Psalm 46 Grammar

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About the Grammar Layer

The grammar layer visually represents the grammar and syntax of each clause. It also displays alternative interpretations of the grammar. (For more information, click "Expand" to the right.)

The grammatical diagram provides a way to visualise how different parts of a sentence work together. It represents the “surface-level” grammar, or morphosyntax, of a sentence. Morphosyntax includes both the form of words (morphology) and their placement in the sentence (syntax). This approach to visualising the text, based on the Reed-Kellogg diagramming method, places the grammatical subject in one slot, the verb in another slot, and modifiers and connectives in other slots.

For a detailed description of our method, see the Grammar Creator Guidelines.

Grammar Visuals for Psalm 46

For legend, click "Expand" to the right

Grammatical Term	Definition	Diagram	Example
Clausal Additions
Subject	The subject performs the action of the active verb or receives the action of a passive verb. With intransitive verbs	Indicated at the beginning of the main clausal line, and followed by a vertical line that crosses over the main clause line (separating the subject from the predicate).
Direct Object	Object that receives the direct action of a (transitive) verb	Indicate with a vertical line up from main clausal line
Predicate adjective/ Subject complement	A word used with a linking verb (ex. "to be"), renaming or restating the subject. Can be a whole prepositional phrase.	Indicate with a vertical slanted line up from the main clausal line. It can be on a stand if it is an embedded clause.
Object Complement	Word following a direct object to state what it has become.	Indicate with a vertical slanted line up from the main clausal line.
Infinitives	Can be subject, adverbial, or an infinitive construct.	Indicate with double vertical lines that cross the main clausal line. If used adverbially (ie. an embedded clause), place on a stand.
Participles	A verbal noun/adjective that can be used in three positions: (1) substantival; (2) attributive; (3) predicative.	Indicate with a round vertical line. Substantival participles are placed on a stand (they are embedded). Attributive participles are placed with a rounded line underneath what is modified.
Modifiers
Adjectives	A word modifying a noun to indicate quality, quantity, extent, or differentiating something from something else.	Indicate with a slanted line down from what is modified.
Adverbs	A word that modifies a verb, adverb, adjective, prepositional phrase, clause, or sentence to express a relation (ex. manner, quality, or time).	Indicate with a slanted line down from what is modified.
Construct relationships	Construction can express many different relationships between two (or more) nouns. English grammarians call this construction a ‘Construct’ (our term) or ‘Genitive’ phrase; Hebrew grammarians call it smīḵūt (סְמִיכוּת).	Indicate with a stair-step down from the modified word/clause/phrase.
Prepositional phrases	A phrase that consists of a preposition and its object and has adjectival or adverbial value	Indicate with a slanted vertical line connecting to a new clause.
Connectives	(1) Coordinating conjunctions join together words or word groups of equal grammatical rank (2) Subordinating conjunctions join a main clause and a clause which does not form a complete sentence by itself.	Indicate with a dashed line down from a vertical line marker.
Embedded clause	A clause inside another clause which can include substantival participles, adverbial infinitives, and prepositional phrases.	Indicate using stilts.
Particles
Subordinating particle	Indicates a dependent clause.	Indicate with a dashed line down from the antecedent to the pronoun.
Apposition	A word that is functioning as an explanatory equivalent as another in the sentence	Place on a line apart from the diagram but next to the word it is the equivalent of with an equal sign in between.
Vocative	Indicating a person being addressed (usually with a 2nd person verb)	Place on a line apart from the diagram next to the '()' indicating the gapped subject an equal sign in between.

Master Diagram

v. 1

v. 2

• In v. 2b, the form נִמְצָא can be read in three ways: a.) as a qatal of the tolerative niphal (preferred); b.) as a 1cpl qal yiqtol (disprefrerred); and c.) as a ms niphal participle (dispreferred).
• Here, taking נִמְצָא as a qatal (has made himself to be found) is favored (although in CBC, it is smoothed out as is readily available; modern translations tend to be very paraphrastic as well, making it difficult to tell what they are paraphrasing, a qatal or a ms participle [cf. "an ever-present help in trouble", NIV; cf. NLT; ESV; NASV; NKJV; JPS1917; NRSV; HOF; NBS; etc]). The LXX has βοηθὸς ἐν θλίψεσιν ταῖς εὑρούσαις ἡμᾶς σφόδρα, wherein ταῖς εὑρούσαις modifies afflictions, not God (NETS: "God is our refuge and power, very much a helper in afflictions that befall us"; cf. Vulg.; Luther 2017; WYC; UKR). The niphal of מצא with God as subject is well-attested in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Isa 65:1: נמצאתי ללא בקשני/“I permitted myself to be found by those who did not seek me” [NASB]; cf. ראה in niphal in Ex 33:23 [sich sehen lassen) and is preferred by a number of scholars (cf. "a very present help in trouble] Lit., a help in distresses hath he let himself be found exceedingly"; "The niph'al in v. 1b should be taken in a reflexive [tolerative] rather than a passive sense (Duhm, Eaton), and the perfect needs to be translated in contrast with the imperfects in v. 3: 'He has made himself to be found indeed,' 'he has plainly shown himself'..." ). Based on such usage of מצא with God, v. 2b could indicate that the community in distress (בצרות) has sought God and he responded favorably by making himself available to them (cf. Jer 29:14; equally however, God can let people find him even when they do not seek him [cf. Isa 65:1]).
• Reading נִמְצָא as a 1cpl qal yiqtol (i.e., “we find him when [we are] in trouble”) is also viable on syntactic and semantic grounds, yet it has no strong versional support and is not well-represented in modern translations. For this reading, see cf. Targ., whose נשכח seems to take the MT's נמצא as a 1cpl yiqtol (see further Stec [2004: 98, n2], which translates v. 2 as "God is our security and strength; we will readily find help in trouble"; cf. Coverdale Bible of 1535: "In oure troubles and aduersite, we haue founde, that God is oure refuge, oure strength and helpe"). If accepted, this reading would also impact the text structurally and poetically, disrupting the "symmetry" between vv. 2a and 2b (and vv. 8 and 12, in which God is subject and the focus is on his roles and status). Notably, scholars point out that v. 2 could be viewed as an additional refrain in the psalm (cf. vv. 8 and 12).
• Alternatively, נִמְצָא can be taken as a ms passive participle (cf. EHV; HCSB ). Cf. "a Hebrew phrase (nimṣā’ mĕ’ōd) that may be woodenly translated ‘is found greatly’. Therefore, it is an intensifying phrase, well rendered by ‘ever-present’, although it could conceivably be ‘well proved’ (see NRSV alternative)." But the temporal בצרות ("in great trouble") would suggest an interrupted action, calling for a yiqtol, not a participle which normally represents an uninterrupted event.

v. 3

• In v. 3b, MT has בְּהָמִיר, which is usually taken as the hiphil infinitive construct of מור I/“to change” (thus, “though the earth change..." or is "altered”; cf. NRSV, NASB1995, KJ21, etc.; cf. α': ἐν τῶι ἀνταλλάσσεσθ(αι) γῆν from "to change/exchange"). The LXX, however, has ἐν τῷ ταράσσεσθαι (from "to be agitated, troubled", "to be disquieted/restless"; cf. Pesh. ܕܙܝܥܐ , "to shake"). Accordingly, some (e.g., HALOT, 560 s.v. II מור; BHS) suggest emending בְּהָמִיר to a niphal of מוּר II, i.e., "to shake" (cf. NASB, NET, NLT [“So we will not fear when earthquakes come... ”], HFA, NGÜ, ELB, EÜ, GNB; CSB, CEB [“That’s why we won’t be afraid when the world falls apart...”]) or to הִמּוֺג, a niphal of מוג/“to melt/dissolve” (SDBH) (e.g., Kraus goes with הִמּוֺג rendering it as "shaking"; cf. the use of מוג in v. 7b, in parallel to מוט; cf. Ps 75:3 which has נמגים, a niphal of מוג with the "earth" and its inhabitants as subject). With "shaking" here, as well as later in v. 7 (ἐσαλεύθη ἡ γῆ, "the earth was shaken" [NETS; a generalization via the LXX's preferred word in the Psalter]; cf. Pesh.: ܘܙܥܬ ܐܪܥܐ "and the earth shakes"), the LXX and Pesh. seem to understand the image of an earthquake throughout the psalm, not only in vv. 2-4. Additionally, in v. 4, the LXX uses the same word with waters (ἐταράχθησαν τὰ ὕδατα αὐτῶν) and mountains (ἐταράχθησαν τὰ ὄρη) (NETS [45:3-4]: "Therefore we will not fear, when the earth is troubled and mountains be transposed in hearts of seas. Their waters roared and were troubled; the mountains were troubled by his force"). As it stands, the MT's בְּהָמִיר is viable semantically and is reflected in many modern translations.
• Furthermore, in v. 3c, the MT has בְּלֵב יַמִּים ("in the heart of... ", singular), but the LXX has ἐν καρδίαις θαλασσῶν (“in hearts of seas”). This could be a case of harmonization with the plural form of "seas." The plural יַמִּים is taken here as amplified, i.e., representing an extremely deep sea. Note also that v. 4 uses 3ms suffixes in relation to the seas (“its”; i.e., “its waters,” “its swelling”).

v. 4

• In CBC, v. 4 is rendered as "Though its waters foam in rage. Though mountains quake at its surging." In v. 4a, the two verbs יהמו יחמרו are taken as a serial verb construction, i.e., “a sequence of verbs which act together as a single predicate. Serial verbs are always monoclausal and are pronounced as a single verb would be. The components of a serial verb construction share tense, aspect, modality, reality status, evidentiality, mood, and also polarity values. A serial verb construction typically refers to what can be conceptualized as one event, and one recognizable event type, in terms of cultural stereotypes available to the speakers. Serial verbs tend to share at least one argument. An overwhelming majority of serial verbs have a single overall argument structure, with the subjects, objects and obliques belonging to the whole construction.” These verbal forms (and clauses) are then taken as a semantic continuation of the events of the infinitival clauses in v. 3.

v. 5

• In v. 5, נהר is taken as a verbless clause with an elided יש, followed by an asyndetic relative clause (v. 5b), with a fronted subject (פלגיו ; cf. Deut 8:9; 29:17; Ps 26:10; 144:7-8, 11; Prov 2:14-15; Eccl 10:16-17). In terms of information packaging, v. 5a is a presentational clause, indicating the beginning of a new section (vv. 5–7). Alternatively, v. 5b can be taken as an independent clause, after a sentence fragment (e.g., "A river! Its streams cause rejoicing for the city of God...", although this reading is not well-represented among modern translations. For the MT's 5a (נהר פלגיו), however, some versions use a different syntax, with the LXX and Pesh. both having genitive constructions (τοῦ ποταμοῦ τὰ ὁρμήματα and ܬ̈ܦܐ ܕܢܗܪ̈ܘܬܐ respectively) as subjects of the verb "to gladden". Hence, the LXX: "The river’s strong currents make glad the city of God ...' (NETS); Pesh.: "Streams of rivers will cause gladness in the city of our God ...". Some scholars have proposed to realign vv. 4-5. E.g., Briggs and Briggs connect נהר with v. 4 and the word “swelling” in it. Repositioned this way, נהר/"stream" becomes part of the sea in vv. 3-4 (cf. Pss 93:3) and פלגיו/'his brooks" are taken as God's (metaphoric) brooks of blessings. Such realignment is not reflected in ancient or modern translations.

• In v. 5c, the LXX diverges from the MT (קְדֹשׁ מִשְׁכְּנֵי עֶלְיוֹן; "the holy dwelling of the Most High"), containing ἡγίασεν τὸ σκήνωμα αὐτοῦ ὁ ὕψιστος ("the Most High sanctified his covert" [NETS]; cf. Vulg). It appears to presuppose a piel verb קִדֵּשׁ (“ to make holy/sanctify”) and understand the next form as “his [God's] dwelling place” (singular). Presumably, the LXX reads the final yod of משכני as a waw. Barthélemy sees both MT's קְדֹשׁ and מִשְׁכְּנֵי עֶלְיוֹן as "highly probable with a certain margin of doubt" and most modern translations follow the MT over and against the LXX. Intriguingly, Dahood realigned vv. 4-5, reading v. 5bc as "God brings happiness to his city, the Most High sanctifies his habitation." In his understanding, "the river and its channels" should be linked to the word סלה (v. 4), which he read in light of Exod 15:8. Thus, he took the whole collocation to mean "the river and its channel stand in a heap." This reading has no support among the versions and is not represented in any major translations. As to the LXX (cf. BHS), it likely reflects the unusual nature of the construction in the MT (note that the plural form of משכן is usually משכנות [cf. Pss. 43:3; 84:1; 132:5]). Notably, the LXX also adds the definite article to "city", which leads some to think that this collocation ("the city of God") refers to Jerusalem. Here, the MT is taken as a preferred reading, understanding קְדֹשׁ as an adjective used substantivally (IBHS 14.3.3.b; for Ps 46:5, see n19; cf. Exod 15:16; Ps 65:5).

v. 6

v. 7

• In v. 7b, the MT has נתן בקולו, which literally means "he gave with his voice". Per GK119q, the noun "voice" with the preposition ב is taken as an adverbial complement, "he thundered with his voice" (i.e. "mightily"; cf. IBHS 11.2.5d; cf. GNV; GNT; cf. ISV: "his voice boomed", etc.; plus, ANE theophanies featuring storm deities). In 2 MSS, קולו appears without the preposition ב; but נתן + ב + קול is well-attested in the Hebrew Bible (cf. Ps 68:33/34; Jer 12:8) and can be viewed as a variant of נתן + קול.
• Generally, Psalm 46 does not use many articles, and is inconsistent in its usage with ארץ ("earth"). In v. 7, the MT does not have it with ארץ; but some MSS and the LXX read "the earth".

v. 8

• In the refrain in vv. 8 and 12, the divine name יהוה צבאות is understood as being short for "YHWH, [the God] of Hosts," wherein the two elements are in apposition, with the second member, "[the God of] Hosts", specifying the status and role of the first member, "YHWH", i.e., YHWH is a deity who possesses and commands heavenly hosts or armies. In other words, YHWH here is cast as a warrior who leads his heavenly (and human) armies into battle (cf. 1 Sam 17:45, which has יהוה צבאות אלהי מערכות ישראל). Without restoring "the God of", some render this name as "Yhwh Armies".
• For the MT's משגב־לנו ("a fortress for us") in vv. 8, and 12, the LXX has ἀντιλήμπτωρ ἡμῶν, "our helper" or "supporter" (NETS; cf. Pesh. has ܘܡܥܕܪܢܢ/"and our helper"), perhaps harmonizing the refrain, conceptually, with v. 2 (cf. Ps 118:7).

v. 9

• The imperatives "Come! Perceive!" (לכו־וראו) are taken as a case of the serial verb construction (cf. v. 4; cf. the LXX's δεῦτε ἴδετε, "Come, see"; cf. לכו וראו [Ps 66:5]; לכו־נא ונוכחה [Isa 1:18]; and לכו ונלכה [1 Sam 9:9], etc.).
• The participle משבית in v. 10a can be taken as introducing a circumstantial clause, i.e., "terminating wars to the end of the earth". Cf. the LXX's δεῦτε ἴδετε τὰ ἔργα κυρίου ἃ ἔθετο τέρατα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἀνταναιρῶν πολέμους μέχρι τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς (vv. 9-10a), rendered in NETS as, “Come, see the works of the Lord, what feats he put on the earth, canceling wars to the ends of the earth....” But in this case, the clause in Hebrew would begin with a והוא or, to represent the manner by which God creates devastation, it would need an infinitive const. with ל. Some take משבית as starting an asyndetic relative clause. Cf. Kraus, who renders all of v. 10 as a series of relative clauses subordinate to v. 9: "Who controls wars to the end of the world, who breaks bows and shatters lances, who burns chariots’ in fire".
• In the preferred option, the participle משבית is understood as a substantive, i.e., “[the] one who terminates wars to the end of the earth". Taken this way, it serves as the subject of the two yiqtols in v. 10bc---“The one terminating wars (or who terminates wars) breaks the bow and snaps the spear.” Separating v. 10 from v. 9 makes v. 10 emphatic: v. 9 mentions “works of the Lord” and "great devastation" which are general (military) deeds undertaken by God. In v. 10, however, the focus shifts to more specific acts (terminating wars and destroying weaponry; on such shift from general to specific, see also Ps 66:5ff, which quotes Ps 46:9a). Furthermore, in vv. 8-12, van der Lugt has identified a series of concentric features in vv. 9-11, which frame v. 10, making it "pivotal". "The double imperatives (lkw h.zw and hrpw wd‘w respectively), exactly at the beginning of the outer verselines (vv. 9 and 11), and b’rs (‘on earth’) exactly at the end of these lines deserve special mentioning". Again, within these frames, v. 10 (with its specific acts of destruction of weapons) could be emphatic. V. 10 also stands out in the strophe and in the psalms as a whole because it is a tricolon. Therefore, some suggest deleting v. 10c altogether. Thus, "An additional line has been added by a later editor to emphasise this destruction, but at the expense of the measure and symmetry of Str., Wagons He burneth in the fire." "This l.[ine] is trimeter and excessive to the Str. and is doubtless a gloss of intensification."
• Additionally, it is of note that some MSS (32 Kenn., 46 De-Rossi), the LXX, and Pesh. read "God" in v. 9 instead of יהוה (Targ. follows MT). For this, see Ps 66:5, which echoes v. 9, but the noun מפעלות/"works" is in construct with "God", i.e., לכו וראו מפעלות אלהים. The more general אלהים in v. 9 fits better with Book II, which is a part of the Elohistic Psalter. Hence, יהוה should be preferred as the original reading.

v. 10

• In v. 10, the final item destroyed by God is עֲגָלוֹת ("carts or transport wagons"). The majority of scholars follow the LXX (θυρεοὺς/"shields"; cf. Targ, Vulg;; cf. NJB, NAB, NEB, FRCL, NIV, GECL) and suggest re-vocalizing the form as עֲגִלוֹת. Others understand it, uniquely, as "chariots" [cf. RSV, TOB, NJV, SPCL]). Here, the MT's עגלות, i.e., "carts" or "transport wagons" is preferred, on which see The Meaning of עגלות in Ps 46:10.

v. 11

v. 12

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