Psalm 89/Notes/Grammar.v. 30.345337

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  • The clause in v. 30a seems incomplete: "I will make/put his offspring forever." There are three ways to resolve the difficutly.
  1. Assume some kind of elision. E.g., KJV: "His seed also will I make to endure for ever;" Radak: "I will put his offspring in power forever" (במלכות אשים זרעו לעד).
  2. Interpret לָעַד not as an adverbial but as the predicate complement of the שִׂים construction: "I will make his offspring perpetual." Cf. Jerome: et ponam perpetuum semen eius; Symmachus: καὶ ποιήσω διηνεκὲς τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ.
  3. Interpret the verb שִׂים to mean "establish." E.g., "I will establish his offspring forever" (ESV, cf. NIV, ELB, GNB, ZÜR; so BDB, DCH; cf. Exod 15:25; Deut 12:5; Josh 24:25; Isa 44:7; Ps 104:9; see esp. 2 Sam 23:5—בְרִ֨ית עֹולָ֜ם שָׂ֣ם לִ֗י). This last option is the most likely. It does not require any elision, and it allows us to interpret לָעַד according to its normal sense and שִׂים according to a fairly well-attested sense. Note also the parallel clause in v. 5: "I will establish his offspring" (אָכִין זַרְעֶךָ).
  4. Another option worth mentioning is that לָעַד might be revocalized to לְעֵד: "I will make his offspring a witness," anticipating the "witness" language in v. 38b.