Psalm 8 Discourse
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Macrosyntax[ ]
- vv. 2, 10. The unmarked word order of verbless clauses is Subject-Predicate (BHRG 46.2.3.1). The use of interrogative>exclamatory מה and the consequent fronting of the predicate adjective (אַדִּיר) means that the predicate is probably marked. Cf. Ps. 36:8. The particle ma "functions as an introduction to an exclamation in which a speaker usually expresses a value judgment about something" (BHRG 42.3.6, citing Ps. 8:2/10 as an example).
- v. 3a. The PP מִפִּ֤י עֽוֹלְלִ֨ים ׀ וְֽיֹנְקִים֮ is fronted for marked focus (Lunn 2006:296 – "MKD"). YHWH has founded a fortress not by means of the powerful and eloquent, but by means of the feeble cries of the weakest and most vulnerable. "לְמַעַן is a subordinating conjunction that is also used secondarily as a preposition" (BHRG 40.36). In this clause, where is governs only a NP, it functions as a preposition (see grammatical diagram). "The clause or noun phrase with לְמַעַן typically follows the matrix clause" (BHRG 40.36).
- v. 4a. Despite the agreement among the ancient translators that the כִּי in v. 4 is causal (LXX [οτι], Symmachus [γαρ], Peshitta [ܡܛܠ], Targum [מטול], Jerome [enim]), there is virtual unanimity among modern translations and commentators that כי here introduces a temporal clause: "When I see... [then I think/exclaim] what is mankind...?" (cf. GKC 159dd; IBHS 38.7a).
- v. 5. On מה followed by כי followed by yiqtol, cf. 1 Sam. 18:18. "A result clause can be introduced by כי, notably after a question" (IBHS 38.3b).
- v. 6a. On the wayyiqtol see notes on verbal semantics.
- v. 7b. The direct object "everything" (כֹּל) is fronted for marked focus (so Lunn 2006:296 – "MKD"). YHWH has subjected everything to humanity's rule; no creature has been excluded. On the significance of this word in the psalm, see repeated roots.
- vv. 8-9. For the numerous and complex appositional relationships in this verse, see the grammatical diagram.
Speech Act Analysis[ ]
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Affect Analysis[ ]
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