Psalm 68/Notes/Grammar.v. 1.859474
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
The Masoretic accents join לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ to לְדָוִ֗ד as if the latter was in apposition to the former. Typically when these two phrases are joined to each other there is a strong disjunctive separating them (Psa. 11:1; 14:1; 40:1; 70:1; 109:1; 139:1; cf. 18:1; but 36:1). However, they should probably be analyzed as separate clauses.
- David often appointed others לְנַצֵּחַ ‘to supervise’ (e.g., 1 Chron. 15:16–21; cf. 1 Chron. 23:1–4) but never, as far as we know, performed this duty himself.
- Most four-word superscriptions have this exact same pattern , and so the accents must be constrained by the rules governing a four-word poetic superscription (Psa. 4:1; 5:1; 8:1; 12:1; 53:1; 54:1; 55:1; 58:1; 62:1; 65:1; 67:1). The In Psalm 58:1 in particular, the לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ is syntactically disjunctive with what follows (אַל־תַּשְׁחֵ֗ת 'do not destroy') despite carrying a conjunctive accent.