Psalm 49/Diagrams/Placeholders/15

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v. 15 - Preferred

(Preferred, but not confirmed); edit diagram 

SimpleGrammar
DiscourseUnit [v. 15]
    Fragment
      Clause
        Predicate
          verb: שַׁתּוּ they set 
          Adverbial
            PrepositionalPhrase <gloss="like a flock">
              Preposition
                preposition: כַּ like
              Object
                  article: הַ the <status="elided">
                  noun: צֹּאן flock
          Object
            suffix-pronoun: themselves <status="elided">
          Complement
            PrepositionalPhrase <gloss="for Sheol">
              Preposition
                preposition: לִ to>>for
              Object
                  noun: שְׁאוֹל Sheol
      Clause
        Subject
          noun: מָוֶת death
        Predicate
          verb:  יִרְעֵ shepherds
          Object
            suffix-pronoun: ם them
      Conjunction
        conjunction: וַ and
      Clause
        Subject
          Nominal
            adjective: יְשָׁרִים the upright
        Predicate
          verb: יִּרְדּוּ dominate
          Adverbial
            PrepositionalPhrase 
              Preposition
                preposition: בָ over>>
              Object
                suffix-pronoun: ם them
          Adverbial
            PrepositionalPhrase <gloss=" when the morning approaches">
              Preposition
                preposition: לַ to>>in
              Object
                  article: הַ the <status="elided">
                  noun:  בֹּקֶר morning
      Conjunction
        conjunction:  וְ and
      Clause
        Subject
          Nominal
            ConstructChain <gloss="their form">
              noun: צִיר form
              suffix-pronoun:  ָם  them
        Predicate
          verb: is <status="elided">
        Complement 
          PrepositionalPhrase
            Preposition
              preposition: לְ to>>for
            Object
              Clause
                Subject <located="after infinitive construct">
                Predicate
                  ConstructChain
                    verb-infinitive:  בַלּוֹת consume
                    noun: שְׁאוֹל Sheol
                  Adverbial
                    PrepositionalPhrase <gloss="away from their lofty habitation">
                      Preposition
                        preposition: מִ from>>away from
                      Object
                        noun: זְּבֻל lofty habitation
                        Adjectival
                          PrepositionalPhrase
                            Preposition
                              preposition: ל to>>of
                            Object
                              suffix-pronoun: וֹ him>>them


Diagram Code 

 DiscourseUnit [v. 15]
    Fragment
      Clause
        Predicate
          verb: שַׁתּוּ they set 
          Adverbial
            PrepositionalPhrase <gloss="like a flock">
              Preposition
                preposition: כַּ like
              Object
                  article: הַ the <status="elided">
                  noun: צֹּאן flock
          Object
            suffix-pronoun: themselves <status="elided">
          Complement
            PrepositionalPhrase <gloss="for Sheol">
              Preposition
                preposition: לִ to>>for
              Object
                  noun: שְׁאוֹל Sheol
      Clause
        Subject
          noun: מָוֶת death
        Predicate
          verb:  יִרְעֵ shepherds
          Object
            suffix-pronoun: ם them
      Conjunction
        conjunction: וַ and
      Clause
        Subject
          Nominal
            adjective: יְשָׁרִים the upright
        Predicate
          verb: יִּרְדּוּ dominate
          Adverbial
            PrepositionalPhrase 
              Preposition
                preposition: בָ over>>
              Object
                suffix-pronoun: ם them
          Adverbial
            PrepositionalPhrase <gloss=" when the morning approaches">
              Preposition
                preposition: לַ to>>in
              Object
                  article: הַ the <status="elided">
                  noun:  בֹּקֶר morning
      Conjunction
        conjunction:  וְ and
      Clause
        Subject
          Nominal
            ConstructChain <gloss="their form">
              noun: צִיר form
              suffix-pronoun:  ָם  them
        Predicate
          verb: is <status="elided">
        Complement 
          PrepositionalPhrase
            Preposition
              preposition: לְ to>>for
            Object
              Clause
                Subject <located="after infinitive construct">
                Predicate
                  ConstructChain
                    verb-infinitive:  בַלּוֹת consume
                    noun: שְׁאוֹל Sheol
                  Adverbial
                    PrepositionalPhrase <gloss="away from their lofty habitation">
                      Preposition
                        preposition: מִ from>>away from
                      Object
                        noun: זְּבֻל lofty habitation
                        Adjectival
                          PrepositionalPhrase
                            Preposition
                              preposition: ל to>>of
                            Object
                              suffix-pronoun: וֹ him>>them

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 {{Diagram/Display | Chapter=49|DiagramID=v-15-None }}

Grammar Notes

Grammar Notes for this diagram

Note for v. 15

The text in v. 15 is "irreparably corrupt" (Kraus 1988, 480) and the meaning of v. 15c-d is obscure, with BHS essentially suggesting emendations for every constituent. As a result, there are too many possible combinations to diagram here.

The issues in the MT include:

  • In v. 15c, the MT has וירדו בם ישרים ׀ לבקר/"the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning" (cf. G, εβρ, α', σ', ε', Hebr, S; cf. LUTH1545; SG21; BULG; RUSV; UKR). TgPs offers a long, expanded midrash, not only for this phrase, but the entire verse ("They appointed the righteous like a flock for death, and the killed them; and they crushed? the righteous and subjugated them, and they smote the upright; therefore their bodies decay in Gehenna, because they stretched out their hand and ruined the house of the dwelling place of his Shekinah"; Stec 2004, 103-104). BHS's proposed emendations are reflected in NEB and REB as follows:
    • NEB: "like sheep they run headlong into Sheol, the land of Death; he is their shepherd and urges them on; their flesh must rot away/וירדם בשרם לרקב and their Bodies be wasted By Sheol, stripped of all honour". Cf. Briggs and Briggs, who (with emendation) link וירדו to the preceding clause: “Death is their shepherd and their ruler.”[1] But if the emendation בשרם לרקב ("their flesh must rot away") is accepted in v. 15c, then v. 15d will be redundant ("their form will waste away in Sheol"; if, of course, v. 15d is read this way).
    • As REB, NRSV seems to go with the suggested emendation במישרים (BHS) for בם ישרים and לקבר for לקבר: REB: "Like sheep they head for Sheol; with death as their shepherd, they go straight down to the grave/וירדו במישרים לקבר. Their Bodies, stripped of all honour, waste away in Sheol". Cf. NRSV: "Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; straight to the grave they descend, and their form shall waste away; Sheol shall be their home."
On contextual grounds, these emendations seem plausible.
By contrast, Barthélemy accepts the MT as is. Since in the MT, וירדו בם ישרים ׀ לבקר follows the expression “death will shepherd them/be their shepherd”, he connects וירדו to trampling down/רדה of enemies in ANE iconography, and evaluates this reading as highly probable.[2] He explains, that once the people in question are in the power of death, the upright get to trample their corpses (as, for example, in the stele of Naram-Sin, the victorious kings are represented trampling the corpses of their enemies).[3] On the capture and subjugation of enemies in the morning, see Neo-Assyrian inscriptions, wherein warring kings often speak of the destruction of cities in the morning. E.g., RIMA 2 A. 0.101.1 ii 106, wherein Ashurnasirpal II captures and defeats the city Pituru “before the sunrise” (cf. RIMA 2 A.0.101.17 iv 71; RIMA 2 A.0.101.19 73); RIMA 2 A. 0.101.18 27’, where Ashurnasirpal II, at sunrise, fights and conquers “the cities Amlattu, Saburam, Ruzidak, Bugu, (and) Ustu, rebel cities of the land Dannuna”. Cf. RINAP 2 2 312, “I (Sargon II) surrounded (and) [con]quered [that] city (Dur-Abi-hara) before the day had proceeded half a double-hour” (i.e., within an hour of sunrise; Frame, The Royal Inscriptions of Sargon II, 97). On help/deliverance coming in the morning in HB, see Exod 14:27; Isa 17:14; 29:7; 33:2; 37:36//2 Kgs 19:35; Zeph 3:5; 2 Chr 20:20–25.
  • In v. 15d, the majority of mss follow the qere וצורם/"and their rock" against the ketiv וצירם/"and their form/figure" (from ציר IV; HALOT). The LXX, however, has "help": “and help (καὶ ἡ βοήθεια αὐτῶν) for them will grow old in Hades, away from their glory” (NETS; this is probably a metaphorical rendering of צור, since elsewhere the LXX represents צור similarly in reference to God as one’s “rock.”). Here, the ketiv (the outer, bodily form) is preferred. All of the body is destined to be consumed in Sheol.[4]
  • At the end of v. 15d, the MT has מזבל לו/"away from his/its lofty place/dwelling" (σ', Hebr, T), whereas the LXX, α', and Syr. assimilate this into the context (Syr.: "they will be removed from their glories"; Taylor 2020, 191; additionally, Pesh. takes לו [3ms] as למו [3mpl]). Some, however, suggest repointing it to render “Who is its prince?”[5] Barthélemy accepts the MT as is, understanding it as highly probable.[6]. Notably, the NRSV treats שאול מזבל לו as a separate clause (i.e., "Sheol shall be their home."). But the MT places a disjunctive mark over שאול, linking it to the previous constituent.
Here, without accepting proposed emendations, v. 15 is rendered as "Like a flock, they set themselves for Sheol; death shepherds them; the upright dominate them when the morning approaches. Their form is for Sheol to consume, away from their lofty habitation."
  • Cf. Stec's tentative translation of v. 15 in the MT is “like a flock they are appointed for Sheol; death shall shepherd them, and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their form shall be for Sheol to consume, without a dwelling place for it.”[7] Cf. Ross' rendering: "As sheep they are appointed for the grave; death shall be their shepherd; and the upright shall rule over them in the morning; and their form shall be for the grave to consume, so that they have no habitation"). ( Ross explains: "Hebrew has מזבל לו, literally 'from its habitation.' It could be 'out of its dwelling' or 'without its dwelling,' meaning it has no more dwelling.[8]

Lexical Notes

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Phrase-Level

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Verbal Notes

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Textual Notes

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Add Exegetical Note
  1. ↑ Briggs and Briggs 1906, 405.
  2. ↑ Barthélemy 2005, 301, 303-304.
  3. ↑ Ibid., 304.
  4. ↑ Cf. Goldingay 2007, 96; see further Olofsson 2000, 89–92.
  5. ↑ Bordreuil 1988, 93–98.
  6. ↑ Barthélemy 2005, 301, 304
  7. ↑ Stec 2004, 104.
  8. ↑ Cf. F.E. König's reading of v. 15e as "so that his habitation does not exist any more" (F.E. König, Historisch-kritisches Lehrgebäude der hebräischen Sprache Leipzig, 1881-97), §406. The subject is 'form,' here simply represented with 'they,' meaning the people who have a form." (Ross 2013, npn).