Psalm 88/Notes/Grammar.V. 16.41254
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
- v. 16 יָגֵעַ LXX, Jerome, and Peshitta have יָגֵעַ instead of גֹּוֵעַ. We consider the former a dispreferred emendation, as גוע is lectio difficilior. The reason is that גוע, a perfective glossed as "expire one's last breath" is not attested anywhere in the Bible in its participle form. This would turn it into an imperfective-telic verb ("to be about to expire one's last breath"), a hard but very possible (and highly graphic) reading. In addition to that, since the psalm is obsessive with the idea of death, we take גוע as the preferred reading, also supported by all modern translations.
- v. 16b alt #1 נִשֵֹּאתִי אִמָּךָ Alternative is based on the LXX (ὑψωθεὶς δὲ ἐταπεινώθην) and Peshitta (ܐܬܬܪܝܡܬ ܘܐܬܡܟܟܬ), which can be translated as: ‘I'm lifted up and (then) brought low’. The alternative is made possible through a revocalisation of both words: נִשֵֹּאתִי is read as a Niph'al verb instead of Qal, while אִמָּךָ is read as a Niph'al verb of the root מככ (‘be brought low, humiliated’) instead of the noun אֵמֶיךָ, with an omission of the mater lectionis in the MT. This reading is dispreferred as it is not clear how ‘being lifted up’ is compatible with the message of the psalm, especially as the preceding line is emphasizing how he's been afflicted since youth. The MT text, on the other hand, fits well with the psalm's message.
- v. 16c אָפוּנָה The MT reading אָפוּנָה from the unattested root פונ is emended here to אֶפּוֹרָה from the root פור (cognate to פרר "tear/break") to get "I keep being torn apart") in Niphal. This text is attested in 4Q98c, which Longacre and Strawn (2022) argue is part of the proto-Massoretic 4Q85. Skehan et al. (2000) explains LXX ἐξηπορήθην "I am desperate" as onomatopoeia for the 4Q98c reading, although the meaning is different. BHS suggests an emendation to אָפוּגָה "I keep being numb" from the root פוג, which otherwise it not supported by any version and fits in less with the context. For a full analysis of this line, see The Text and Meaning of Ps. 88:16b.