Psalm 89/Diagrams/Placeholders/21-22
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
vv. 21-22 - Preferred
(Preferred, but not confirmed); edit diagram
SimpleGrammar
DiscourseUnit [vv. 21-22]
Fragment
Clause
Predicate
verb: מָצָאתִי I have found
Object
Apposition
Nominal
noun: דָּוִד David
RelativeClause
RelativeParticle
particle: אֲשֶׁר whom
ClauseCluster
Clause
Subject
ConstructChain <gloss="my hand">
noun: יָדִ hand
suffix-pronoun: י me
Predicate
verb: תִּכּוֹן will be established >> will always be
Adverbial
PrepositionalPhrase
Preposition
preposition: עִמּ with
Object
suffix-pronoun: וֹ him
Clause
Subject
ConstructChain <gloss="my arm">
noun: זְרוֹע arm
suffix-pronoun: ִי me
Predicate
verb: תְאַמְּצ strengthen
Adverbial
particle: אַף also
Object
suffix-pronoun: ֶנּוּ him
ConstructChain <gloss="my servant">
noun: עַבְדִּ servant
suffix-pronoun: י me
Fragment
Clause
Predicate
verb: מְשַׁחְתִּי I have anointed
Object
suffix-pronoun: ו him
Adverbial
PrepositionalPhrase
Preposition
preposition: בְּ with
Object
ConstructChain <gloss="my holy oil">
noun: שֶׁמֶן oil
noun: קָדְשׁ holiness
suffix-pronoun: ִי me
DiscourseUnit [vv. 21-22]
Fragment
Clause
Predicate
verb: מָצָאתִי I have found
Object
Apposition
Nominal
noun: דָּוִד David
RelativeClause
RelativeParticle
particle: אֲשֶׁר whom
ClauseCluster
Clause
Subject
ConstructChain <gloss="my hand">
noun: יָדִ hand
suffix-pronoun: י me
Predicate
verb: תִּכּוֹן will be established >> will always be
Adverbial
PrepositionalPhrase
Preposition
preposition: עִמּ with
Object
suffix-pronoun: וֹ him
Clause
Subject
ConstructChain <gloss="my arm">
noun: זְרוֹע arm
suffix-pronoun: ִי me
Predicate
verb: תְאַמְּצ strengthen
Adverbial
particle: אַף also
Object
suffix-pronoun: ֶנּוּ him
ConstructChain <gloss="my servant">
noun: עַבְדִּ servant
suffix-pronoun: י me
Fragment
Clause
Predicate
verb: מְשַׁחְתִּי I have anointed
Object
suffix-pronoun: ו him
Adverbial
PrepositionalPhrase
Preposition
preposition: בְּ with
Object
ConstructChain <gloss="my holy oil">
noun: שֶׁמֶן oil
noun: קָדְשׁ holiness
suffix-pronoun: ִי me
{{Diagram/Display | Chapter=89|DiagramID=vv-21-22-None }}
Grammar Notes
Note for v. 22
- The אֲשֶׁר at the beginning of v. 22a has been understood in a number of ways. It could have its normal value as a relative particle: "I found David my servant; with holy oil I anointed him; with whom my hand will be established..." (cf. KJV; so Jerome iuxta Hebr.: cum quo manus meus firma erit) (here preferred). Alternatively, it could be a more loosely connected subordinating conjunction, indicating result (cf. ESV: "so that...") or an explanation (cf. LXX trans. NETS: "for [γὰρ] my hand shall sustain him"). (For these proposed non-prototypical uses of אֲשֶׁר, see the helpful summary in Holmstedt 2016, 233). Because אֲשֶׁר almost always functions as a relative particle (c. 97% of the time; cf. Holmstedt 2016, 232) it is probably best to interpret אֲשֶׁר as a relative particle if this interpretation is plausible in the context. In our specific case, it is plausible that אֲשֶׁר in v. 22a functions as a relative particle with דוד עבדי in v. 21a as its antecedent. Some might object to this interpretation, noting that there is an intervening clause/line (v. 21b) that the relative particle would have to skip over in order to connect back to דוד עבדי. This would be a problem in a prose text, but not in poetry, where the thought units do not occur contiguously, one after another (– – – –), but in parallel groups (= =) (cf. Gray 1915, 54). For a relative particle in one a-line to have its antecedent in the preceding a-line would not be an issue. See Ps 139:19-20 for another possible example. Alternatively, the antecedent could be the 3ms suffix in מְשַׁחְתִּיו.
Lexical Notes
Note for v. 21
- "Hand" (יָד) is metonymic for "strength," i.e., an "action by which humans or deities exert strength and power" (SDBH). Similarly, the word "arm" (זְרוֹעַ) in the parallel line is "directly associated with strength and power" (SDBH).
Phrase-Level
Note for v. 21
- The clause יָדִי תִּכּוֹן עִמּוֹ, literally, "With whom my hand shall be established" (KJV, cf. ESV), means that "Yahweh's hand [>> strength] will never leave him without protection" (Baethgen 1904, 277). Hence GNT: "My strength will always be with him."
Note for v. 22
- The phrase שֶׁמֶן קָדְשִׁי, lit.: "oil of holiness of me," describes the "oil" characterized by "holiness" that belongs to "me," i.e., YHWH. Thus, "my holy oil" (NLT, et al.). "Holiness" here refers to a "state in which [an object has] become part of the realm of God and his service" (SDBH).
Verbal Notes
Note for vv. 21-22
The yiqtol's (and weqatal's) in vv. 20-38 refer to future promises. Thus, unlike the habitual yiqtol's in the previous section, these yiqtols are simple futures with reference point movement.
Textual Notes
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