Psalm 121/Participant Analysis/Notes

• The speech situation in Psalm 121 is unclear. Scholars debate about the number of speakers, the points at which speaker-shifts occur, and the identity of the addressee(s). For a more detailed discussion of some of the issues, The Voice(s) in Psalm 121. In short, we argue that there is one speaker throughout the whole psalm. The shift to second-person singular in vv. 3–8 is a rhetorical device.

• The interchange between "the one who guards you" (vv. 3b, 5a) and "the one who guards Israel" (v. 4) suggests that the second-person singular addressee is Israel, or an individual Israelite representing the whole people. The use of the singular instead of the plural emphasizes YHWH's protection is for each and every Israelite.

• The use of second-person singular forms to address a group is a common rhetorical device in the Hebrew Bible. The Ten Commandments are expressed as second-person singular commands, because they apply to each and every individual. Similarly, the Book of Deuteronomy alternates between second-person singular and second-person plural. De Regt argues that these shifts correlate with the content: "When Israel is addressed about its history... the address forms tend to be plural. But when the subject matter is cultic or ritual (particularly when the commandments are detailed), most of the address forms are singular."