Psalm 4/Lexical Semantics
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
Lexical Semantics
Difficult Words
- v.2. תְּפִלָּה usually has the sense of 'a prayer for favor and help' (or it may indicate simply a desire to be heard, a plea or request in a legal sense, cf., Job 16:17). Since Psalm 4 is a lament psalm and the context of שׁמע תפלתי is חנני, it is fitting to think of the psalmist's prayer as a prayer for grace and help.
- v.3. בְּנֵי אִישׁ – "As many commentators have pointed out, the term בְּנֵי אִישׁ, literally “sons of man” but translated here as wealthy, is most likely a term for wealthy or influential members of the community (cf. 49:2; 62:9)."[1] There are four occurrences of this phrase in the MT (Pss. 4:3; 49:3; 62:10; Lam. 3:33). It appears to indicate people of eminence, influence and significance in distinction to בני אדם ("the common people." This is conclusively demonstrated in Ps. 62:10 where בְּנֵי אִישׁ and בני אדם are contrasted. It also answers the context of Lam. 3:33 very well and makes good sense in Ps. 49:3.[2] A canonical reading of Psalm 4 may suggest a contrast between בְּנֵי אִישׁ and the בֶּן יהוה of Psalm 2. In Psalm 4, the son of God admonishes the sons of man.
- v.4a הִפְלָה – “The rare verb 'set apart' (הִפְלָה) otherwise occurs only in connection with YHWH's treatment of the Israelites in Egypt (Exod. 8:18; 9:4; 11:7; cf. 33:16).”[3]
- v.4a חָסִיד – indicates a relationship, indeed a covenant, with both parties doing what is right. Eaton describes the king as "God's preeminent covenant fellow," and renders Psalm 4:4, "Yahweh has set apart a covenant fellow [i.e., the king] for himself."[4]
- v.5b דֹמּוּ – The verb דמם here means to “be silent.”[5] Some understand this to be the homonym, דמם, with the polarized meaning 'to wail’,[6] which allegedly occurs in Isaiah 23:2.[7] However, in this verse, the preceding phrase אִמרוּ בִלבַבְכֶם strongly suggests the more common meaning of דמם.
- v.6a. זִבְחֵי צֶדֶק – sacrifices that are offered according to the regulations of the law and/or sacrifices that are offered with a righteous perspective by the worshipper, i.e. sincere attitude of repentance, love for God, etc.
- v.7b נְסָה – The meaning of נְסָה is difficult to determine (see Argument map on the Grammar of Ps. 4:7b. There are at least three options.
- First, נְסָה may be “an orthographic variation” of נְשָׂא.[8] This view is reflected in the translations of Aquila and Theodotion (επαρον) and Jerome (leva). Although the normal form for the masculine singular imperative of נשׂא is שָׂא and not נְשָׂא (Gen. 13:14; 27:3; 31:12; 50:17; Ex. 10:17; Num. 3:40; 11:12; 31:26; Deut. 3:27; 1 Sam. 15:25; 25:28; 2 Kgs. 4:19; 9:25, 26; Ezek. 8:5; 19:1; 27:2; 28:12; 32:2; Zech. 5:5; Ps. 25:18), the form נְשָׂא does occur in Ps. 10:12. Furthermore, although “the original difference between the sounds שׂ and ס sometimes marks a distinction in meaning, e.g. סכר to close, שׂכר to hire סכל to be foolish, שׂכל to be prudent, wise... they are sometimes interchanged; as סכר for שׂכר to hire, Ezr. 4:5; שִׂכְלוּת for סִכְלוּת folly, Ec. 1:17.”[9] Perhaps the strongest support for נְסָה as a variation of נְשָׂא is the intertextual link between Psalm 4 (especially v.7b) and the Aaronic blessing of Num. 6:24-26 (יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ).
- A second option is to emend the vocalization (נָסָה) so as to read “the third person feminine singular perfect from נוּס ('flee').”[10]
- Finally, נְסָה may be a denominative form of נֵס (‘flag’). A denominative form of נֵס may be found also in Zech. 9:16 (מִתְנוֹסְסוֹת) and Psalm 60:6 (לְהִתְנוֹסֵס). This view is reflected in the Greek translations of the LXX (ἐσημειώθη) and Symmachus (επισημον ποιησον), though the LXX translation probably reflects a different vocalization (נִסָּה?). The MT vocalization might be a masculine singular imperative with a long ה ending, analogous to קְחָה (so Symmachus appears to have read it).
- v.8b. תִּירוֹשׁ – “new wine” = must, i.e. grape juice immediately after the vintage,
References to God
| Definition Feature being studied | Occurrences Sections where this feature is present or absent | Clustering | Intersection | Connections | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| direct address to Yahweh | אֱלֹהֵי צִדְקִי (v.2a), יְהוָה (v.7b), אַתָּה יְהוָה (v.9b) | beginning of psalm (v.2a), end of psalm (v.9b) | inclusio (vv.2a, 9b) | ||
| אלהים | אֱלֹהֵי צִדְקִי (v.2a) | opening line of the psalm | Although the title אלהים does not appear again in the psalm, the noun צֶדֶק does occur in v.6a, thus forming a connection between these verses. | ||
| יהוה | יְהוָה (v.4a), יְהוָה (v.4b), אֶל־יְהוָה (v.6b), יְהוָה (v.7b), יְהוָה (v.9b) | v.4ab(2x); absent in vv.2-3 | The series of exhortations (vv.4-7) to the sons of man begins and ends with third person reference to Yahweh (v.4a, v.6b) |
Yahweh is addressed as אלהי צדקי. This particular phrase only occurs once in the MT. There are two options for interpreting the relationship between the constituents in this bound phrase. 1) The free member (צדקי) may be attributive ("my righteous God."). 2) The relationship may be possessive ("God of my righteousness," i.e., God adjudicates, awards, gives, maintains my legal rightness). Both essentially say the same thing, but the second option is contextually more suitable because the crisis of drought challenges David's legal rightness before God (see
This feature is considered relevant for this psalm.,
Repeated words
| Definition Feature being studied | Occurrences Sections where this feature is present or absent | Clustering | Intersection | Connections | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| אמר | אִמְרוּ (v.5b), אֹמְרִים (v.7a) | middle line of the psalm (v.5b); beginning of section 5 (vv.7-8) | forms connection between v.5b and v.7. Note that several words from v.5b are repeated throughout the rest of the psalm. | The thematic significance of v.5b (the middle line of the psalm, also the longest line) is indicated by the fact that nearly every word of this verse is repeated (in order) in the a-line of a following verse. | |
| בטח | וּבִטְחוּ (v.6b), לָבֶטַח (v.9c) | central section (v.6); final line (9c) | forms connection between v.6 and the final line of the psalm (v.9c). (Note that v.6 is also connected to the first line of the psalm [צדק]). Those who trust (בטח) in Yahweh (v.6b) can lie down in security (בטח, v.9c) | v.6 is in some sense the center of the psalm | |
| בְּקָרְאִי | בְּקָרְאִי (v.2a), בְּקָרְאִי (v.4b) | beginning of psalm (v.2a); beginning of third section (v.3a) | one of several points of connection between v.2 and v.4. | anaphora | |
| זבח | זִבְחוּ (v.6a), זִבְחֵי־צֶדֶק (v.6a) | v.6a | |||
| לֵב/לֵבָב | בִלְבַבְכֶם (v.5b), בְלִבִּי (v.8a) | middle line of the psalm (v.5b) | Connection between v.5b and v.8a. Note that several words from v.5b are repeated throughout the rest of the psalm. | The thematic significance of v.5b (the middle line of the psalm, also the longest line) is indicated by the fact that nearly every word of this verse is repeated (in order) in the a-line of a following verse. | |
| צדק | אֱלֹהֵי צִדְקִי (v.2a), זִבְחֵי־צֶדֶק (v.6a) | forms connection between v.6 and v.2 (note that v.6 is connected to both the first and final lines of the psalm) | v.6 is in some sense the center of the psalm | ||
| רבב | רַבִּים (v.7a), רָבּוּ (v.8b) | inclusio (v.7a - v.8b); gives cohesion to these verses | |||
| שׁכב | עַל־מִשְׁכַּבְכֶם (v.5b), אֶשְׁכְּבָה (v.9a) | middle line of the psalm (v.5b); end of the psalm (v.9a) | forms connection between v.5b and v.9a. Note that several words from v.5b are repeated throughout the rest of the psalm. | Epiphora: both sections (vv.4-5, v.9) end with the image of lying down in bed. The thematic significance of v.5b (the middle line of the psalm, also the longest line) is indicated by the fact that nearly every word of this verse is repeated (in order) in the a-line of a following verse. | |
| שׁמע | וּשְׁמַע (v.2c), יִשְׁמַע (v.4b) | one of several points of connection between v.2 and v.4 | inclusio or anaphora? |
"A key poetic device in Psalm 4 is the way in which key words or roots are repeated, often endowing the psalm with a sense either of contrast or of reversal."[11]
"The poetic structure of the psalm is particularly distinctive, and though the psalm lacks any clear metrical balance, the poet has achieved striking effect in the repeated use of the same words, or words derived from the same root... The psalm is so closely integrated by the use of double terms that the structure cannot easily be determined."[12] Despite the difficulty, there does appear to be some order to the lexical repetition, as the following table and graphic demonstrate. Several observations can be made:
- v.6 is distinguished, through lexical recursion, as the center of the psalm. The word צדק (v.6a) appears in the first line of the psalm (2a), and the root בטח (v.6b) appears in the last line of the psalm.
- Repeated words/roots are concentrated in the middle of the psalm (vv. 4-6). Three lexemes from vv.1-3 (בקראי, שׁמע, צדק) are here repeated, and four which are repeated in vv. 8-9 appear here for the first time (לב, שׁכב, בטח, אמר).
- Nearly every word in v. 5b (אמר, לבב, שׁכב) is repeated in the following verses (vv.7-8) in the order in which they appeared in v.5b. אמר (v.5b) recurs in v.7a; לב recurs in v.8a; and שׁכב recurs in v.9a. This reinforces the thematic significance of v.5b, which also happens to be the middle/longest line of the psalm.
- Recursion of רבב (vv.7a, 8b) forms an inclusion.
- Lexical recursion/repetition connects v.2 and v.4 (בקראי, שׁמע).
| 1 | |||||||||||
| 2a | בְּקָרְאִי | צִדְקִי | |||||||||
| 2b | |||||||||||
| 2c | וּשְׁמַע | ||||||||||
| 3a | |||||||||||
| 3b | |||||||||||
| 3c | |||||||||||
| 4a | יהוה | ||||||||||
| 4b | בְּקָרְאִי | יִשְׁמַע | יהוה | ||||||||
| 5a | |||||||||||
| 5b | אִמְרוּ | בִלְבַבְכֶם | מִשְׁכַבְכֶם | ||||||||
| 6a | צֶדֶק | ||||||||||
| 6b | יהוה | וּבִטְחוּ | |||||||||
| 7a | אֹמְרִים | רַבִּים | |||||||||
| 7b | יהוה | ||||||||||
| 8a | בְלִבִּי | ||||||||||
| 8b | רַבּוּ | ||||||||||
| 9a | אֶשְׁכְּבָה | ||||||||||
| 9b | יהוה | ||||||||||
| 9c | לָבֶטַח |
This feature is considered relevant for this psalm.,
Common word pairs
Word pairs in Psalm 4 occur consecutively rather than in parallel lines:
- בִלְבַבְכֶם עַל־מִשְׁכַּבְכֶם (v.5b; cf. Hos. 4:17)
- דְּגָנָם וְתִירוֹשָׁם (v.8b),
Rare words
There is relatively little rare vocabulary in this psalm (contrast with Psalm 6). The only word that occurs less than 10 times is הִפְלָה (v.4a).
- ↑ Nancy deClaissé-Walford, Rolf Jacobson and Beth Tanner, The Book of Psalms',' The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014).
- ↑ see A.A. Anderson, Psalms, 77.
- ↑ John Goldingay, “Psalm 4: Ambiguity and Resolution,” Tyndale Bulletin 57, no. 2 (2006): 161–72.
- ↑ John Eaton, Kingship and the Psalms (London: SCM Press, 1976), 151.
- ↑ BDB.
- ↑ John Kselman, “A Note on Psalm 4:5,” Biblica 68, no. 1 (1987): 103–5; Michael Barré, “Hearts, Beds, and Repentance in Psalm 4,5 and Hosea 7,14,” Biblica 76 (1995): 53-62.
- ↑ BDB.; HALOT.
- ↑ GKC, 76b.
- ↑ GKC, 6k.
- ↑ John Goldingay, “Psalm 4: Ambiguity and Resolution,” Tyndale Bulletin 57, no. 2 (2006): 161–72.
- ↑ Nancy deClaissé-Walford, Rolf Jacobson and Beth Tanner, The Book of Psalms',' The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014).
- ↑ Peter Craigie, Psalms. 1-50. Word Biblical Commentary (Waco: Word Books, 1983), 79-80.