Psalm 34 Grammar

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Grammatical Diagram

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Grammatical Term	Definition	Diagram	Example
Clausal Additions
Subject	The subject performs the action of the active verb or receives the action of a passive verb. With intransitive verbs	Indicated at the beginning of the main clausal line, and followed by a vertical line that crosses over the main clause line (separating the subject from the predicate).
Direct Object	Object that receives the direct action of a (transitive) verb	Indicate with a vertical line up from main clausal line
Predicate adjective/ Subject complement	A word used with a linking verb (ex. "to be"), renaming or restating the subject. Can be a whole prepositional phrase.	Indicate with a vertical slanted line up from the main clausal line. It can be on a stand if it is an embedded clause.
Object Complement	Word following a direct object to state what it has become.	Indicate with a vertical slanted line up from the main clausal line.
Infinitives	Can be subject, adverbial, or an infinitive construct.	Indicate with double vertical lines that cross the main clausal line. If used adverbially (ie. an embedded clause), place on a stand.
Participles	A verbal noun/adjective that can be used in three positions: (1) substantival; (2) attributive; (3) predicative.	Indicate with a round vertical line. Substantival participles are placed on a stand (they are embedded). Attributive participles are placed with a rounded line underneath what is modified.
Modifiers
Adjectives	A word modifying a noun to indicate quality, quantity, extent, or differentiating something from something else.	Indicate with a slanted line down from what is modified.
Adverbs	A word that modifies a verb, adverb, adjective, prepositional phrase, clause, or sentence to express a relation (ex. manner, quality, or time).	Indicate with a slanted line down from what is modified.
Construct relationships	Construction can express many different relationships between two (or more) nouns. English grammarians call this construction a ‘Construct’ (our term) or ‘Genitive’ phrase; Hebrew grammarians call it smīḵūt (סְמִיכוּת).	Indicate with a stair-step down from the modified word/clause/phrase.
Prepositional phrases	A phrase that consists of a preposition and its object and has adjectival or adverbial value	Indicate with a slanted vertical line connecting to a new clause.
Connectives	(1) Coordinating conjunctions join together words or word groups of equal grammatical rank (2) Subordinating conjunctions join a main clause and a clause which does not form a complete sentence by itself.	Indicate with a dashed line down from a vertical line marker.
Embedded clause	A clause inside another clause which can include substantival participles, adverbial infinitives, and prepositional phrases.	Indicate using stilts.
Particles
Subordinating particle	Indicates a dependent clause.	Indicate with a dashed line down from the antecedent to the pronoun.
Apposition	A word that is functioning as an explanatory equivalent as another in the sentence	Place on a line apart from the diagram but next to the word it is the equivalent of with an equal sign in between.
Vocative	Indicating a person being addressed (usually with a 2nd person verb)	Place on a line apart from the diagram next to the '()' indicating the gapped subject an equal sign in between.

Master Diagram

v. 1

v. 2

v. 3

v. 4

v. 5

v. 6

v. 7

• זה is probably the subject and קרא is a relative clause; so Peshitta: ܗܢܘ ܡܣܟܢܐ ܕܩܪܝܗܝ ("this is a poor man who cried out to him"). Cf. Baethgen (1904) “Hier ist ein Dulder, welcher rief.” “זה עני ist nich ‘dieser Elende ̓, sondern das Pronomen steht deiktisch, und קרא ist mit dem Syrer als Relativsatz aufzufassen” (so NEB, JPS85, ELB, GNB, ZÜR, GWT; so Goldingay 2006:475). Cf. Ps. 118:24.
• Most translations, however, treat זה as adjectival modifier (“this poor one”); so LXX (οὗτος ὁ πτωχὸς ); so most English translations. See JM 143i - “In some very rare cases זה seems to be used adjectivally before the noun” (e.g., Ex. 32:1; 1 Sam. 21:12; Ct. 7:8; Isa. 23:13; Ps. 34:7; 104:25; 118:20).
• Some propose vocalizing עני as עֳנִי (“affliction”) . “Similarly, in Ps. xxxiv 7, the phrase זה עני ought to be understood as 'the poor man', lit., 'he possessing affliction or poverty' (reading עֳני for MT עָני)” (Allegro, John Marco. “Uses of the Semitic Demonstrative Element Z in Hebrew.” Vetus Testamentum, vol. 5, no. 3, July 1955, pp. 309–12) (cf. IBHS 19.5).

v. 8

v. 9

v. 10

v. 11

v. 12

v. 13

• The LXX (cf. 1 Pet. 3:10) apparently reads אֹהֵ֥ב יָ֝מִ֗ים לִרְא֥וֹת טֽוֹב as a single clause: ἀγαπῶν ἡμέρας ἰδεῖν ἀγαθάς ("coveting to see good days"). Cf. Peshitta: ܘܪܚܡ ܝܘܡ̈ܬܐ ܛܒ̈ܐ ܠܡܚܙܐ܂; Jerome: diligens dies videre bonos. But this interpretation involves grammatical discord: טוֹב (singular) modifies יָמִים (plural). It also requires a strained interpretation of the word order and prosodic structure.
• Most interpreters read לִרְאוֹת as a purpose clause. The phrase אהב ימים corresponds to חפץ חיּים, "so that consequently לראות is a definition of the purpose" (Delitzsch). "...loves many days, that he may see good?" (ESV) >> "...desires a long life to enjoy all good things" (NEB).
• It is likely, however, that לִרְאוֹת is the complement of an elided אהב: "who loves days, [who loves] to see good" (cf. Isa. 56:10; Jer. 14:10; Hos. 10:11; 12:8). So Jenni.

v. 14

v. 15

v. 16

v. 17

v. 18

v. 19

vv. 20-21

• Most translations read v. 21 as an independent clause: "he protects all his bones" (Peshitta [ܘܢܛܪ], Jerome [custodit], NIV, NLT, ESV, NET, NEB, LUT, NGÜ, ELB, EÜ, GNB, ZÜR). But שמר is a participle, and a participle (unlike a finite verb) does not usually function as the main predication of a clause without an explicit subject. (The difficulty of the participle without an explicit subject is probably what led the LXX to redivide the lines: καὶ ἐκ πασῶν αὐτῶν ῥύσεται αὐτούς. // κύριος φυλάσσει πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ αὐτῶν. Similarly, one Kennicott ms and one De Rossi ms read שומר יהוה.) Therefore, שמר is probably in apposition to יהוה at the end of the previous clause: "...the Lord // the one who protects all his bones" (cf. JPS85: "the Lord will save him from them all, Keeping all his bones intact..."). This interpretation of the grammar is supported by the fact that v. 20 contrasts with v. 22 (the effects of רעה on the righteous and the wicked respectively). If v. 21 is not grammatically subordinated to v. 20, then the contrast is obscured.
• On the other hand, "the personal pronoun which would be expected as the subject of a participial clause is frequently omitted, or at least... the pronoun of the 3rd person הוא" (GKC 116s) (cf. Ps. 33:5; Job 12:17, 19-24).

v. 22

v. 23