Psalm 20/Notes/Lexical.v. 4.637600

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  • It was customary for Israel and Judah's kings to offer sacrifices before battle as a sign of submission, devotion, and loyalty to their God (1 Sam 7:9-10; 13:8-10). The offerings were not meant to be a means of purchasing God's favor, but they were instead a sign of the king's dependence upon YHWH.[1] In the context of Ps 20, the people are praying that God would remember that their king had been faithful to offer the customary sacrifices. In this case, remembering means taking action on the basis of. The people desired that YHWH would act favorably toward their king on the basis of the king’s faithfulness to YHWH.
  • See the Venn diagram of מִנְחָה below:
Psalm 020 - Updated - Venn diagram (for the noun מִנְחָה - offering ).jpg
  • The people also prayed that God would accept (יְדַשְּׁנֶ֣ה) the burnt offering which their king had made. The Hebrew term for accept here literally means to find fat, as in to consider a sacrifice fat, or pleasing. If God evaluated the offering as fat, it would be received favorably, which means God would grant their petition of support in battle.[2]
  • The verb דָּשֵׁן in the piel stem occurs only five times in the Bible[3], and it has four different senses. The visual below illustrates the four senses of דָּשֵׁן in the piel stem:
Psalm 020 - Updated Bible Senses דשׁן.jpg
  • See the Venn diagrams of piel verb דָּשֵׁן below:
Psalm 020 - Updated - Venn diagram (for the piel verb דשן - to accept).jpg
Psalm 020 - Updated - Venn diagram (for the piel verb דשן - to find make fat = to accept).jpg
  1. ↑ Goldingay 2005, 305; Jacobson and Tanner 2014, 217.
  2. ↑ Cf. Barnes 1868, 179 and VanGemeren 2008, 226.
  3. ↑ Pss 20:4; 23:5; Exod 27:3; Num 4:13 and Prov 15:30.