Psalm 24 Poetic Structure
Meeting the king
Psalm 24
Poetic Structure
In poetic structure, we analyse the structure of the psalm beginning at the most basic level of the structure: the line (also known as the “colon” or “hemistich”). Then, based on the perception of patterned similarities (and on the assumption that the whole psalm is structured hierarchically), we argue for the grouping of lines into verses, verses into sub-sections, sub-sections into larger sections, etc. Because patterned similarities might be of various kinds (syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, sonic) the analysis of poetic structure draws on all of the previous layers (especially the Discourse layer).
Poetic Macro-structure
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. |
| Superscription | ||||
| v. 1 By David. A psalm. The earth and its fullness belong to YHWH, the world and the inhabitants in it, | YHWH's identity | YHWH is the creator of everything. |  |
reverent
|
| v. 2 because he has founded it upon the seas and keeps it established upon the currents. | ||||
| v. 3 Who may go up on the mountain of YHWH? And who may stand within his holy place? | YHWH's requirements | Only the true Jacob may enter YHWH's holy place. |  |
pensive
|
| v. 4 One with clean hands and a pure heart, who has not delighted in falsehood, nor taken an oath deceitfully. | ||||
| v. 5 He will receive blessing from YHWH and privilege from the God of his salvation. | ||||
| v. 6 Such is the generation—those seeking him, those who seek your face—of Jacob. Selah. | ||||
| v. 7 Lift up your heads, gates, and be lifted up, eternal doorways, so that the glorious king might enter! | YHWH's welcome |
True Jacob, |
 |
passionate
|
| v. 8 Who is this, the glorious king? YHWH, a mighty one and a warrior; YHWH, a battle warrior. | ||||
| v. 9 Lift up your heads, gates, and lift up, eternal doorways, so that the glorious king might enter! | ||||
| v. 10 Who is this, the glorious king? YHWH of armies, he is the glorious king. Selah. | ||||
File:Psalm 024 - Poetic structure.jpg
Notes
- Psalm 24 has two major sections (vv. 1–6, 7–10), supported by Selah.
- The psalm also has five minor sections (vv. 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 7–8, 9–10). יְהוָה appears in the first line of the first three minor sections. With the exception of v. 8, יְהוָה is distributed equally with one occurrence in each of these five sections, which results in 3-3 in the two major sections (vv. 1-6, 7-10).
- vv. 1–2 are delimited as one grammatical sentence with end-rhyme across the four lines. It concerns YHWH's sovereign control of all creation.
- vv. 3–4 form a question and answer pair, with a number of phonetic correspondences.
- vv. 5–6 elaborate upon the answer offered in v. 4, with a number of phonetic correspondences between the two verses, as well as the anaphoric dependence of v. 6's זֶה on v. 5.
- The macrostructure provided by the two instances of Selah is unambiguous, as is the correspondence of the two "Who...?" questions in v. 3 and vv. 8, 10, and the almost verbatim repetition between vv. 7–8 and 9–10.
- The resultant structure is universally recognized and virtually taken for granted (see, e.g., Labuschagne, van der Lugt 2006, Sumpter 2014).
- One minor adaptation is suggested by Meynet (2022, 42): the eleven lines both preceding and following v. 6 seem to lead him to consider this verse a hinge between the two larger sections. Labuschagne also notes that v. 6a is the numerical center, though v. 6b "the meaningful centre in terms of the poetic structure," with its unique second-person reference to YHWH (see Participant Analysis).
- Beside our lexical and phonetic observations on the structure of vv. 3–6 noted above, Spangenberg (2011, 752) summarizes the semantic determination of their division: "The second (vv. 3–4) and third strophes (vv. 5–6) form the second stanza of the psalm (stanza B). The link between them may be presented as follows: The stanza commences with two questions (v. 3) followed by an antiphonal reply (v. 4). The antiphonal reply is completed in vv. 5–6, where the outcome of having 'clean hands and a pure heart' is described: such a person will be blessed, be conferred with integrity and join the company of those who seek him."
Line Divisions
Line division divides the poem into lines and line groupings. We determine line divisions based on a combination of external evidence (Masoretic accents, pausal forms, manuscripts) and internal evidence (syntax, prosodic word counting and patterned relation to other lines). Moreover, we indicate line-groupings by using additional spacing.
When line divisions are uncertain, we consult some of the many psalms manuscripts which lay out the text in lines. Then, if a division attested in one of these manuscripts/versions influences our decision to divide the text at a certain point, we place a green symbol (G, DSS, or MT) to the left of the line in question.
| Poetic line division legend | |
|---|---|
| Pausal form | Pausal forms are highlighted in yellow. |
| Accent which typically corresponds to line division | Accents which typically correspond to line divisions are indicated by red text. |
| | | Clause boundaries are indicated by a light gray vertical line in between clauses. |
| G | Line divisions that follow Greek manuscripts are indicated by a bold green G. |
| DSS | Line divisions that follow the Dead Sea Scrolls are indicated by a bold green DSS. |
| M | Line divisions that follow Masoretic manuscripts are indicated by a bold green M. |
| Number of prosodic words | The number of prosodic words are indicated in blue text. |
| Prosodic words greater than 5 | The number of prosodic words if greater than 5 is indicated by bold blue text. |
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. |
File:Psalm 024 - line divisions.jpg
Notes
Line divisions are reflected in Rahlfs' LXX.
- v. 8-9 - BL Or 2373 only has one line for both 8a-b and 9b-c.
- v. 10 - Harley ms 5711 divides the two lines following the atnakh on צְבָא֑וֹת, though 7-4 seems like an unlikely balance and 10b is also one line in Or 2373. Alternatively, we could consider a three-line unit of 5-2-4 prosodic words (see, e.g., van der Lugt 2006, 257):
מִ֤י ה֣וּא זֶה֮ מֶ֤לֶךְ הַכָּ֫ב֥וֹד
יְהוָ֥ה צְבָא֑וֹת
ה֤וּא מֶ֖לֶךְ הַכָּב֣וֹד סֶֽלָה׃
- Nevertheless, this also seems less-than-ideally balanced and goes against the clausal structure, which is followed throughout the psalm.