Psalm 33 Exegetical Issues

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Psalm 33/Exegetical Issues
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Exegetical Issues Video

Introduction to Exegetical Issues

Presented here are the top three Exegetical Issues that any interpreter of the psalm—whether they’re reading the text in Hebrew or looking at a number of translations—are likely to encounter. These issues usually involve textual criticism, grammar, lexical semantics, verbal semantics, and/or phrase-level semantics, though they sometimes involve higher-level layers as well.

Exegetical Issues for Psalm 33

The interpretation כַּנֵּד in this verse is controversial. The meaning of the phrase, as it appears in the MT, is probably "like in a heap, wall, hill, or mound." However, the LXX translates it as "like in a wineskin" (ὡς ἀσκόν). Other scholars have proposed that the word should be revocalized as כֶּנֶד and translated "(in) a jar, bottle," based on similar words in Ugaritic and Akkadian.
This verse contains two participles, and it is difficult to know how to interpret them. The choice impacts the grammar and interpretation of the whole verse. Modern translations choose to translate the participles as verbs, but are divided on the tense (e.g., "He gathers the waters... he puts the deeps..." [ESV]; "He gathered... he laid up the deeps..." [NEB]). The other option, suggested by some commentators, is to treat them as nouns (e.g., "The one who gathers the waters... who sets up the deeps..." [NICOT]).
Many modern translations render both of the כִּי particles in v. 21 as causal ("for"; see ESV, NET, CSB, NJB, ELB, NVSR, LUT, NGÜ). This rendering appears to make the people's rejoicing and trust in v. 21 the reason why "YHWH is our helper and our shield" in v. 20b. In other words, the people's rejoicing and trust causes YHWH's protection. However, both ancient and modern translations use a variety of techniques to avoid such a statement, including interpreting כִּי with either an emphatic or resultative sense.