Psalm 30 Participant Analysis

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Participant Analysis

  What is Participant Analysis?

Participant Analysis focuses on the characters in the psalm and asks, “Who are the main participants (or characters) in this psalm, and what are they saying or doing? It is often helpful for understanding literary structure, speaker identification, etc.

For a detailed explanation of our method, see the Participant Analysis Creator Guidelines.

There are 4 participants/characters in Psalm 30:

Profile List

David (v. 1)

YHWH (vv. 2–5, 8–9, 11, 13)
"my God" (vv. 3, 13)
"the Lord" (v. 9)

YHWH's faithful ones (v. 5)

David's enemies (v. 2)


Profile Notes

  • The psalmist is identified as David in the superscription. The psalm recounts his calling out to YHWH, YHWH's healing, and David's subsequent praise among the community of faithful ones. David is the speaker throughout the psalm, quoting his previous speech in vv. 10–11.
  • YHWH is also identified as "David's God" and "the Lord," who rescued and restored David after a period of illness. YHWH is the addressee throughout vv. 2–4 and 7–13.
  • The congregation are identified as YHWH's faithful ones and are exhorted to praise him. They are the addressees in vv. 5–6.
  • David's enemies are only mentioned in passing in v. 2, as those who would rejoice in his succumbing to illness and death (cf. Ps 22:8–9; 18–19). Nevertheless, they are not agentive and, in fact, only their inaction is mentioned, since "YHWH did not let them rejoice over David."


Hebrew Verse English
מִזְמ֡וֹר שִׁיר־חֲנֻכַּ֖ת הַבַּ֣יִת לְדָוִֽד׃ v. 1 A psalm. The song for the dedication of the house. By David.
אֲרוֹמִמְךָ֣ יְ֭הוָה כִּ֣י דִלִּיתָ֑נִי v. 2a I shall exalt you, YHWH, because you drew me up
וְלֹא־שִׂמַּ֖חְתָּ אֹיְבַ֣י לִֽי׃ v. 2b and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהָ֑י v. 3a YHWH, my God,
שִׁוַּ֥עְתִּי אֵ֝לֶ֗יךָ וַתִּרְפָּאֵֽנִי׃ v. 3b I cried to you for help and you healed me.
יְֽהוָ֗ה הֶֽעֱלִ֣יתָ מִן־שְׁא֣וֹל נַפְשִׁ֑י v. 4a YHWH, you brought up my life from Sheol;
חִ֝יִּיתַ֗נִי מִיָּֽרְדִי־בֽוֹר׃ v. 4b you restored me to life, so that I did not go down to the pit.
זַמְּר֣וּ לַיהוָ֣ה חֲסִידָ֑יו v. 5a Sing praise to YHWH, his faithful ones!
וְ֝הוֹד֗וּ לְזֵ֣כֶר קָדְשֽׁוֹ׃ v. 5b And praise his holy name!
כִּ֤י רֶ֨גַע ׀ בְּאַפּוֹ֮ חַיִּ֪ים בִּרְצ֫וֹנ֥וֹ v. 6a For there is a moment in his anger; there is life in his favor.
בָּ֭עֶרֶב יָלִ֥ין בֶּ֗כִי וְלַבֹּ֥קֶר רִנָּֽה׃ v. 6b Weeping might remain during the evening, but by the morning there is a shout of joy.
וַ֭אֲנִי אָמַ֣רְתִּי בְשַׁלְוִ֑י v. 7a But I had said when I was at ease,
בַּל־אֶמּ֥וֹט לְעוֹלָֽם׃ v. 7b "I will never waver."
יְֽהוָ֗ה בִּרְצוֹנְךָ֮ הֶעֱמַ֪דְתָּה לְֽהַרְרִ֫י עֹ֥ז v. 8a YHWH, in your favor you had established strength for my mountain.
הִסְתַּ֥רְתָּ פָנֶ֗יךָ הָיִ֥יתִי נִבְהָֽל׃ v. 8b You hid your face; I was in anguish.
אֵלֶ֣יךָ יְהוָ֣ה אֶקְרָ֑א v. 9a To you, YHWH, I would call out
וְאֶל־אֲ֝דֹנָ֗י אֶתְחַנָּֽן׃ v. 9b and to the Lord I would beg for mercy.
מַה־בֶּ֥צַע בְּדָמִי֮ בְּרִדְתִּ֪י אֶ֫ל־שָׁ֥חַת v. 10a "What gain is there in my blood, in my going down to the grave?
הֲיוֹדְךָ֥ עָפָ֑ר הֲיַגִּ֥יד אֲמִתֶּֽךָ׃ v. 10b Can dust praise you? Can it tell of your faithfulness?
שְׁמַע־יְהוָ֥ה וְחָנֵּ֑נִי v. 11a Listen, YHWH, and be merciful to me!
יְ֝הוָה הֱֽיֵה־עֹזֵ֥ר לִֽי׃ v. 11b YHWH, be a defender for me!"
הָפַ֣כְתָּ מִסְפְּדִי֮ לְמָח֪וֹל לִ֥י v. 12a You changed my mourning into dancing for me;
פִּתַּ֥חְתָּ שַׂקִּ֑י וַֽתְּאַזְּרֵ֥נִי שִׂמְחָֽה׃ v. 12b you removed my sackcloth and dressed me with joy,
לְמַ֤עַן ׀ יְזַמֶּרְךָ֣ כָ֭בוֹד וְלֹ֣א יִדֹּ֑ם v. 13a so that people will sing to you "Glory!" and will not stay silent.
יְהוָ֥ה אֱ֝לֹהַ֗י לְעוֹלָ֥ם אוֹדֶֽךָּ׃ v. 13b YHWH, my God, I shall praise you forever.
  • Is the addressee in v. 7 the faithful ones or YHWH?
Some scholars consider v. 7 a hinge verse standing independently between the first and second halves.[1] Nevertheless, the topic shift, indicated by וַ֭אֲנִי at the beginning of the verse, and the continuity of discourse topic with v. 8 (a false sense of independent security ➞ security provided by YHWH) indicate a stronger continuity there. Thus, while it is somewhat ambiguous, the interpretation of YHWH as the addressee seems preferable. (Alternatively, one could argue that the vocative at the beginning of v. 8 indicates a return to YHWH as the addressee.)
  • vv. 10–11. We understand vv. 10–11 to be the content of the "crying out" mentioned in v. 9.[2]
  • v. 12. "After quoting the crisis psalm the worshiper recited while in distress, the psalm narrates God’s rescue"[3] and "goes back to describe the salvation that he had experienced in the past."[4]

Participant Relations Diagram

The relationships among the participants may be abstracted and summarized as follows:

YHWH Faithful ones David draws up, heals, restores cries to for help,begs for mercy,exalts, praises sing praise to
When David cried out for help and begged for mercy, YHWH listened. He healed and restored David, so that he, along with all of YHWH's faithful ones sang praise to him.

Participant Analysis Summary Distribution

Participant DistributionYHWHversev. 2v. 4v. 5v. 6v. 7v. 8v. 9v. 10v. 11v. 12v. 3EnemiesDavid32/33v. 1v. 1322211Faithful ones23

Notes:

  • David is only absent in the section which introduces and addresses the faithful ones (vv. 5–6).
  • YHWH's absence follows closely behind (v. 7), after which David in the first-person and YHWH in the second-person dominate the rest of the psalm.
  • The enemies are only mentioned in passing in v. 2.
  1. ↑ See, e.g., Cohen 2019, 109, who astutely notes that it is the only verse in which YHWH is absent.
  2. ↑ Cf. Krinetzki 1961, 357; Malul 1996, 141; Cohen 2019, 112; Sommer 2022, 153.
  3. ↑ Sommer 2022, 172.
  4. ↑ Cohen 2019, 112; הוא חוזר לתאר את התשועה שהוא חווה בעבר.