Psalm 44/Notes/Grammar.V. 13.281648

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  • The grammar of רִבִּיתָ בִּמְחִירֵיהֶם: Some modern translations treat רִבִּיתָ as an intransitive verb (i.e., "you have not profited/increased"), with the prepositional phrase בִּמְחִירֵיהֶם functioning as an adverbial modifier, indicating means (i.e., "by their price"; so NASB, NIV, CSB, KJV). On the other hand, it is possible that the preposition בְּ of בִּמְחִירֵיהֶם introduces the object of the transitive verb רִבִּיתָ (DCH, 5:217; 7:397). If so, then the verbal idea here is that of inflating the purchase price (so ESV, NRSV, NET). A mediating position would be to see רִבִּיתָ בִּמְחִירֵיהֶם as an idiomatic expression, "to make a profit" (so HALOT, 1176). However, if this were the case, then translating בִּמְחִירֵיהֶם adverbially (cf. CSB, "you make no profit by selling them") would be redundant.
While, in rare cases, the verb רבה can be used intransitively to refer to qualitative (as opposed to quantitative) greatness, this typically occurs in the qal stem (Job 33:12; 1 Kgs 5:10). In the piel stem (as here in 44:13), the verb is transitive in all its other occurrences (Judg 9:29; Ezek 19:2; Lam 2:22). Thus, reading רִבִּיתָ as transitive (with בִּמְחִירֵיהֶם indicating the object) is preferred.