Psalm 4/Figurative

Figurative

Metaphor

• v.2b. צר, רחב – Spacial metaphors. Narrowness = distress, trouble; spaciousness = relief, ease.
• v.7b. אור פניך – "The metaphor of light, as applied to the deity, draws much of its source from solar imagery, itself rich in associations. Most generally, light signifies flourishing life, 'the light of life' (Ps. 56:13), and, thus, shares special affinity with the Author of life. To ascribe light to God is to acknowledge the fullness of life that God imparts to creation." In Ps. 4, the light of God's face "conveys agricultural bounty.".,

Metonymy

• v.5a. רִגְזוּ – trembling is a metonymy of adjunct for deep emotion. It is most often associated with the emotion of fear, though sometimes it is used for anger (cf. LXX ὀργίζεσθε, so also Eph. 4:26). David is instructing the men of rank to "stand in awe" (KJV) at the deeds of Yahweh in history and to carefully consider and ponder things before acting rashly and sinfully. Paul's citation does not substantiate the LXX as the correct interpretation of רגז Ps. 4. Rather, what both Ps. 4:5 and Eph. 4:26 have in common is the curbing and limitation of sinful tendencies by prayer and reflection and before sundown as Ps. 4:9 shows.
• v.5b. “be silent” = listen to God’s conviction instead of defending your own evil behavior
• v.6a. זִבְחוּ– offering sacrifices is metonymic for worship, though it may also be a metaphor for contrition (cf. Ps. 51:19)
• v.7a. טוֹב is metonymic for rain (cf. Jer. 5:24-25; Ps. 85:13). The "grain" and "new wine" (v.8) create a context which warrant understanding טוב as rain in v.7. See historical background.
• v.7b. פנים – face is metonymic for presence
• v.8b. דגנם ותירושׁם – grain and wine are metonymic for abundance/wealth. The reference is to “an abundant harvest of grain and grapes (for wine).”
• v.9a. אשׁכבה ואישׁן – lying down to sleep is metonymic for security (cf. v.9c); “sleep in peace” = denotes safety that allows people to sleep without worry since they are safe,

Anthropomorphism

• v.2b. God enlarges.
• v.2c, 4b. God hears.
• v.7b. God has a face.,

Apostrophe

• vv.3-6. The heart of the psalm consists of an extended apostrophe, a direct address to בְּנֵי אִישׁ.,

Rhetorical questions

There are two rhetorical questions in this psalm (3 according to the LXX):

• v.3. The first question (עַד מֶה), which the psalmist poses to בני אישׁ, functions as a rebuke.
  • The LXX has two questions in this verse, ἕως πότε (עד מה) in v.3a and ἵνα τί (למה) in v.3b, since it apparently read כבדי לב למה for כבדי לכלמה (see #Variants).
• v.7a. The second question (מִי), raised by "many" (בני אישׁ = רַבִּים?), expresses a wish. This question seems to reflect a context where people were in despair and feeling like things were not going well in their lives.

These two questions frame the series of imperatives at the heart of the psalm (vv.4-6).,

Idioms

• v.5b. The phrase אמר בלב, though not technically an idiom (it is neither syntactically anomalous nor lexically unique), is a multiword figure of speech that appears often in the Psalms (Ps. 4:5; 10:6,11,13; 14:1; 35:25; 53:2; 74:8) as well as in other books of the Hebrew Bible (Gen. 17:17; 27:41; Deut. 7:17; 8:17; 9:4; 18:21; 1Kgs. 12:26; Isa. 14:13; 47:8,10; 49:21; Jer. 5:24; 13:22; Obad. 1:3; Zeph. 1:12; 2:15; Zech. 12:5; Qoh. 2:1,15; 3:17,18; Est. 6:6). It means "to think to oneself," i.e., reflect on your actions whether they were “godly” or not.

Barré notes a potential problem with the use of this idiom here. Every other occurrence of the idiom in the Hebrew Bible "is followed immediately by oratio recta. The same holds true of instances of the idiom in later Jewish literature or the NT. This is true also of the Akkadian cognate qabu ina libbi (with variants) — it likewise introduces direct speech. The only conclusion that can be drawn from this evidence is that biblical Hebrew אמר בלב functions as a formula introducing direct speech. The fact that in Ps 4,5 no such speech occurs in conjunction with this idiom makes its presence in this verse highly suspect."