Psalm 6/Mathematical

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Mathematical

Fokkelman's prosody and syllable counts

The following table is from Fokkelman's Major Poems of the Hebrew Bible Volume 2, Appendix I.[1]

Strophe Verse Syllables per word Syllables per line Syllables per strophe
1 2 2.1.4.4 / 2.5.5 11 + 12 = 23 62
3 3.2.1.2.2 / 4.2.1.3.3 10 + 13 = 23
4 3.3.2 / 3.2.1.2 8 + 8 = 16
2 5 2.2.4!2 / 4.2.3 10 + 9 = 19 32
6 1.1.2.3 / 2.1.2.1 7 + 6 = 13
3 7 3.4 / 2.2.2.3 / 4.2.2 7 + 9 + 8 = 24 39
8 3.2.2 / 3.2.3 7 + 8 = 15
4 9 2.3.1.3.1 / 1.2.2.1.2 10 + 8 = 18 56
10 2.2.4 / 2.4.2 8 + 8 = 16
11 3.5.2 / 1.3.3.4!1 10 + 12 = 22
  • "21 cola with 189 syllables; average per colon 9.00."[2]
  • "If, supported by some Versiones, we add a simple we- to the second verbs of v.5a and v.11b, the poem yields a total of 189 syllables, which, after division by the number of cola, results in an exact 9."[3]
  • The figure of 14 syllables for v.11a is considerable. If we desert the Masoretes here as regards the caesura and place the subject, 'all my enemies', in the B-colon, we get a better balance of 10 + 12 syllables. Not only do these figures fit those of vv.2, 3 and 5, but they also bring out the striking agreement between the words of 11a and those of 4a, and the B-cola now each start with two words as their subjects."[4],

Alternative prosody and syllable counts

"The diachronic, precatory development of Psalm 6 in terms of stanzas is accompanied by an interesting chiastic correspondence with regard to lexical length, with two shorter poetic units surrounded by matching longer ones: A: general appeal (24 lexical units) – B: specific appeal (15) – C: mournful motivation (15) – D: assertive trusting testimony (24). The psalm’s lexical midpoint then occurs on the border between verses 6 and 7, with 39 words in each half. This verbal symmetry is simply another aspect of the text’s overall artistic structural design.[5],

Cola distribution

If the division of lines is correct, then the poem consists almost completely of bicola with one tricolon at the center (v.7). The tricolon has an aesthetic function as it results in 21 lines with the shortest line (v.7a, 7 syllables) at the middle. It also has a discourse function, highlighting the unique contents of section 3 (vv.7-8) and of v.7 in particular.,

Classifying parallelisms

v.3. "The syntactic, morphological, and phonological (i.e., rhymed) parallelism involving an initial imperative followed by a vocative in the two cola of v.3 serves to audibly heighten the deep pathos of the psalmist’s appeal... We note also the typical poetic heightening or specification that occurs in the second parallel line (3b)."[6],

Chiasms

  • vv.3b-4a. AB//B'A chiasm joining two verses. Function: gives cohesion to section 1
a נִבְהֲל֣וּ b עֲצָמָֽי / b' וְ֭נַפְשִׁי a' נִבְהֲלָ֣ה
  • vv.4ab-5a. AB//B'A' chiasm joining two sections (anadiplosis). Function: gives cohesion to sections 1-2 (first half of psalm)
a ...וְ֭נַפְשִׁי b ...ואת יְ֝הוָ֗ה / b' שׁוּבָ֣ה יְ֭הוָה a' חַלְּצָ֣ה נַפְשִׁ֑י
  • v.7bc. AB//B'A' chiasm based primarily on phonology. Function: marks prominence
a אַשְׂחֶ֣ה b מִטָּתִ֑י // b' בְּ֝דִמְעָתִ֗י a' אַמְסֶֽה
  • v.10ab. ABC//BC'A' partial chiasm, based on grammar, semantics, and phonology.
a שָׁמַ֣ע b יְ֭הוָה c תְּחִנָּתִ֑י // b' יְ֝הוָ֗ה c' תְּֽפִלָּתִ֥י a' יִקָּֽח׃
"A chiastic arrangement of syntactic constituents reinforces the psalmist’s confident claims: Verb + Voc/Nobj (10a) // Voc/Nobj + Verb (10b), as does the similar sounding key nominal expressions that reference his appeal: תְּחִנָּתִ֑י and תְּֽפִלָּתִ֥י."[7],

Word order

  • v.2ab. "The negativized adjunct (prepositional) phrases in 2a and 2b are both fronted (topical focus) before the respective verbs, seemingly to accent the Lord’s 'anger' (apparent punishment) that the psalmist feels in his desperate plight. The implication appears to be that the psalmist feels that God is disciplining him for some wrongdoing by bringing a life-threatening illness upon him (vv. 3-8), though there is no reference to any explicit sin in the psalm (cf. Pss. 32:5, 38:1-3)."[8] "Separating the negative from the verb...is very unusual and adds to this emphasis"[9] "The word order of the Hebrew shows quite clearly that the psalmist initially asks, not that Yahweh not chasten him, but that Yahweh not do so in anger and wrath."[10]
  • v.3. "The two negative appeals of v.2 are balanced and complemented by a pair of positive correspondents in v.3, but now, contrastively, the two verbs appear in clause-initial position."[11]
  • v.4a. "[נֶפֶשׁ] is fronted here as an instance of constituent focus: Over and above his desperate physical condition (v.3), his entire ‘life-force’, or psyche (וְנַפְשִׁי), has been adversely (מְאֹד) affected!"[12] "The pronoun אַתָּה forcefully contrasts with נַפְשִׁי in the preceding line (4a), as the two protagonists, divine and human, are syntactically placed into prominent opposition. In addition, the broken syntax of 4b mimics the psalmist’s shattered physical and mental state. He addresses Yahweh forthrightly as well as forcefully with the initial vocative pronoun (ַ֯אַתָּה), which is itself truncated, but then simply cries out with a brief, but poignant, (rhetorical) question: How long will this (i.e., his suffering) continue—OR—How long will it take YHWH to respond to his dire situation? 'Because of the intensity of his emotions, [the psalmist] cannot complete his thought (cf. 31:1, 35:17, 74:10, et al.)'[13]"[14]
  • v.5. "A reversal in the order of participant reference marks the boundary with continuity between stanzas A and B, i.e., נַפְשִׁי...יהוה in v. 4a; cf. 3ab (a literary device termed 'anadiplosis,' or the 'overlap construction')."[15] "The two protagonists in this passionate prayer are foregrounded at the end of each line of v.5, with “my life” (psalmist) being utterly dependent on “your faithful love” (Yahweh).[16]
  • v.7. "[v.7c] as a whole figuratively parallels the preceding line (7b) through constituent focus (front- shifting), the non-verbal elements (בְּ֝דִמְעָתִ֗י עַרְשִׂ֥י) serving to accent the psalmist’s deepest, darkest emotions."[17]
  • v.10. "The initial pairing of יְ֝הוָ֗ה תְּֽפִלָּתִ֥י may be construed as an instance of topic focus combined with constituent focus."[18],

Lunn on Word order

The following table has been adapted from Lunn.[19] For a key to the various symbols and abbreviations, click here.

Ref. Text Constituent Order Colon-Type
2 ‎יְֽהוָ֗ה אַל־בְּאַפְּךָ֥ תוֹכִיחֵ֑נִי // וְֽאַל־בַּחֲמָתְךָ֥ תְיַסְּרֵֽנִי׃ [Voc] MNg V-o // w-MNg V-o MKD//MKD
3 // ‎חָנֵּ֥נִי יְהוָה֘ כִּ֤י אֻמְלַ֫ל אָ֥נִי // רְפָאֵ֥נִי יְהוָ֑ה כִּ֖י נִבְהֲל֣וּ עֲצָמָֽי׃ V-o [Voc] C Comp SPn // V-o [Voc] C V S // CAN/Nom//CAN//CAN//
4 ‎וְ֭נַפְשִׁי נִבְהֲלָ֣ה מְאֹ֑ד / וְאַתָּ יְ֜הוָ֗ה עַד־מָתָֽי׃ w-S V M // w-SPn [Voc] Q DEF/Nom
5 ‎שׁוּבָ֣ה יְ֭הוָה חַלְּצָ֣ה נַפְשִׁ֑י / ה֜וֹשִׁיעֵ֗נִי לְמַ֣עַן חַסְדֶּֽךָ׃ V [Voc] V O / V-o M CAN2/CAN
6 כִּ֤י אֵ֣ין בַּמָּ֣וֶת זִכְרֶ֑ךָ // בִּ֜שְׁא֗וֹל מִ֣י יֽוֹדֶה־לָּֽךְ׃ C ENg Comp S // M Q V-O Nom//MKD
7 יָגַ֤עְתִּי׀ בְּֽאַנְחָתִ֗י / אַשְׂחֶ֣ה בְכָל־לַ֭יְלָה מִטָּתִ֑י // בְּ֜דִמְעָתִ֗י עַרְשִׂ֥י אַמְסֶֽה׃ V M / V M O // M O V CAN/CAN//DEF
8 עָֽשְׁשָׁ֣ה מִכַּ֣עַס עֵינִ֑י // עָֽ֜תְקָ֗ה בְּכָל־צוֹרְרָֽי׃ V M S // V M CAN//CAN
9 ס֣וּרוּ מִ֭מֶּנִּי כָּל־פֹּ֣עֲלֵי אָ֑וֶן / כִּֽי־שָׁמַ֥ע יְ֜הוָ֗ה ק֣וֹל בִּכְיִֽי׃ V M [Voc] / C-V S O CAN/CAN
10 שָׁמַ֣ע יְ֭הוָה תְּחִנָּתִ֑י // יְ֜הוָ֗ה תְּֽפִלָּתִ֥י יִקָּֽח׃ V S O // S O V CAN//DEF
11 יֵבֹ֤שׁוּ׀ וְיִבָּהֲל֣וּ מְ֭אֹד כָּל־אֹיְבָ֑י / יָ֜שֻׁ֗בוּ יֵבֹ֥שׁוּ רָֽגַע׃ V w-V M S / V V M CAN2//CAN2
  • Lunn argues that the SV word order in v.4a is not pragmatically marked, since, in his view, 4a constitutes the b-line of 3b in an embedded parallelism.[20],

Middle word (maqqef)

Total: 69
Middle: יֽוֹדֶה־לָּֽךְ׃ (v.6b),

Middle word (independent lexemes)

Total: 78
Middle: לָךְ (v.6b); יָגַעְתִּי (v.7a)
The number of independent lexemes is distributed equally across the two halves of the poem (39 words, 39 words) and symmetrically across the poem's four sections (A: 24 words; B: 15 words; C: 15 words; D: 24 words). The middle words thus coincide with the middle division of the psalm's sections. See and .,

Middle line

Total: 21 (7x3). See .
Middle line: יָגַ֤עְתִּי ׀ בְּֽאַנְחָתִ֗י (seven syllables).

The middle line (v.7a) is the shortest line in the psalm (7 syllables, 2 words, 2 stress-units). In Psalms 3, 4, and 5, the middle line is the longest line in the psalm.

  1. ↑ J.P. Fokkelman, Major Poems of the Hebrew Bible: At the Interface of Prosody and Structural Analysis, Vol. 2 (Assen: Van Gorcum, 2000), 391.
  2. ↑ J.P. Fokkelman, Major Poems of the Hebrew Bible: At the Interface of Prosody and Structural Analysis, Vol. 2 (Assen: Van Gorcum, 2000), 391.
  3. ↑ Fokkelman, 66.
  4. ↑ Fokkelman, 66.
  5. ↑ Wendland, 114.
  6. ↑ Wendland, 105.
  7. ↑ Wendland, 109.
  8. ↑ Wendland, 105.
  9. ↑ Goldingay, Psalms, 136.
  10. ↑ Elizabeth Achtemeier, "Overcoming the World: An Exposition of Psalm 6," Interpretation 28, no. 1 (January 1974): 75–88.
  11. ↑ Wendland, 105.
  12. ↑ Wendland, 106.
  13. ↑ Willem A. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” in K.L. Barker and J. Kohlenberger III, eds., NIV Bible Commentary, vol. 1: Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 790-937 [800]).
  14. ↑ Wendland, 106.
  15. ↑ Wendland, 106.
  16. ↑ Wendland, 106.
  17. ↑ Wendland, 108.
  18. ↑ Wendland, 109.
  19. ↑ Nicholas Lunn, Word-Order Variation in Biblical Hebrew Poetry: Differentiating Pragmatics and Poetics (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2006, 295-296).
  20. ↑ Lunn, 234-235.
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