Psalm 110/Notes/Grammar.V. 6.293650

• 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.).