Psalm 16 Participant analysis
Back to Psalm 16
Overview
There are five participants/characters in Psalm 16:
- David
- David
- Your (=YHWH's) loyal one (חֲסִידְךָ)
- YHWH
- YHWH (יְהוָה)
- God (אֵל)
- Holy Ones
- Holy Ones (קְדוֹשִׁים)
- Mighty Ones in whom I (=David) delight (אַדִּירֵי כָּל־חֶפְצִי־בָם)
- Idol Worshippers
- Idols
Who are the "holy/majestic ones" in v. 3? Dahood points out that "holy ones" (קְדוֹשִׁים) and "mighty ones" (אַדִּירִים) refer in Ugaritic to Canaanite deities.[1] The two terms are used in parallel in the Epic of Keret to describe sacred mountains: "Mount Saphon, the holy domain, / Mount Nani, the mighty domain."[2] However, in Psalm 16, David says that "all my delight" is in these holy/mighty ones. Therefore, they can hardly refer to false gods. Dahood is forced to translate the phrase, "in whom was all my delight," but this seems unlikely, both semantically and (assuming David is the author [cf. v. 1]) historically. Furthermore, the phrase "who are in the land (or 'on earth') shows earthly, not heavenly, beings are in view."[3] It is better, then, to take "holy ones" (קְדוֹשִׁים) as a reference to YHWH's people (cf. Ps. 34:10; Dan. 8:24) and "mighty ones" (אַדִּירִים) as a reference to the leaders of the people (cf. Jer. 25:34).[4]
Participant Relations
The relationships among the participants may be abstracted and summarised as follows:
- David refuses to worship idols and instead blesses YHWH, who is his inheritance, who guards him and gives him life, counsel, and refuge.
Participants in the Psalm
- In terms of participant analysis, the psalm divides into two parts (vv. 1-4 // vv. 5-11)
- The first part is characterized by embedded speech. David speaks first to YHWH (v. 2) and secondly to the holy ones (vv. 3-4). The idols and those who worship them also appear in this first part of the psalm (v. 4).
- In the second part of the psalm (vv. 5-11), there are only two participants: YHWH and David.
- The idols are never explicitly named (only "another" in v. 4, followed by pronominal suffixes. This may be significant in light of v. 4b: "I will not take their names on my lips."
Participant Analysis Diagram
Legend
Diagram
The following image is the grammatical diagram overlaid with information regarding the participants, or characters, of the psalm. It makes explicit who is doing what to whom.
Chart
References
- ↑ Dahood 2008:87-8. NEB: "The gods..."; NJB: "...the sacred spirits of the earth;" DHH: "Los dioses..." Cf. Barthélemy (CTAT) and Craigie (2004:155), who follow Dahood. Cf. Gunkel: Die Heiligen und die Gewaltigen sind die heidnischen Götter" (1926:52).
- ↑ KTU 1.16 (Epic of KRT, tablet 3) i.7-8. Translation from Smith, Mark S., Simon B. Parker, et al., trans., Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, WAW 9 (Atlanta: SBL, 1997), 31.
- ↑ Waltke 2010:329.
- ↑ So BDB, HALOT, DCH. Cf. most English translations, e.g., ESV, NET, NIV, CEV, GNT, NLT.