Psalm 8/Verbs
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
Verbs
Verb forms
| Definition Feature being studied | Occurrences Sections where this feature is present or absent | Clustering | Intersection | Connections | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short yiqtol | תְּעַטְּרֵֽהוּ (v.6b), תַּ֭מְשִׁילֵהוּ (v.7a) | vv.6b-7a | forms chiasm in Section 3 (vv.6-7), with short yiqtol verbs at center: a וַתְּחַסְּרֵ֣הוּ b תְּעַטְּרֵֽהוּ / b' תַּ֭מְשִׁילֵהוּ a' שַׁ֣תָּה | ||
| imperative | תְּנָ֥ה (v.2c?) | ||||
| infinitive construct | תְּנָ֥ה (v.2c?); לְהַשְׁבִּ֥ית (v.3c) | Section 1 (vv.2c-3) | beginning of psalm (first and final lines of section 1) | Gives cohesion to first section (vv.2c-3) | |
| participle | עֽוֹלְלִ֨ים ׀ וְֽיֹנְקִים֮ (v.3a); צוֹרְרֶ֑יךָ (v.3b); א֝וֹיֵ֗ב וּמִתְנַקֵּֽם (v.3c); עֹ֝בֵ֗ר (v.9b) | v.3 (5x); only in Sections 1 (vv.2c-3) and 4 (vv.8-9); absent sections 2-3 (vv.4-7) | v.3ac. double participles in each line (with strong phonological connection); forms connection between sections 1 and 4 and so reinforces the chiastic structure of the psalm | Gives cohesion to vv.3abc; reinforces the psalm's chiastic structure | |
| wayyiqtol | וַתְּחַסְּרֵ֣הוּ (v.6a) | beginning of Section 3 (v.6a) | May mark prominence.[1] | ||
| yiqtol | אֶרְאֶ֣ה (v.4a); תִזְכְּרֶ֑נּוּ (v.5a); תִפְקְדֶֽנּוּ (v.5b); תְּעַטְּרֵֽהוּ (v.6b); תַּ֭מְשִׁילֵהוּ (v.7b) | vv.4-7 (Sections 2-3); absent Sections 1 and 4 | first and last words of Section 2 (vv.4-5); two middle words of Section 3 (vv.6-7) | parallel lines (v.5ab); parallel sections (2-3: vv.4-7) | Gives cohesion to sections 2-3 (vv.4-7); forms chiasm in Section 3 (vv.6-7), with yiqtol verbs at center: a וַתְּחַסְּרֵ֣הוּ b תְּעַטְּרֵֽהוּ / b' תַּ֭מְשִׁילֵהוּ a' שַׁ֣תָּה |
| qatal | יִסַּ֪דְתָּ֫ (v.3b); כּוֹנָֽנְתָּה (v.4b); שַׁ֣תָּה (v.7b) | the first and final finite verbs of the psalm are perfects | The three perfect verbs are connected to one another in various ways, not only by conjugation (qatal), but also by stem (doubling: יִסַּ֪דְתָּ֫, כּוֹנָֽנְתָּה), PGN (2ms), meaning ("lay a foundation", "establish", "put underneath"), and sound (כּוֹנָֽנְתָּה, כֹּ֝ל שַׁ֣תָּה). | The use of perfects with similar sounds (כּוֹנָֽנְתָּה, כֹּ֝ל שַׁ֣תָּה) in vv.4, 7 is evidence for the chiastic structure of the psalm.[2] |
Finite verb forms cluster in the middle two sections of the psalm (vv.4-7). The first section (vv.2c-3) contains a cluster of non-finite verbs (participles and infinitives) with only one finite verb, and the final section (vv.8-9) has almost no verbs at all (only the participle עֹבֵר in v.9b).
- Section 1 (vv.2c-3): non-finite verbs
- Section 2 (vv.4-5): finite verbs
- Section 3 (vv.6-7): finite verbs
- Section 4 (vv.8-9): no/non-finite verbs
- v.2c. תְּנָה – This form, if not emended (see below on Textual Criticism), has been variously interpreted as an imperative (<נתן), an infinitive construct (<נתן), or a 3fs perfect (<נתן). (See Barthélemy for a history of medieval interpretation.[3])
- Elsewhere in the Bible, תְּנָה occurs as an imperative (instead of תֵּן) "very frequently."[4] This view is "usually accepted."[5] "However, the position of this imperative after אשׁר makes it a syntactically abnormal form."[6]
- The infinitive construct form of נתן is תֵּת,[7] though the form נְתֹן occurs in Num. 20:21 and Gen. 38:9. The anomalous form in Ps. 8 (תְּנָה) finds an analogy in the form מֵרְדָה in Gen. 46:3 (רְדָה instead of רֶדֶת). So Waltke and O'Connor: “The form תְּנָה is not an anomalous imperative of נתן but an infinitive construct, as if formed from the root יתן (the verb 'to give' has this form in Phoenician); compare ירד, infinitive construct רֵדָה.”[8] According to this interpretation, v.2c may be understood as a verbless clause (S: תנה הודך; SC [location]: על השׁמים). “It may be interpreted: O Thou whose laying of Thy glory is upon the heavens... Perhaps the author wrote תּנה הודך instead of נתתּ הודך, because he wishes to describe the setting out of the heavens with divine splendour as being constantly repeated and not as done once for all.”[9]
- The form תְּנָה may be a shortened form of נָתְנָה (cf. 2 Sam. 22:41 [תַּתָּה] vs. Ps. 18:41 [נָתַתָּה]). “Aphaeresis of a weak consonant with a full vowel” occurs in other places as well (cf. Jdgs. 19:11; Jer. 42:10; Ezek. 17:5; Hos. 11:3).[10] “In reality, however, all these forms are to be regarded merely as old textual errors.”[11] In either case, the occurrence of such forms elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible may support reading a 3fs perfect here, either by aphaeresis or by textual error. The subject of נתנה and the antecedent of אשׁר would be הארץ, the final word of the previous line (v.2b).
- vv.6-7. wayyiqtol - yiqtol - yiqtol - qatal. Scholars have suggested that the short yiqtol forms are actually preterites, which "would originally have been distinguished from the normal so-called imperfect by both vocalization and stress."[12] Here, they are distinguished by the H-suffixes, which signify perfective aspect.[13] "There are a number of instances, especially in the poetic sections, where a yiqtol is used where one would have expected a qatal/perfect. These instances are probably remnant of the non-jussive short yiqtol, a form that is also to be found in wayyiqtol."[14] The LXX renders each form with aorists (past perfective) (ἠλάττωσας... ἐστεφάνωσας... κατέστησας... ὑπέταξας). However, as Craigie writes, "the context is ambiguous and does not require a sequence of past tenses in English; a translation rendering the sequence of verbs into English as past/future/future/past is quite possible."[15] It is also possible that the four verbs be understood with "alternating reference to the past and the present in a way that brings out the present implications of the past act."[16]
- However the tense and aspect of these verbs are understood, it appears that the variation of forms (wayyiqtol - yiqtol - yiqtol - qatal) creates a chiastic structure (a וַתְּחַסְּרֵ֣הוּ b תְּעַטְּרֵֽהוּ / b' תַּ֭מְשִׁילֵהוּ a' שַׁ֣תָּה) that binds together vv.6-7. "The verbs in vv. 6–7 come in abbʹaʹ sequence as wayyiqtol, yiqtol, yiqtol, qatal. The arrangement thus binds vv.6–7 together."[17]
This feature is considered relevant for this psalm.,
Person, gender and number
| Definition Feature being studied | Occurrences Sections where this feature is present or absent | Clustering | Intersection | Connections | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1cs | אֶרְאֶ֣ה (v.4a) | beginning of Section 2 (vv.4-5) | aperture (v.4a) | ||
| 2ms | יִסַּ֪דְתָּ֫ (v.3b); כּוֹנָֽנְתָּה (v.4b); תִזְכְּרֶ֑נּוּ (v.5a); תִפְקְדֶֽנּוּ (v.5b); וַתְּחַסְּרֵ֣הוּ (v.6a); תְּעַטְּרֵֽהוּ (v.6b); תַּ֭מְשִׁילֵהוּ (v.7a); שַׁ֣תָּה (v.7b) | Sections 2-3 (vv.4-7); absent section 4; only once in section 1 | Gives cohesion to Sections 2-3 (vv.4-7) |
This feature is considered relevant for this psalm.,
Paragogic letters
| Definition Feature being studied | Occurrences Sections where this feature is present or absent | Clustering | Intersection | Connections | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| paragogic he | תְּנָ֥ה (v.2c?) |
If תְּנָ֥ה is interpreted as an imperative (see above), then this would be an incidence of paragogic he.,
Verb stem types (binyanim)
| Definition Feature being studied | Occurrences Sections where this feature is present or absent | Clustering | Intersection | Connections | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hiphil | לְהַשְׁבִּ֥ית (v.3c); תַּ֭מְשִׁילֵהוּ (v.7a) | ||||
| Doubling Stems (Piel, Hithpael, Polel) | יִסַּ֪דְתָּ֫ (v.3b); וּמִתְנַקֵּֽם (v.3c); כּוֹנָֽנְתָּה (v.4b); וַתְּחַסְּרֵ֣הוּ (v.6a); תְּעַטְּרֵֽהוּ (v.6b) | v.6 | parallel lines (6ab) | ||
| Qal | תְּנָ֥ה (v.2c); עֽוֹלְלִ֨ים ׀ וְֽיֹנְקִים֮ (v.3a); צוֹרְרֶ֑יךָ (v.3b), א֝וֹיֵ֗ב (v.3c), אֶרְאֶ֣ה (v.4a), תִזְכְּרֶ֑נּוּ (v.5a); תִפְקְדֶֽנּוּ (v.5b); שַׁ֣תָּה (v.7b); עֹ֝בֵ֗ר (v.9b) | parallel lines (v.5ab) |
,
Other
Verbless Clauses
- v.2b (מה)
- v.2c?
- v.5aα (מה)
- v.5bα ([מה])
- v.10b (מה)
The nouns phrases in vv.8-9 are in apposition to כֹּל (v.7b).
- ↑ Marvin E. Tate, “An Exposition of Psalm 8,” Perspectives in Religious Studies 28, no. 4 (Wint 2001) 343–59.
- ↑ Kraut, "The Birds and the Babes."
- ↑ Dominique Barthélemy, Critique textuelle de l’Ancien Testament: Tome 4. Psaumes, https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-150304
- ↑ GKC, 66h.
- ↑ HALOT, 1761.
- ↑ Dominique Barthélemy, Critique textuelle de l’Ancien Testament: Tome 4. Psaumes, https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-150304
- ↑ GKC, 66h; JM, 72i; BHRG, 18.11.3.
- ↑ IBHS, 11.2.13b (note 105).
- ↑ C.F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Biblical commentary on the Old Testament (Edinburgh: T&T Clark), 1866-91.
- ↑ GKC, 19i.
- ↑ GKC, 19i.
- ↑ Craigie, 113.
- ↑ Peter Gentry, "The System of the Finite Verb in Classical Biblical Hebrew", Hebrew Studies 39 (1998): 7-39.
- ↑ BHRG, 19.3.6.
- ↑ Craigie, 113.
- ↑ John Goldingay, Psalms, Vol. 1, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms (Baker Academic, 2006), 159.
- ↑ John Goldingay, Psalms, Vol. 1, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms (Baker Academic, 2006), 159.