Psalm 19/Notes/Grammar.V. 3.993777

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  • Option 2: יוֹם לְיוֹם//לַיְלָה לְּלַיְלָה as adverbials. "Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge" (NIV, cf. NLT, NET; so IBHS 31.3b; Rashi). Cf. the use of similar phrases: יוֹם יוֹם (e.g., Gen 39:10; Exod 15:16; Isa 58:2; Ps 61:9; 68:20; Prov 8:30, 34), מִיוֹם לְיוֹם (e.g., Ps 96:2), מִיוֹם אֶל יוֹם (I Chr 16:23), or לְיוֹם בְּיוֹם (II Chr 24:11). (As the Masoretes noted, the phrase יוֹם לְיוֹם occurs only here in the Bible. This is also the only time the word לַיְלָה is prefixed by a lamed preposition.) However, if this interpretation were correct, we would expect plural verbs, to match השמים and רקיע in the previous verse. All of the following pronominal references to השמים and רקיע are plural (e.g., קום [v. 5a], בהם [v. 5c]).