Psalm 16 Macrosyntax
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Psalm 16/Macrosyntax
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Delights forever
Psalm 16
Macrosyntax
Macrosyntax Diagram
| Macrosyntax legend | |
|---|---|
| Vocatives | Vocatives are indicated by purple text. |
| Discourse marker | Discourse markers (such as כִּי, הִנֵּה, לָכֵן) are indicated by orange text. |
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The scope governed by the discourse marker is indicated by a dashed orange bracket connecting the discourse marker to its scope. |
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The preceding discourse grounding the discourse marker is indicated by a solid orange bracket encompassing the relevant clauses. |
| Subordinating conjunction | The subordinating conjunction is indicated by teal text. |
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Subordination is indicated by a solid teal bracket connecting the subordinating conjunction with the clause to which it is subordinate. |
| Coordinating conjunction | The coordinating conjunction is indicated by blue text. |
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Coordination is indicated by a solid blue line connecting the coordinating clauses. |
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Coordination without an explicit conjunction is indicated by a dashed blue line connecting the coordinated clauses. |
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Marked topic is indicated by a black dashed rounded rectangle around the marked words. |
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The scope of the activated topic is indicated by a black dashed bracket encompassing the relevant clauses. |
| Marked focus or thetic sentence | Marked focus (if one constituent) or thetic sentences[1] are indicated by bold text. |
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Frame setters[2] are indicated by a solid gray rounded rectangle around the marked words. |
| [blank line] | Discourse discontinuity is indicated by a blank line. |
| [indentation] | Syntactic subordination is indicated by indentation. |
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Direct speech is indicated by a solid black rectangle surrounding all relevant clauses. |
| (text to elucidate the meaning of the macrosyntactic structures) | Within the CBC, any text elucidating the meaning of macrosyntax is indicated in gray text inside parentheses. |
If an emendation or revocalization is preferred, that emendation or revocalization will be marked in the Hebrew text of all the visuals.
| Emendations/Revocalizations legend | |
|---|---|
| *Emended text* | Emended text, text in which the consonants differ from the consonants of the Masoretic text, is indicated by blue asterisks on either side of the emendation. |
| *Revocalized text* | Revocalized text, text in which only the vowels differ from the vowels of the Masoretic text, is indicated by purple asterisks on either side of the revocalization. |
(Click diagram to enlarge)
- The discourse marker "therefore" (לָכֵן) points back to vv. 7–8 and points forward to vv. 9–11. In this way, it groups vv. 7–8 and vv. 9–11 into separate discourse units. By implication, vv. 1–6 are also grouped as a discourse unit.
- v. 2. The predicate complement "my Lord" (אֲדֹנָי) is fronted for marked focus. The phrase "my Lord" establishes the identity of YHWH in relation to the psalmist.[3]
- v. 3. The predicate complement "on the side of the holy ones who are in the earth" (לִקְדוֹשִׁים אֲשֶׁר־בָּאָרֶץ) is fronted for marked focus. Instead of being on YHWH's side (לַיהוָה), "they" (i.e., others) are on the side of the deified dead, "the holy ones who are in the earth." Normally for topic shifts like this ("I" --> "they"), we would expect the pronoun "they" to be fronted. In this case, however, "they" stands for generic "others" (cf. אֵלֶּה in Ps 20:8), who are not prominent in the discourse. Their discourse activation is implied by the request for protection in v. 1. What is prominent is that "they" are "on the side of the holy ones..." In other words, the most important contrast is not between the psalmist and the others, but between YHWH and the holy ones. Note also that the word order in v. 3a (predicate complement - subject pronoun) repeats the order in v. 2 (אֲדֹנָי אָתָּה).
- v. 4. The object "another" (אַחֵר) is fronted for marked focus: "they have acquired yet another!"
- v. 6. The subject in v. 6a – "property lines" (חֲבָלִים) is fronted, probably because the sentence is thetic. (Note the new, indefinite subject, "ropes," and the intransitive verb, "have fallen.") The same word order in v. 6b (fronting of the subject, "my inheritance") creates a pattern of repetition.
- v. 7. "Throughout the night" (לֵילוֹת) is probably a frame-setter.
- v. 9. The subject "my body" (בְּשָׂרִי) is fronted for marked focus. Not only my internal/emotional self (my heart and my liver), but, what's more, my body (my physical self) will dwell securely.[4]
- v. 1. The vocative "God" (אֵל) in v. 1 occurs between the main verb ("protect me") and the subordinate כִּי clause ("because I have taken refuge in you"). According to Kim (2023, §4.4.4.3), if a vocative precedes a subordinate clause in this way, it draws attention to the subordinate clause, "highlighting or reinforcing its discourse-pragmatic function." This explains why the following verses (vv. 2–6) do not focus on YHWH's protection, but on the psalmist's taking refuge in him.
- vv. 6, 7, 10. The conjunctive adverb אַף occurs three times in this psalm (vv. 6, 7, 10). Each time, it occurs at the beginning of a b-line, and the clause which it governs has a fronted constituent. The semantics of אַף are not the same in each case, however.
- In v. 6 and v. 7, אַף governs the whole clause and expresses affirmation: "The information referred to in a sentence (or sentences) y [here = v. 6b / v. 7b], affirms the information referred to in an immediately preceding sentence [here = v. 6a / v. 7a]."[5] Van der Merwe claims that אַף in Ps 16:7 governs the constituent לֵילוֹת and marks it as a noteworthy addition: "even during the nights."[6] But v. 7b is probably specifying what is meant by v. 7a, not describing something entirely new (see Story Behind).
- In v. 9, אַף marks the clause in v. 9b as a noteworthy addition.[7] The first half of the verse is about the psalmist's internal, emotional well-being, while the second half of the verse, introduced with אַף, is about his physical well-being. Not only will his heart and his liver be glad, but, what's more, his body will dwell securely.
- v. 9. The discourse marker "therefore" (לָכֵן) in v. 9 introduces vv. 9–11 as a conclusion based on vv. 7–8. Because YHWH, who has protected the psalmist (v. 7), will continue to protect him "always" (v. 8), the psalmist concludes that he will experience YHWH's protection forever (vv. 9–11).
- v. 10. The discourse marker "for" (כִּי) in v. 10 explains why the psalmist rejoices (v. 9aαβ) and why he expects his body to dwell securely (v. 9b). It is because YHWH will not abandon him (v. 10), but will show him the way to life (v. 11).
(There are no notes on conjunctions for this psalm.)
- ↑ When the entire utterance is new/unexpected, it is a thetic sentence (often called "sentence focus"). See our Creator Guidelines for more information on topic and focus.
- ↑ Frame setters are any orientational constituent – typically, but not limited to, spatio-temporal adverbials – function to "limit the applicability of the main predication to a certain restricted domain" and "indicate the general type of information that can be given" in the clause nucleus (Krifka & Musan 2012: 31-32). In previous scholarship, they have been referred to as contextualizing constituents (see, e.g., Buth (1994), “Contextualizing Constituents as Topic, Non-Sequential Background and Dramatic Pause: Hebrew and Aramaic evidence,” in E. Engberg-Pedersen, L. Falster Jakobsen and L. Schack Rasmussen (eds.) Function and expression in Functional Grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 215-231; Buth (2023), “Functional Grammar and the Pragmatics of Information Structure for Biblical Languages,” in W. A. Ross & E. Robar (eds.) Linguistic Theory and the Biblical Text. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 67-116), but this has been conflated with the function of topic. In brief: sentence topics, belonging to the clause nucleus, are the entity or event about which the clause provides a new predication; frame setters do not belong in the clause nucleus and rather provide a contextual orientation by which to understand the following clause.
- ↑ Cf. BHRG §47.3.2.
- ↑ Cf. Lunn 2006, 124.
- ↑ Van der Merwe 2009, 280.
- ↑ Van der Merwe 2009, 257.
- ↑ Cf. van der Merwe 2009, 279.