Psalm 51/Notes/Textual.v. 6.764001

The phrase בדבר(י)ך can be read four different ways: בְּדָבְרֶךָ (an unusual qal infinitive temporal clause), בְּדַבֵּרְךָ (a more typical piel infinitive temporal clause), בִּדְבָרְךָ (singular noun in a prepositional phrase), or בִּדְבָרֶיךָ (plural noun in a prepositional phrase with many Hebrew manuscripts and the Greek). The Masoretic text's qal infinitive creates the best assonance in the verse, which could support its originality. This vocalization, however, is more likely due to attraction to the sound pattern of the parallel בְשָׁפְטֶךָ. The qal form is unlikely, since probable examples of the qal of דבר are rare and are almost always limited to active participles. The noun forms seem to be simpler syntactically and are likely secondary developments. Thus, the preferred reading here is a piel infinitive, which is grammatically expected.