Psalm 95/Macrosyntax/Notes

• vv. 1-5 and vv. 6-7b are characterized by their initial serial verb constructions of exhortation ("Come, let us shout for joy" and "Come, let us bow down," respectively) followed by extensive כִּי content (vv. 3-5, 7).
• vv. 7c-9 begin with the temporal frame setter הַ֝יּ֗וֹם "today," followed by אֲשֶׁר subordination.
• vv. 10-11 begin with the temporal אַרְבָּ֘עִ֤ים שָׁנָ֨ה ׀ "forty years," followed by subordination of direct speech, אֲשֶׁר, and another instance of direct speech in the final oath formula.

• v. 2 – The fronting of בִּ֝זְמִר֗וֹת indicates a symmetrical relationship with the preceding poetic line:

נְקַדְּמָ֣ה פָנָ֣יו בְּתוֹדָ֑ה

בִּ֝זְמִר֗וֹת נָרִ֥יעַֽ לֽוֹ׃ 

• v. 3 – The verbless predicational clause אֵ֣ל גָּד֣וֹל יְהוָ֑ה reflects comment-topic order, such that אֵ֣ל גָּד֣וֹל can be read as focal and could be rendered YHWH is indeed a great God or YHWH is nothing less than a great God.
• v. 4a – The clause-initial position of the prepositional phrase בְּ֭יָדוֹ is most natural for information flow—YHWH is already discourse active so the pronominally-suffixed form is more accessible than the newly introduced מֶחְקְרֵי־אָ֑רֶץ.
• v. 4b – As a predicational possessive construction, one expects the possessed entity to be placed before the possessor both in Biblical Hebrew and cross-linguistically, as we have here (see Atkinson forthcoming, "Bipartite Verbless Clauses"). Nevertheless, the information packaging of the current co-text indicates the topical nature of לֽוֹ (cf. the preceding בְּ֭יָדוֹ and following ל֣וֹ), so the phrase תוֹעֲפ֖וֹת הָרִ֣ים most plausibly introduces another entity that belongs to YHWH, and could be glossed "the peaks of the mountains are (also) his." Alternatively, one could understand תוֹעֲפ֖וֹת הָרִ֣ים as the clause's topic—with “belongs to him” as the comment—perhaps activated by the preceding item of the merism, מֶחְקְרֵי־אָ֑רֶץ.
• v. 5a – The clause-initial position of the prepositional phrase ל֣וֹ is most natural for information flow—YHWH is already discourse active so the pronominally-suffixed form is more accessible than the newly introduced הַ֭יָּם.
• v. 5b – The clause וְה֣וּא עָשָׂ֑הוּ is explanatory thetic, as it grounds the previous clause (cf. Jerome's Hebr. rendering of enim "for" for the MT's waw).
• v. 5c – The יַבֶּ֗שֶׁת represents a topic shift from הַ֭יָּם, followed by the intensive focal constituent of יָדָ֥יו "his very own hands."
• v. 7c – The temporal הַ֝יּ֗וֹם provides a frame setter for the following exhortation, which is contrasted with the following כִּמְרִיבָ֑ה כְּי֥וֹם מַ֝סָּ֗ה בַּמִּדְבָּֽר.
• v. 7c – For the focal reading of אִם + X + yiqtol, see van der Merwe. Compare the prototypical instance in 1 Kgs 20:18 from which the focal material is selected from two possible alternatives in the set: "If they have come out for peace (אִם־לְשָׁל֥וֹם יָצָ֖אוּ), take them alive; if they have come out for war (וְאִ֧ם לְמִלְחָמָ֛ה יָצָ֖אוּ), take them alive” (NIV).
• v. 10a – After v. 7c, the fourth and final discourse unit of the psalm is introduced by another temporal adverb, אַרְבָּ֘עִ֤ים שָׁנָ֨ה ׀. Nevertheless, describing duration rather than a point in time, it is unlikely that אַרְבָּ֘עִ֤ים שָׁנָ֨ה ׀ functions as a frame setter (like in v. 7c). Rather, it is plausibly read as scalar focus of the length of time YHWH was furious with the ancestors.
• v. 10c – The verbless predicational clause עַ֤ם תֹּעֵ֣י לֵבָ֣ב הֵ֑ם reflects comment-topic order in order to create a poetic pattern of head-tail linkage between the two הֵם pronouns, binding the two clauses (and lines) before the final אֲשֶׁר conjunction of the psalm and the final verse.

(There are no notes on vocatives for this psalm.)

(There are no notes on discourse markers for this psalm.)

(There are no notes on conjunctions for this psalm.)