Psalm 111/Notes/Lexical.V. 1.410020

From Psalms: Layer by Layer
Jump to: navigation, search
  • הלל vs אודה
    • hallel – "action by which humans or divine beings express their appreciation, admiration, respect, and/or gratitude to (other) humans or deities about who they are and what they do" (SDBH).
    • hodeh – "action by which humans openly express recognition of what someone else has done or achieved" (SDBH).
The two words are synonyms and, in some late texts, they sometimes function together as a hendiadys (e.g., 1 Chron. 23:30; 25:3; Ezra 3:11; Neh. 12:24).[1] According to Alexander, "the basic difference between this verb [ידה] and its synonym הלל is that the latter term tends to stress 'acclaim of,' 'boasting of,' or 'glorying in' an object, while ידה emphasizes 'recognition' and 'declaration' of a fact, whether good or bad."[2]
According to Allen, the verb ידה "primarily refers to an acknowledgement. ... Usually the acknowledgement is one of praising God; less often it is one of sin. The praise may be of a general type, but it tends to be specific, the giving of thanks for resolution of a recent crisis."[3] SDBH glosses אודה here as "praise" (so KJV, cf. ELB, GNB, ZÜR [preisen]). Many translations have "thank" (NLT, CEV, GNT) or "give thanks" (ESV, NET; cf. LUT, HFA, NGÜ [danken]).
  1. ↑ Cf. NIDOTTE.
  2. ↑ Alexander 1999, #847.
  3. ↑ Allen 2002; cf. NIDOTTE 1997, 406.