Psalm 6/Notes/Textual.v. 8.564549

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  • In v. 8b, the Masoretic Text has a third-person feminine singular verb: "it [= my eye] has become weak" (עָתְקָה). Several of the early versions, however, have a first-person verb here: "I have become weak" (עָתַקְתִּ?).[1] According to Barthélemy et al, these versions "represent a simplified text that accurately resolved the synecdoche in the MT [i.e., the eye stands figuratively for the whole person], which they considered too bold. However, the parallel that this synecdoche creates between the two verbs is very much in line with Hebrew poetry."[2]
  1. ↑ So LXX: ἐπαλαιώθην; Aquila: μετήρθην; Symmachus: ἐτριβανώθην; Jerome (Hebr.): consumptus sum.The Targum (איתבליאת) and the Peshitta (ܘܐܬܕܠܚܬ) have third-person verbs, thus agreeing with the MT.
  2. ↑ Barthélemy et al 2005, 11–12, translation by Deep-L. For similar cases of the eye standing for the whole person, see e.g., Ps 119:82, 148.