Psalm 111/Notes/Grammar.Vv. 7-8.290098

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  • The word יָשָׁר in v. 8 is, in every other instance, an adjective. But it is difficult to read it as an adjective in this context. There are at least two possible interpretations of יָשָׁר as an adjective in this context.
    • Some read יָשָׁר as predicate adjective: "[they are] done in faithfulness and [they are] upright (ZÜR [in Treue geschaffen und gerecht]).<ref<Hupfeld 1871, 208.</ref> The description thus corresponds to Ps. 19:9, where YHWH's פקודים are also described as ישרים. The problem with this interpretation is that the subject (פִּקּוּדָיו) would be plural and the predicate adjective (יָשָׁר) singular, though there may be support for this in Ps. 119:137 (וְיָשָׁר מִשְׁפָּטֶֽיךָ).
    • Others read יָשָׁר as an adverbial accusative modifying עשוים: "done in faithfulness and (by) one who is upright."[1]
Most commentators, however, choose to revocalize the adjective יָשָׁר to the noun יֹשֶר.[2] All of the ancient versions translate ישר with a noun: LXX (ἐν ἀληθείᾳ καὶ εὐθύτητι), Peshitta (ܒܙܕܝܩܘܬܐ ܘܒܩܘܫܬܐ), Jerome (in veritate et aequitate), Targum (בקושטא ותירוצא).
Some commentators argue for the same interpretation of ישר as an abstract noun but without any need to revocalize the text. They argue that יָשָׁר, which is normally an adjective, here acts as an abstract noun (this possibility is listed in BDB), just as תמים, which is usually an adjective, acts as an abstract noun in Judges 9:16, 19 (בֶּאֱמֶת וּבְתָמִים) and Joshua 24:14 (בְּתָמִים וּבֶאֱמֶת).[3] It is not unusual for adjectives to function like abstract nouns in biblical Hebrew (e.g., טוֹב and רַע). Cf. Radak: עשויים באמת ובדרך ישר. Cf. טוֹב in Ps. 21:4—בִּרְכ֣וֹת ט֑וֹב.
For more information see the exegetical issue The Text, Grammar, and Meaning of Ps. 111:8b.
  1. ↑ Suggested by Baethgen 1904, 341.
  2. ↑ BHS, BDB, HALOT, Baethgen 1904, 341; Allen 2002; et al.
  3. ↑ So Ehrlich 1905, 283; Dahood 1970, 124.