else) made us").
• v. 3 וְל֣וֹ אֲנַ֑חְנוּ and we are his:
  • Marked focus: Establishes the nature of the discourse active participant (BHRG §47.3.2a), emphasising that Israel belong to YHWH, who created them.
• v. 5 כִּי־ט֣וֹב יְ֭הֹוָה לְעוֹלָ֣ם חַסְדּ֑וֹ וְעַד־דֹּ֥ר וָ֝דֹ֗ר אֱמוּנָתֽוֹ׃ for YHWH is good, his loyalty is forever, and his faithfulness continues through generation after generation.
  • Marked predicate focus: All three of these clauses are marked for predicate focus. In v. 5a the nature of YHWH is established (as good), in v. 5b the duration of YHWH's loyalty is established (forever), and in v. 5c the duration (and possibly also recipient) of YHWH's faithfulness is established (continuing through generation after generation).

Vocatives

• v. 1b כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ all the earth:
  • The clause-final position of this vocative is noteworthy and open to multiple interpretations. When a vocative is simply identifying the addressee, it will more commonly be clause-initial (Kim 2022, 213-217).
  • It may be, therefore, that the clause-final position of "all the earth" here has a subtle poetic effect. The supposed primary audience of Ps 100 would be the people of Israel, gathered for a thanksgiving ceremony. When Israel would have heard the words הריעו לה׳ "Shout joyfully to YHWH" they would have assumed it applies to them, as this was a common liturgical term in their worship (cf. e.g. Ps 95:1 נריעו לצור ישענו "Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation"). One of the possible features of Ps 100 as a whole is an intentional layering wherein the psalm reads primarily as a thanksgiving liturgy for Israel in a thanksgiving ceremony, but with a possible secondary layering inviting the whole psalm to be re-read as addressing not Israel but all nations of the earth, with this key vocative address to כל הארץ "all the earth" (v. 1b) being the anchor for that layering.
  • Could it be that this vocative was intentionally left to the clause-final position to allow for this double layering? Granted that is somewhat speculative, but it may be supported by the fact that the whole psalm seems so precisely balanced with every single word using stock Israelite language that can also be used and had been used to address the nations (for further details see poetic feature 3).
  • An alternative, simpler explanation for the clause-final position of this vocative is other word-order factors wherein both cola begin with a clause-initial imperative, an arrangement that is programmatic throughout the psalm (with 7 clause-initial imperatives in vv. 1-4).

Conjunctions

• v. 3 כִּי ki: Functioning as a complementizer (BHRG §40.29.2.1), indicating the object of דְּעוּ, or specifically the content to be acknowledged.
• v. 3 וְלא waw: The explicit function of this waw is simply to coordinate the two clauses, but the semantic context implies a function indicating result (BHRG §40.23.4.2.5). In light of the truth that YHWH created us, we therefore belong to him, our creator, "we are his".
• v. 5 כִּי ki: In terms of its basic semantic function, this כִּי provides causal grounds for the expression(s) preceding it. However, there may be a double layering in terms of which preceding expressions it provides grounds for.
  • On the one hand, this כִּי should be read as providing the immediate causal grounds for only the two preceding clauses הֽוֹדוּ־ל֝֗וֹ and בָּרֲכ֥וּ שְׁמֽוֹ (v. 4c-d) – this is the preferred reading for the macrosyntax layer. This is because the combination the phrases טוֹב יהוה (v. 5a "YHWH is good") and לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ (v. 5b "his loyalty is forever") with the verbs הוֹדוּ (v. 4c "Give thanks...") and בָּרְכוּ (v. 4d "Bless...") are common combinations reflecting set-refrains (i.e. repeated liturgical phrases) in Israelite worship (e.g. Jer 33:11; Pss 118:1-4, 29; 136:1; 31:22; Ezra 3:11; 1 Chr 16:34; 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3).
    • Reading הוֹדוּ לוֹ and בָּרְכוּ שְׁמוֹ as a conceptual unit is supported by the brevity of both clauses, thus creating one poetic line out of two clauses, as well as a possible rhyming pattern (both ending with וֹ-) and very similar semantic content. It is worth noting also that the Peshitta joins these clauses with a conjunction ܐܘܕܘ ܠܗ݂ ܘܒ݁ܪܟܘ ܠܫܡܗ "...give thanks and bless his name" (Taylor 2020, 407).
  • However, despite this strong binding between כִּי and the two immediately preceding clauses, it is may also provide causal grounds for the whole psalm, stretching back to the initial imperative הָרִ֥יעוּ (v. 1b "Shout joyfully..."). This structure has been noted in poetic structure, but the clausal subordination has been maintained both in the grammatical diagram and in macrosyntax. This arrangement including a closing כִּי ki statement to provide the causal grounds for the whole psalm is a recognised pattern throughout Hebrew poetry (among others, see examples of Pss 1:6; 5:13; 11:7. See also BHRG §40.29.2f).
• v. 5 וְעד waw: Introducing an addition to the list of YHWH's attributes being celebrated.

Speech Act Analysis

Summary Visual

Speech Act Chart

Notes

General + Global Speech Act

• Psalm 100 probably reflects a liturgical text associated with an Israelite thanksgiving ceremony, wherein Israel gathers at the Jerusalem temple and enters the sanctuary with joyful songs and the presentation of a thank-offering (see Story Behind). Most likely this ceremony would have been led by an individual or group of priests or Levites (see Participant Analysis). It is most plausible, then, to read the global speech act as "leading Israel in the performance of a thanksgiving ceremony", insofar as the psalm comprises the speech acts guiding Israel through elements of the ceremony.

Addressee

1b "Shout joyfully to YHWH, all the earth!"

• Tension: This opening clause presents a tension between all nations and Israel as possible addressees.
  • All nations as addressee: This clause takes "all the earth" as its apparent addressee, explicitly indicated with the vocative. "All the earth" was a common label for addressing all nations (cf. Ps 96:7-9, where "all the earth" is parallel with "families of the peoples". See participant analysis for more details). This would make all nations the apparent addressee of this imperative, and perhaps of all the remaining imperatives and speech acts in the psalm.
  • Israel as addressee: However, the rest of the psalm points strongly to Israel as the implied addressee, invoking in many ways an Israelite thanksgiving ceremony in the Jerusalem temple, using stock Israelite worship language (see The Addressee of Ps 100 and The Meaning of לְתוֹדָה in Ps 100:1 for more details).
• Resolution: The most plausible way to resolve this tension is to read this as a multi-layered speech act involving a rhetorical addressee and a real addressee. This can be explained as follows:
  • Rhetorical Addressees and Real Addressees: In ancient Israelite literature it was common to create a text that involved a 'rhetorical addressee' and created something of a 'literary world' within which that rhetorical addressee functions as the addressee being addressed. This can be compared to an open letter, for example "An Open Letter to the President". One can find countless open letters to the US president, almost none of which the president will actually read. The real intended audience of the author is instead the author's peer group, community, constituency, etc.... However, in order to make a point to that real intended audience, the author creates a 'literary world with the president as the rhetorical addressee.
  • Rhetorical Addressees in Hebrew Literature:
    • Oracles Against the Nations: A common example of rhetorical addressees in Hebrew literature is found in the Oracles Against the Nations in prophetic literature (e.g. Isa 13-23; Jer 46-51; Ezek 25-31; Amos 1). For example, in Ezek 27:3 YHWH commands Ezekiel to "...say to Tyre..." the following prophetic oracle. That oracle then begins with a direct vocative address "O Tyre...". Thus a literary world is created within which Tyre is presented as the addressee. But when one zooms out it is clear that Tyre is only the rhetorical addressee, and probably an audience from the nation of Israel is the real addressee. Ezekiel probably did not physically go and speak those words to Tyre, but instead used this rhetorical mode to make a point to the people of Israel.
    • Calls to All Nations: More directly relevant to Ps 100 is the common occurrence, especially in the psalms, of all nations as the rhetorical addressee. Thus, for example, Psalms 47, 49, 66, 96, 98, and 117 (among others), take all nations as their rhetorical addressee, like an 'open letter to all nations', but as ancient Hebrew poetry they most probably had Israel as their real intended audience.
  • Rhetorical Addressee in Psalm 100: The most plausible way to make sense of the words "Shout joyfully to YHWH, all the earth!" in Ps 100:1b are to read them as taking "all the earth" as the rhetorical addressee with a logical progression in the speech. Although perhaps somewhat artificial, the logical progression can be understood as follows:
    • 1. "Shout joyfully to YHWH, all the earth" - Imperative (command) exhorting all the earth [= all nations] to shout joyfully to YHWH.
      • On the most surface level the progression begins with a grammatically imperative form that takes "all the earth" as its grammatical subject, addressed in the vocative.
    • 2. "All the earth should shout joyfully to YHWH" - Volitional (wish) exhorting all the earth [= all nations] to shout joyfully to YHWH.
      • However, as "all the earth" is merely the rhetorical addressee and not physically present in the real setting of the speech act, the speech act becomes a dramatic/performed way to actually express a volitional wish calling for all the earth to shout joyfully to YHWH.
    • 3. "YHWH is worthy of all the earth's joyful shouts" - Declaration of YHWH's worthiness to receive all the earth shouting joyfully to him.
      • The implication of the volitional statement is a declaration of worthiness. Why should all the earth shout joyfully to YHWH? Because he is worthy!
    • 4. "Shout joyfully to YHWH, O Israel" - Exhortation to Israel [= the real audience] to shout joyfully to YHWH.
      • The end result of this progression, as it might have been processed by the real Israelite audience hearing these words, was ultimately an exhortation to them to shout joyfully to YHWH. This activity ("shout joyfully" from the hiphil of form of the root רוע) was common to Israelite worship (e.g. Ps 95:1). Thus, on hearing a dramatic declaration that YHWH is worthy of all the earth shouting joyfully to him, the natural understanding of Israel would be that it starts right here, right now, with YHWH's people Israel shouting joyfully to him.
• Ambiguity:
  • According to the reading above, therefore, only v. 1b ("Shout joyfully to YHWH, all the earth!") takes all the earth as its rhetorical addressee, and for the next imperative verb עִבְדוּ in v. 2 Israel is understood as the grammatical subject and addressee, and so on throughout vv. 2-5. Within this arrangement, the psalm only uses a rhetorical addressee (i.e. in the mode of 'an open letter to all nations') in v. 1b, with the rest of the psalm being set in an Israelite thanksgiving ceremony. This sets it apart, then, from other psalms like 47, 49, 66, 96, 98, and 117 wherein the whole psalm is addressed to all nations as the rhetorical addressee.
  • However, it is intriguing to discover that the whole psalm also makes sense when read as addressed entirely to the nations. When read in that way it becomes what some scholars have described as "one of the most spectacular theological statements in the Hebrew Bible" (Zenger 2005, 496), with all nations of the earth being invited to serve YHWH and enter his gates and courts to join in with YHWH's people Israel.
  • It may be possible that the poet intentionally constructed this poem to allow for reading the psalm either as an Israelite thanksgiving liturgy or as a performative rhetorical address to all nations.
  • These issues are explored and laid out in detail in Poetic Feature 1.

Emotional Analysis

Summary visual

Think-Feel-Do Chart

Participant analysis

There are 4 participants/characters in Psalm 100:

• Ceremony Leader(s)

The most likely setting of this psalm was an Israelite thanksgiving ceremony, including the presentation of a thank offering in the temple. Although the text does not specify a speaker, it is plausible that there would have been some kind of ceremony leader(s) who would lead the people in their thanksgiving and praise. This would likely have been either an individual or group of Levites or priests, as we know from other texts that various priests and Levites had distinct roles in leading the music and worship in the temple (e.g. 1 Chron. 25:1-8). This would be similar to the priestly "chorus leader" of Ps 118, esp. in 118:1-4 (cf. Allen 2002: 165-166).

• All Nations

For the phrase כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ "all the earth" referring to all nations, see tracking notes and the exegetical issue The Addressee of Ps 100.

Participant Relations Diagram

The relationships among the participants may be abstracted and summarized as follows:

Participant Analysis Table

Notes

v. 1b Addressee: All nations or Israel?

• The opening verse of Ps 100 creates an ambiguous tension between Israel or all nations as possible addressees.
• Israel as addressee: On the one hand, many elements of the psalm point to it being an Israelite thanksgiving ceremony, using common Israelite worship language, leading to Israel as the assumed addressee.
• All Nations as addressee: On the other the psalm opens with a vocative address to כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ "all the earth", a term that most often refers, especially in the psalms, to all nations of the earth (e.g. Pss 96:7-9; 33:8; 98:4-6; 96:1; 66:1). It is common in the psalms to take 'all nations' as the rhetorical addressee, for example calling 'all nations' to worship YHWH (e.g. Ps 47; 66; 68:33; 96; 98; 117).
• It seems most plausible that Israel is the primary addressee, and that "all the earth" is addressed directly as a rhetorical technique to declare that YHWH is "worthy of all the earth shouting joyfully to him". However, it is possible that the psalm intentionally leaves open the possibility of reading all nations as the implied addressee all throughout.
• For detailed argumentation regarding the addressee see the exegetical issue page The Addressee of Ps 100.
• For an exploration of the psalm's poetic tension between Israel and all nations, see Psalm 100 Poetics.

v. 4d "His name"

• To bless "his name" is equivalent (through metonymy) to blessing YHWH himself.

Participant Distribution Chart

• Participant distribution reveals two main sections in the psalm. The first is vv. 1-4, which unfolds the interaction between YHWH and Israel. The second is v. 5, which is set apart by turning the focus to YHWH alone, without the nations in view.
• A second, minor section division can be seen around 3c-d where Israel is referred to in the first person ("us" / "we").

Bibliography

Kim, Young Bok. 2022. Hebrew Forms of Address: A Sociolinguistic Analysis.' PhD diss. University of Chicago.