Psalm 9 Semantics

Psalm Overview

• Grammar
• Semantics
• Story behind the Psalm
• Discourse
• Poetics

(For more information, click "Phrase-level Legend" below.)

Phrase-level Legend

Visualization	Description
	The prepositional phrase is indicated by a solid green oval.
	The construct chain is indicated by a solid yellow oval.
	When the conjunction ו appears at the phrase-level (not clause-level), it is indicated by a solid light purple oval.
	The article is indicated by a solid blue oval.

v. 1

v. 2

• The phrase "with all my heart" specifies the manner of praise. The psalmist praises God with wholeness of intent and devotion.

v. 3

v. 4

• "The preposition ְבּ + infinitive construct often refers to events that provide the temporal frame of an event or events referred to in a subsequent sentence"

v. 5

• Some translations treat these as two different (though synonymous) objects, whereas others take them as a single object (hendiadys), with the first noun modifying the second
• With the verb ישב, the preposition ל can indicate the place where someone sits (e.g., Ps. 9:5 [לְכִסֵּא]; Ps. 110:1 [לִימִינִי]). In Ps. 29:10 it refers to YHWH's being enthroned "over the Flood"

v. 6

v. 7

v. 8

• The article on לַמשפט called the "generic" use of the article, common with abstract nouns (see e.g. Arnold and Choi, Guide, § 2.6.5).

v. 9

v. 10

v. 11

• "To “know the name of Yahweh” is to have a personal relationship with him of trust and dependence. Who know thy name most often means nothing more than being acquainted with the name of someone. In many languages it will be necessary to fill out the missing components; for example, “those who know you in their hearts” or “people who truly know you.”"

v. 12

• The vb. זמר (always pi.) appears both with and without the prep. ל with YHWH as the (indirect) object: זמר יהוה (transitive vb.; praise YHWH [with song]) זמר ליהוה (intransitive vb.; sing praise to YHWH) Other than valency, there appears to be no major difference in meaning. For example, Ps 47:7 uses the vb. זמר in both ways (transitive and intransitive) in reference to the same object, within a single verse: ‏ זַמְּר֣וּ אֱלֹהִ֣ים זַמֵּ֑רוּ זַמְּר֖וּ לְמַלְכֵּ֣נוּ זַמֵּֽרוּ׃(Praise God, praise! Sing praise to our king, sing praise!) "The valency of verbs of saying . . . have a subject (speaker), an object (content of speech) and an indirect object (hearer). . . . Often the content of the communication is implied by the content of the verb so that it has a valency of two and not three" (Van Der Merwe, §39.11).

v. 13

v. 14

v. 15

• Because the English word "salvation" is often considered a religious word and associated with Christian spiritual regeneration (e.g. being "born again"), it may be preferable to draw out the verbal idea in translation rather than maintaining the abstract noun
• The construct phrase בת ציון is often rendered with Eng. of as "daughter of Zion" (KJV, ASV, ESV, NASB), representing Zion as a mother. This is misleading, however, as the Heb. phrase portrays Zion as a daughter (see CEB, NIV). The NLT avoids the construct phrase altogether by replacing it with the name of its referent ("Jerusalem"). This is the sole occurrence of the phrase בַת־צִיּוֹן in the Psalter. The closest expression elsewhere is בַת־צֹר (Ps 45:13) and בַּת־בָּבֶל (Ps 137:8). The personification of Zion as a daughter (referring to Jerusalem) is an emotionally powerful metaphor that portrays Jerusalem as under the special care and protection of YHWH (2 Kgs 19:21). This metaphor also undergirds the tragedy of a suffering city and broken relationship (e.g. Isa 1:8; Mic 4:10) and highlights the vulnerability of Jerusalem. However, it should be noted that Jerusalem is never actually said to be YHWH's daughter, so care should be taken to avoid overstating the metaphor

v. 16

v. 17

v. 18

v. 19

v. 20

v. 21

• On the meaning of the term מוֹרָה please see our exegetical issue on this verse.