Psalm 46 Emotional
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Psalm 46/Emotional
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God is Our Fortress
Psalm 46
Emotional Analysis
This layer explores the emotional dimension of the biblical text and seeks to uncover the clues within the text itself that are part of the communicative intent of its author. The goal of this analysis is to chart the basic emotional tone and/or progression of the psalm.
For a detailed explanation of our method, see the Emotional Analysis Creator Guidelines.
Emotional Analysis Chart
If an emendation or revocalization is preferred, that emendation or revocalization will be marked in the Hebrew text of all the visuals.
| Emendations/Revocalizations legend | |
|---|---|
| *Emended text* | Emended text, text in which the consonants differ from the consonants of the Masoretic text, is indicated by blue asterisks on either side of the emendation. |
| *Revocalized text* | Revocalized text, text in which only the vowels differ from the vowels of the Masoretic text, is indicated by purple asterisks on either side of the revocalization. |
| Verse | Text (Hebrew) | Text (CBC) | The Psalmist Feels | Emotional Analysis Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1
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לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ לִבְנֵי־קֹ֑רַח עַֽל־עֲלָמ֥וֹת שִֽׁיר׃
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For the music director. By the Korahites. As young women. A psalm.
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2
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אֱלֹהִ֣ים לָ֭נוּ מַחֲסֶ֣ה וָעֹ֑ז
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God is a refuge and stronghold for us.
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• Confident in God's reliability and power. • Safe and secure in God's stronghold-like protection.
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• In the first section of Psalm 46, both positive and negative emotions could be detected. Thus, according to the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count programme (LIWC) עֹז/“strength” or “stronghold” represents positive emotions; but the word “refuge” indicates negative emotions and experiences, e.g., anxiety (i.e., “refuge” shelters from adverse circumstances).
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עֶזְרָ֥ה בְ֝צָר֗וֹת נִמְצָ֥א מְאֹֽד׃
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He is readily available, as a help, in great trouble.
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• Anxious and fearful because of great trouble. • Confident in God's help.
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• V. 2b features a similar scenario. The “help” sounds reassuring; yet it appears in combination with בְצָרוֹת, which could be rendered as “in great trouble”, or “in distress”. Hence, it communicates negative emotion and anxiety (Watson 2018, 189). • Furthermore, the use of the plural pronoun “we” or “us” is rather telling. That is, in or after traumatic events, individual tend to seek solidarity with others and link themselves to larger groups of people, using communal language ("we", "us"; see examples on the rhetoric employed by survivors post 9-11 [Watson 2018, 194]). • The distribution of verbs is also indicative of the psalmists' emotional states. Vv. 2, 8, and 12 hardly use any verbs, communicating, to a degree, a sense of calm.
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3
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עַל־כֵּ֣ן לֹא־נִ֭ירָא בְּהָמִ֣יר אָ֑רֶץ
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Therefore, we will not fear though the earth change
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• Anxious because of the tumult around them. • Confident (and not fearful), in spite of cataclysmic events, because of God's help. • Safe, secure, and peaceful in God's protection.
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• Furthermore, negativity is also present v. 3; the phrase לאֹ־נִירָא/“we shall not fear” features the particle לאֹ/“not” with the verb “to fear”. Together, they register negative emotion and anxiety. Significantly, to say “we will not fear” is not the same as “we will be confident” (Watson 2018, 189). • The presence of negations in close proximity to the many self-references signals an anxious state of mind (Watson 2018, 190, drawing on Pennebaker and Niederhoffer 2003, 558). • More negative emotions are presupposed in vv. 3b-4. Although in English the word "change" may be neutral, the Hebrew מור is, which frequently features in in prohibitions. Other verbs such as “shake” and “rage” can also be viewed as reflecting negative emotional conditions (Watson 2018, 189). • Furthermore, anxiety is also associated with "what if" questions, with the fixation on worst case scenarios. V. 3 is a good example of such a condition, wherein the text considers possibilities of earth changing and mountains shaking and waters raging. Relatedly, the use of words that indicate a need or wish to explain things, e.g., "because, since, in order to, and therefore", is also suggestive of anxiety (Watson 2018, 190). Hence, the word עַל־כֵּן/"therefore" gives away the inner state of mind which is worried (Watson 2018, 191).
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וּבְמ֥וֹט הָ֝רִ֗ים בְּלֵ֣ב יַמִּֽים׃
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and the mountains topple into the heart of the deepest sea.
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• As noted before, the distribution of verbs is important in communicating the psalmists' emotional states. Unlike vv. 2, 8, and 12 , the verses about enemy forces (the mountains, waters, and nations) use a lot of verbal forms. Thus, a series of verbs appear in vv. 3b–4, 6–7, 10b–11, representing tumult in various spheres (Watson 2018, 198). This in turn presupposes a high level of anxiety. • All in all, the first section (as well as the sections that follow) presupposes both positive and negative emotions, even where confidence and trust in God are asserted.
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4
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יֶהֱמ֣וּ יֶחְמְר֣וּ מֵימָ֑יו
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Though its waters foam in rage.
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יִֽרְעֲשֽׁוּ־הָרִ֖ים בְּגַאֲוָת֣וֹ סֶֽלָה׃
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Though mountains quake at its surging. Selah.
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5
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נָהָ֗ר פְּלָגָ֗יו יְשַׂמְּח֥וּ עִיר־אֱלֹהִ֑ים קְ֝דֹ֗שׁ מִשְׁכְּנֵ֥י עֶלְיֽוֹן׃
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[There is] a river whose streams gladden the city of God—the holy dwelling of the Most High.
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• Confident that God is dwelling in the midst of his city and among his people. • Joyous that God provides a river that gladdens the city. • Confident that God is committed to their well-being, supports them, and protects them; • Confident in the power of God the Most High.
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• The beginning of v. 5a conveys positive emotion, mostly due to the presence of the verb סמח, “make glad, gladden”. • In v. 5, which opens strophe 2, there is only one verb ("to gladden"), appearing after the fronted double subject (נָהָר פְּלָגָיו). Hence, the overall effect is descriptive (cf. v. 2), offering "a solid and reassuring picture of how things are" (Watson 2018, 197-198).
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6
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אֱלֹהִ֣ים בְּ֭קִרְבָּהּ
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God is in its midst.
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• Confident that God is in the midst of his city and among his people. • Confident that God supports them and protects them.
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בַּל־תִּמּ֑וֹט
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It cannot be moved.
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• Confident in God's reliability and power. • Safe, secure, and invincible because the city cannot be moved.
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• The following statement (v. 6), בַּל־תִּמּוֹט/“it will not be toppled/shaken/overthrown” (as before; cf. v. 3a) features a verb which represents extremely negative emotion (תִּמּוֹט) and a particle of negation (בַּל). Hence, as before, positive reassuring assertions are a response to underlying negative-valenced emotions.
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יַעְזְרֶ֥הָ אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים לִפְנ֥וֹת בֹּֽקֶר׃
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God helps it at the approach of morning.
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• Confident because of God's help. • Anxious as he awaits the approach of the morning.
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7
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הָמ֣וּ ג֭וֹיִם
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[When] nations raged,
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• Confident in God's power. • Anxious and fearful in light of the nations raging.
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• The nations are said to "rage," creating more anxiety. • Thus, the second strophe picks up and further develops "the negative emotions and yearning for security already laid bare" in the first strophe" (Watson 2018, 192). • The appearance of God with his powerful thundering voice (cf. Ps 68:34–36) exacerbate the situation by adding an element of divine aggression (cf. Jer 12:8) (Watson 2018, 192-193). • Furthermore, a combination of positive and negative emotions is communicated rhetorically via a multiplicity of agents and entities cramped into a relatively tight poetic space. • Thus, in vv. 6–7, there is a succession of nouns—i.e., God, the city, God, the city again, nations, kingdoms, God’s voice, and the earth. • "It is as if the battlefield is laid out before us, in all its intensity of movement by opposing parties, though the city is here a passive entity vulnerably caught up in the midst of the action ... : it cannot act for itself in the melée of raging and tottering nations and kingdoms, the thundering God and melting earth” (Watson 2018, 198).
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מָ֣טוּ מַמְלָכ֑וֹת
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[and] kingdoms fell down,
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נָתַ֥ן בְּ֝קוֹל֗וֹ
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[then] he thundered with his voice,
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תָּמ֥וּג אָֽרֶץ׃
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[then] the earth would melt!
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8
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יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֣וֹת עִמָּ֑נוּ
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YHWH, [the God] of Hosts, is with us.
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• Confident that God supports them and protects them.
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עִמָּ֑נוּ מִשְׂגָּֽב־לָ֝נוּ אֱלֹהֵ֖י יַעֲקֹ֣ב סֶֽלָה׃
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The God of Jacob is a fortress for us. Selah.
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• Confident in God's reliability and power. • Safe and secure in God's fortress-like protection.
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9
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לְֽכוּ־
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Come!
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• Enthusiastic because people must (imperative) come and perceive YHWH's works.
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חֲ֭זוּ מִפְעֲל֣וֹת יְהוָ֑ה
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Perceive the works of YHWH
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אֲשֶׁר־שָׂ֖ם שַׁמּ֣וֹת בָּאָֽרֶץ׃
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who has wrought great devastation in the land.
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• Confident—in spite of fear of war—in God's great power of devastation. • Reverent fear in light of the devastation caused by God.
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• Here in the third section, the audience is invited to see the שַׁמּוֹת (‘desolations, devastations’) that God has brought about in his engagement with human aggressors. Already negative, this section is continued with the word מִלְחָמוֹת/wars/armed conflicts, which God terminates throughout, and also implements of war which are “broken/smashed” and “snapped/cut in pieces.” These actions are associated with hostility, aggression, and anger. • Of further interest here is that the rhetoric used throughout gives away indications that the individuals reciting the psalm are dealing with and overcoming traumatic experiences. A few elements testifying to this are 1.) words signaling divine causation, i.e., "he has brought desolations on the earth" (v. 9); "terminating wars" (v. 10; cf. v. 5, "a river's streams making the city glad"; 2.) indicators of insight and perception (imperatives "behold/perceive" (v. 9), "know" (v. 11); 3.) the "giving forth" of the divine voice (v. 7b); the "burning with fire" (v. 10c, causatory and sensory). "An increase in insight and causation language is a healthy characteristic of the forms of expression of those processing trauma and gradually coming to terms with it" (Watson 2018, 192-193). • As in vv. 3b–4, 6–7, there is a sense of a fierce, intense battle taking place. At this juncture, there is a rapid verbal sequence present. E.g., in v. 10, God intervenes and brings about the cessation of wars; he also destroys all weapons and food supplies. .
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10
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מַשְׁבִּ֥ית מִלְחָמוֹת֮ עַד־קְצֵ֪ה הָ֫אָ֥רֶץ
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The one who terminates wars to the end of the earth
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• Confident in God's global power to the end of the earth.
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קֶ֣שֶׁת יְ֭שַׁבֵּר
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breaks the bow
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יְ֭שַׁבֵּר וְקִצֵּ֣ץ חֲנִ֑ית
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and snaps the spear.
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עֲ֝גָל֗וֹת יִשְׂרֹ֥ף בָּאֵֽשׁ׃
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He burns transport wagons with fire.
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11
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הַרְפּ֣וּ
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"Be still
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• Reverent in light of the worship and universal acknowledgement due to God.
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• As previously noted, God’s aggression in this section is salvific for his community and hence carries positive emotions. Here everyone, the community included, is instructed to be still and trust. • The community is reassured that God is in control. His exercise of power and aggression are beneficial to the people.
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וּ֭דְעוּ כִּי־אָנֹכִ֣י אֱלֹהִ֑ים
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and acknowledge that I am God!
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אֱלֹהִ֑ים אָר֥וּם בַּ֝גּוֹיִ֗ם
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I will be exalted among the nations;
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• Reverent in light of God's exaltation. • Triumphant in light of God's exaltation.
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• The verb אָרוּם/“be high, exalted” in v. 11 can be understood as “triumph over,” in which case it communicates positive emotions. If it is read as signifying “to dominate” then it will carry negative overtones, representing anger, indignation, and resolve. “[T]he triumph of God may induce both fear at his power and relief or delight at its results, as well as providing a channel for vicarious aggression towards the enemy” (Watson 2018, 192-193).
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אָר֥וּם בָּאָֽרֶץ׃
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I will be exalted throughout the earth.”
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12
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יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֣וֹת עִמָּ֑נוּ
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YHWH, [the God] of Hosts, is with us.
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• Confident that God is in the midst of his people.
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מִשְׂגָּֽב־לָ֝נוּ אֱלֹהֵ֖י יַעֲקֹ֣ב סֶֽלָה׃
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The God of Jacob is a fortress for us. Selah.
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• Confident in God's reliability and power. • Safe and secure in God's fortress-like protection.
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• The people experience God as a refuge, something protective, reassuring, and stable. • As previously noted, this verse (v. 12) has no active verbs. This in turn, creates "the sense of divine immovability and solidity, whilst underlining their own passivity” (Watson 2018, 198).
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Summary Visual
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