Psalm 3 Prominence Test

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Prominence Heatmap

What Is Prominence?

In our Prominence Analysis, we aim to determine and visualize the relative prominence of each word, line, and section in the psalm. An element in the text is “prominent” insofar as it “stands out” from the rest of the text. Features that contribute to prominence will vary from psalm to psalm, but typically include things like word/root repetition, rare words, imagery, lines of unusual length, and marked word order. The more these (and other) features converge at a given point in the text, the more “prominent” that point of the text will be. Focusing our attention on the most prominent parts of the text (the parts of the text that the poet himself has linguistically highlighted) should help us better understand the poem’s main message.

The features below have been highlighted according to their relative levels of prominence:

Low
prominence 		High
prominence


Text (Hebrew) Verse Text (CBC) The Close-but-clear translation (CBC) exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text according to how we understand its syntax and word-to-phrase-level semantics. It is designed to be "close" to the Hebrew, while still being "clear." Specifically, the CBC encapsulates and reflects the following layers of analysis: grammar, lexical semantics, phrase-level semantics, and verbal semantics. It does not reflect our analysis of the discourse or of poetics. It is not intended to be used as a stand-alone translation or base text, but as a supplement to Layer-by-Layer materials to help users make full use of these resources.
מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִ֑ד בְּ֝בָרְח֗וֹ מִפְּנֵ֤י ׀ אַבְשָׁל֬וֹם בְּנֽוֹ׃
 1
A psalm. By David. When he was fleeing from Absalom, his son.
יְ֭הוָה מָֽה־רַבּ֣וּ צָרָ֑י
 2a
YHWH, how my adversaries have become many!
רַ֝בִּ֗ים קָמִ֥ים עָלָֽי׃
 2b
Many are those rising against me.
רַבִּים֮ אֹמְרִ֪ים לְנַ֫פְשִׁ֥י
 3a
Many are those saying about me,
אֵ֤ין יְֽשׁוּעָ֓תָה לּ֬וֹ בֵֽאלֹהִ֬ים סֶֽלָה׃
 3b
"There is no victory for him in God!" Selah.
וְאַתָּ֣ה יְ֭הוָה מָגֵ֣ן בַּעֲדִ֑י
 4a
But you, YHWH, are a shield for me,
כְּ֝בוֹדִ֗י וּמֵרִ֥ים רֹאשִֽׁי׃
 4b
my honor, and the one who lifts my head.
ק֭וֹלִי אֶל־יְהוָ֣ה אֶקְרָ֑א
 5a
I call aloud to YHWH,
וַיַּֽעֲנֵ֨נִי מֵהַ֖ר קָדְשׁ֣וֹ סֶֽלָה׃
 5b
and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah.
אֲנִ֥י שָׁכַ֗בְתִּי וָֽאִ֫ישָׁ֥נָה
 6a
I lay down and fell asleep.
הֱקִיצ֑וֹתִי כִּ֖י יְהוָ֣ה יִסְמְכֵֽנִי׃
 6b
I woke up, because YHWH supports me.
לֹֽא־אִ֭ירָא מֵרִבְב֥וֹת עָ֑ם
 7a
I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people
אֲשֶׁ֥ר סָ֝בִ֗יב שָׁ֣תוּ עָלָֽי׃
 7b
who have taken position against me all around.
ק֘וּמָ֤ה יְהוָ֨ה ׀ הוֹשִׁ֘יעֵ֤נִי אֱלֹהַ֗י
 8a
Rise up, YHWH! Save me, my God!
כִּֽי־הִכִּ֣יתָ אֶת־כָּל־אֹיְבַ֣י לֶ֑חִי
 8b
For you have struck all my enemies on the jaw.
שִׁנֵּ֖י רְשָׁעִ֣ים שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ׃
 8c
You have broken wicked people's teeth.
לַיהוָ֥ה הַיְשׁוּעָ֑ה
 9a
Victory is YHWH 's!
עַֽל־עַמְּךָ֖ בִרְכָתֶ֣ךָ סֶּֽלָה׃
 9b
Your blessing is on your people. Selah.

Prominence Features

These are the features that contribute to marking points of prominence in Psalm 3.

Text (Hebrew) Verse Text (CBC) The Close-but-clear translation (CBC) exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text according to how we understand its syntax and word-to-phrase-level semantics. It is designed to be "close" to the Hebrew, while still being "clear." Specifically, the CBC encapsulates and reflects the following layers of analysis: grammar, lexical semantics, phrase-level semantics, and verbal semantics. It does not reflect our analysis of the discourse or of poetics. It is not intended to be used as a stand-alone translation or base text, but as a supplement to Layer-by-Layer materials to help users make full use of these resources.


Notes

Sublexical Lexical / Interlexical Supralexical
v. 2 • repeated root: רבב
• fronting of רבים
• repeated word: קמים (cf. v. 8)
v. 3 • repeated root: רבב
• fronting of רבים
• highly marked word: ישועתה (unique morphology, repeated [cf. v. 9]) 		v. 3b: longest line in psalm
• vv. 3-4: sounds that are repeated in to form a chiasm across vv. 3-4 (see PF #3)
v. 4 • shield imagery
• explicit pronoun and marked word order: but you...
v. 5 • marked word order: to YHWH
v. 6
v. 7 • repeated root: רבב (cf. vv. 2-3)
• repeated word: עם (cf. v. 9b)
• fronting of סביב
v. 8 • alliteration (k and sh) • repetition of key words and thematic reversal (cf. v. 2-3) (see PF #1) • three-line verse
• graphic imagery (striking jaws... breaking teeth)
• chiasm
v. 9 • marked word order in each line: YHWH's... on your people
• repeated word: victory
• repeated word: people