Psalm 44/Notes/Verbal.V. 11.27835

From Psalms: Layer by Layer
Jump to: navigation, search
  • תְּשִׁיבֵנוּ ("you make us retreat"): Paired qatal and yiqtol constructions can denote a general truth. The typically habitual value of the yiqtolcan be viewed as providing an overlapping circumstantial description to the qatal (Niccacci 2006, 257–58). Here in v. 11, the push backwards (תְּשִׁיבֵנוּ, v. 11a) and being plundered (שָׁסוּ, v. 11c) do not refer a single, isolated event, but rather a regular occurrence in the psalmist's current experience.
  • מְשַׂנְאֵינוּ: "Those who hate us" >> "enemies" (SDBH).
  • שָׁסוּ ("our enemies have plundered"): Paired qatal and yiqtol constructions can denote a general truth. The typically habitual value of the yiqtolcan be viewed as providing an overlapping circumstantial description to the qatal (Niccacci 2006, 257–58). Here in v. 11, the push backwards (תְּשִׁיבֵנוּ, v. 11a) and being plundered (שָׁסוּ, v. 11c) do not refer a single, isolated event, but rather a regular occurrence in the psalmist's current experience. As such, the qatal שָׁסוּ focuses on the resultant state (i.e., the enemies have caused a state of having been plundered), and no reference point movement is expected.