Psalm 78/Participant Analysis/Notes

• vv. 1-72: The identity of the addressee (except vv. 19b–20)
  • The identity of the addressee is explicit in the first verse: "my people" (עַמִּי). It becomes specified as the "latest generation" in v. 4 (and v. 6), to which the speaker and his group form a part of from the shift to first person plural in vv. 3-4.
• vv. 1-2: Identity of speaker: Asaph (or other priest) or YHWH?
  • It is not determinative, but telling that elsewhere in the Asaphite psalms, the mention of עמי "my people" is used by YHWH; similarly, see Origen's arguments regarding the singular "my teaching." Nevertheless, the shift to the first person plural in v. 3 indicates strong continuity, so it has been suggested that the speaker is either the king or a court prophet or sage, or simply Asaph with a group of Levites. Thus, we consider Asaph as the speaker throughout the psalm to be a preferable interpretation.
• vv. 3-8: The riddles of the generations
  • We understand the first person singular in vv. 1-2 to join in with the latest generation of the righteous in vv. 3-4 (hence the shift to first person plural).
  • "Our ancestors" (v. 3) provide the antecedent to "their children" (v. 4), such that those from whom the message of the psalm will not be hidden is the ancestors' sons, i.e., the present generation, then referred to as the "latest generation" (v. 4; in other words—כל הדור החי אתנו כיום "all the generation alive with us as today").
  • "Our ancestors" is picked up again in v. 5c, such that "their children" in v. 5d again refers to the present generation, which explicitly becomes the subject in v. 6a. The latest generation, in turn, will then tell their children (v. 6c). There is a blur between the latest generation and their children through vv. 7-8, though if it includes the future children, it does not exclude the latest generation, who have thus been determined as the active participant all the way to "their ancestors" again in v. 8a.
  • In sum, strange though it appears, the intended speakers and addressee merge into one generation (chronologically), such that "the 'we' can be identified as a combination of speaker and audience," though the message is to be spread horizontally from within that generation, such that they would not be like "their ancestors" (v. 8a). Since the latest generation are those who are "being told" without anything hidden from them (vv. 4a, 6b), they are also deemed the recipients of the riddles (v. 2) and the addressee of the entire psalm. On the other hand, the ancestors are "in the first instance ... the Ephraimites, but this rebellious generation will then merge with that of the Israelites in the wilderness."
• v. 4: The identity of the generation
  • Modern translations rendering דוֹר אַחֲרוֹן as "coming/next/future generation" conflate the present generation (i.e., the children of the ancestors) with another, posterior generation. The result of the ancestors telling their sons (vv. 5c-d) has the explicit result of the דוֹר אַחֲרוֹן understanding (v. 6a), so it must be the present generation, as indicated by the preferred gloss "latest" for אַחֲרוֹן.
• vv. 19-20: The addressee of the ancestors' complaints
  • The ancestors (last mentioned explicitly in v. 12) complained and grumbled among themselves against God, not to him, so the addressee is identified as the same group as the speakers, labelled "Israel" for simplicity, as the next explicit appellation, in v. 21.
• Identity of the inheritance in v. 55
  • Depending on how we interpret the grammar of וַֽ֭יַּפִּילֵם בְּחֶ֣בֶל נַחֲלָ֑ה, the suffix on וַֽ֭יַּפִּילֵם could be understood as the ancestors ➞ "he allotted for them an inheritance" (so, e.g., Symmachus's dative ὑπέβαλεν αὐτοῖς) or the nations ➞ "he allotted them as an inheritance" (so, e.g., the LXX's accusative ἐκληροδότησεν αὐτοὺς).
  • The ancestors: The recipient reading of the pronominal suffix on וַֽ֭יַּפִּילֵם is complicated by other examples where the recipient is explicitly flagged by a לְ prepositional phrase.
  • The nations (preferred): As strange as the sense of allotting the nations themselves as an inheritance might seem (see, e.g., the NASB: And apportioned them as an inheritance by measurement)—though see Ps 2:8 and especially 111:6 (לָתֵ֥ת לָ֝הֶ֗ם נַחֲלַ֥ת גּוֹיִֽם)—it simplifies the participant tracking, as otherwise v. 55b would read "allot them," i.e., Israel, and 55c "settle in their dwelling-places," i.e., the nations. It is for this reason the NJPS inverts the order of v. 55b-c, without any manuscript evidence for such a move. Further, though the strict referent of inheritance is the nations, in light of the parallel in Ps 105:11 (לְךָ֗ אֶתֵּ֥ן אֶת־אֶֽרֶץ־כְּנָ֑עַן חֶ֝֗בֶל נַחֲלַתְכֶֽם) it most likely denotes their land—explicitly so in Pss 135:12; 136:21. The use of "nations" to refer to their land as an inheritance is unambiguous in Josh 23:4: רְאוּ֩ הִפַּ֨לְתִּי לָכֶ֜ם אֶֽת־הַ֠גּוֹיִם הַנִּשְׁאָרִ֥ים הָאֵ֛לֶּה בְּנַחֲלָ֖ה לְשִׁבְטֵיכֶ֑ם "See, I have allotted for you these remaining nations as an inheritance for your clans," so the metonymy of nations standing for the nations' territory has been preferred here.
• Antecedent of 3ms suffixes throughout vv. 63-64: his people or YHWH?
  • His people: The antecedent of the 3ms suffixes throughout vv. 63–64 could be found in "his people" (עַמּ֑וֹ) in v. 62a (so notes the NET). Such a semantic result is reflected in the LXX's plural suffixes ("their") through vv. 63-64. The same plural is found in both the LXX and Symmachus of v. 28's "his camp" and "his tents," (though read as "its camp," i.e., Israel's by Delitzsch [1871, 368]) and also Symmachus of v. 66 ("their adversaries"). The likelihood of this grammatical dependency is weakened, however, with the intervening (feminine) נַחֲלָת֗וֹ in v. 62b.
  • YHWH (preferred): The singular use is intentional throughout both this passage and in v. 28's "camp" and "tents." That they belong to YHWH's people and inheritance (cf. vv. 20, 52, 62, 71b) is a key rhetorical point of the psalm. Despite his lengthy patience, they continuously rebelled against him. Even after the shift to dealing with his instruments of wrath (vv. 65-66), "Joseph" and "Ephraim" are still rejected (v. 67).
• Identity of צָרָ֥יו in v. 66a: his people, the Philistines, or Israel's enemies from Samuel to David's time?
  • For arguments both for and against our preferred interpretation of the "adversaries" as Israel's enemies from Samuel to David's time, see the issue.
• Identity of the 3ms suffix in v. 71b: David's or YHWH's people/inheritance?
  • Although there may be an intentional ambiguity between David and YHWH here, in continuity with the other instances of "his people" and "his inheritance" throughout the Psalm (see vv. 20, 62), YHWH is the most likely antecedent (though see the unambiguous instance of David in 2 Sam 8:15: וַיְהִ֣י דָוִ֗ד עֹשֶׂ֛ה מִשְׁפָּ֥ט וּצְדָקָ֖ה לְכָל־עַמּֽוֹ).