Psalm 16/Notes/Grammar.v. 8.746339

From Psalms: Layer by Layer
Jump to: navigation, search
  • The כִּי in v. 8 is usually interpreted and translated as a causal conjunction: because (כִּי) he is at my right hand" (ESV, KJV, NRSVue, CSB, NET, cf. NIV, NLT, CEB).[1] One issue with this interpretation is that it results in the somewhat unusual situation of a verbless clause without an explicit subject: "because [he is] at my right hand." We would normally expect a subject, e.g., *כִּי הוּא מִימִינִי*, or a copula, e.g., *כִּי יִהְיֶה מִימִינִי*. Nevertheless, as Jöuon and Muraoka note, in nominal clauses, "the pronoun is sometimes only implied" (§154b; cf. GKC §116s).[2] A good example is the כִּי clause in 2 Chr 16:10: "for he was in a rage with him (כִּי־בְזַעַף עִמֹּו) because of this."
  1. ↑ So LXX: ὅτι; Jerome (iuxta Hebr.): quia; Targum: מטול.
  2. ↑ The omission of the pronoun happens most often in participial clauses, especially after הִנֵּה. It also happens in some הִנֵּה clauses without the participle. In verbless clauses like the one here in Ps 16:8, the pronoun is generally expected. Jöuon and Muraoka note Ps 16:8 as a possible exception to this rule, together with Job 9:32 (§154c). See also 2 Chr 16:10.