The Division of Ps. 11:5

Introduction

The traditional Hebrew text of Ps. 11:5 reads as follows:

יְהוָה֮ צַדִּ֪יק יִ֫בְחָ֥ן וְ֭רָשָׁע וְאֹהֵ֣ב חָמָ֑ס שָֽׂנְאָ֥ה נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃

Psalm 11:5 consists of two lines, and each line consists of one clause. However, as Craigie notes, "it is difficult to be certain of the stichometry of this verse," and interpreters, ancient and modern, disagree as to where the first line/clause ends and the second begins. The NIV, for example, divides the text as follows:

"The LORD examines the righteous, // but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion."

The NLT, on the other hand, divides the text differently:

"The LORD examines both the righteous and the wicked. // He hates those who love violence."

Do "the wicked" belong with the first clause/line or with the second clause/line? In other words, does YHWH examine the righteous only? Or does he examine the righteous and the wicked? Modern translations are divided on the issue.

• Option 1: YHWH examines the righteous (NIV, ESV, NET, CEV, JPS-1985; LUT, NGU, ELB; TOB, PDV, NFC, BDS, RVR95)
• Option 2: YHWH examines the righteous and the wicked (NLT, GNT, NRSV, NEB/REB, NJB; EU, HFA, GNB, ZB; NVSR, NBS; NVI, DHH)

Argument map

"YHWH examines the righteous"

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[Righteous / wicked]: The text should be divided as follows: "YHWH examines the righteous / but the wicked and the one who loves violence, his soul hates."
 + <MT accents>: The word יִ֫בְחָ֥ן has the accent *ole-weyored*, and this accent very frequently corresponds to a line end (Sanders & de Hoop forthcoming :A:).
  <_ [Not grammatical or logical]:The accentuation "seems, however, to be rather musical than grammatical or logical" (Alexander 1864:62 :C:) "Die Akzentuation ist jedenfalls in Unordnung" (Kittel 1922:36-37 :C:). #dispreferred
 + <Pausal form>: The word יִבְחָן is in pause and so marks the end of the line (Revell 1981 :A:).
 + <Hebrew manuscripts>: The Aleppo Codex, Sassoon 1053, and the Babylonian codex Or 2373 support this division of the text.
 + <Ancient versions>: Both Jerome (see Codex Amiatinus) and the Syriac Peshitta (see Codex Ambrosianus) divide the text in the same way.
 + <Word order>: The order of the words (יהוה צדיק יבחן ורשע instead of יהוה יבחן צדיק ורשע) suggest that רשע is not coordinate with צדיק as a second object of יבחן.
  - [Textual error]:The original arrangement of the words is as follows: יהוה יבחן צדיק ורשע (BHS; Duhm 1899:35 :C:; Kraus 1960:88 :C:).#dispreferred
   + [LXX & Syriac]: Both the LXX and Syriac Peshitta appear to swap the order of "examine" (יבחן) and "righteous" (צדיק). #dispreferred
  - [Poetic purpose]: "The word order helps to make the point: literally, 'Yhwh faithful examines and faithless.' Yhwh’s examining divides faithless from faithful" (Goldingay 2006:192 :C:). #dispreferred
  - ["YHWH is righteous"]: "Righteous" (צדיק) is not an object but a predicate complement ("YHWH is righteous") (so αλλος: κυριος δικαιος). The object of יבחן is ורשע; the *waw* is emphatic. "We take into account in this way the unusual order of the words" (Auffret 1981 :A:; cf. Dahood 1966:68 :C:; Zenger 1993:90-1 :C:). #dispreferred
   + [Emphatic waw]: According to Dahood and Penar (1966:361ff :G:), emphatic *waw* is prefixed to an object following a verb in the following instances: Ps 27:8 71:20 83:17 109:4 64:7 (Auffret 1981 :A:). #dispreferred
 + <Semantic contrast>: "We get a better antithesis by contrasting God's dealings with the righteous and the wicked in the two lines. ורשע is the proper antith. to צדיק" (Briggs 1906:93 :C:; cf. Craigie 2004:132 :C:).
 - <Imbalance>: According to this division, the lines are imbalanced (3 words / 5 words).#dispreferred
  - ["Lover of violence" gloss]: The phrase אהב חמס "seems, for metrical reasons, to be a gloss" (Baethgen 1904:31; cf. Morgenstern 1950 :A:; Briggs 1906:93 :C:).
   - [Love / Hate]: The terms "love" (אהב חמס) and "hate" (שנאה נפשו) are juxtaposed in v. 5b (cf. Ps. 97:10) (Olshausen 1853 :C:; cf. Ehrlich 1905:23 :C:; Gunkel 1927:42-43).#dispreferred

"YHWH examines the righteous and the wicked"

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[Righteous and wicked]: The correct division of the text is as follows: "YHWH examines the righteous and the wicked / and the one who loves violence his soul hates."#dispreferred
 + <LXX>: This division of the text is attested by the LXX: κύριος ἐξετάζει τὸν δίκαιον καὶ τὸν ἀσεβῆ / ὁ δὲ ἀγαπῶν ἀδικίαν μισεῖ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν.#dispreferred
 + <Balance>: According to this division of the text, the lines are balanced (4 words / 4 words) (Wilson 2003:252 :C:).#dispreferred

Conclusion

The division of the text followed by the NIV and others ("YHWH examines the righteous // but the wicked...") is probably correct. This is supported by the MT accents (ole-weyored), by a pausal form (יִ֫בְחָ֥ן), and by a number of extant Hebrew codices (Aleppo, Sassoon 1053, Or 2373). Jerome's translation reflects this division, and it is also indicated in the Peshitta manuscript, Codex Ambrosianus. The only external evidence for a contrary division is found in the LXX. The witness of Aquila is unclear, and the witness of the Targum is ambiguous.

The strongest argument in favor of this reading is based on word order. The words "righteous" and "wicked" are separated by a verb, and so they are probably not coordinate. The waw prefixed to רשע more likely functions at the clause level. "YHWH" comes first in the clause in v. 5a, as the topic of the clause (cf. v. 4ab). The object, צדיק, is the second constituent in the clause, and its position before the verb is best explained as an instance of marked focus: "it is the righteous (and no one else) whom YHWH examines." This makes sense of the marked word order in the next clause as well: "but as for the wicked and the one who loves violence, his soul hates." This interpretation of the syntax is corroborated by the strong semantic contrast between the two lines and between the צדיק in the a-line and the רשע in the b-line. Other attempts to explain the word order (see argument map above) are not convincing. Goldingay's poetic explanation (see above) is unpersuasive. Auffret proposes reading צדיק as a predicate adjective and the waw on ורשע as "emphatic": "YHWH is righteous. He examines even the wicked." But Auffret cites no clear examples of "emphatic waw." Every one of the examples of "emphatic waw" which he cites from Dahood's Grammar involve an unlikely emendation of the MT: Ps. 27:8; Ps. 71:20; 83:17; 64:7; 109:4 (redivision of the text).

The meaning of the verse, then, is akin to Prov. 3:12a: "YHWH disciplines those whom he loves." Because YHWH loves the righteous, he puts them (and not the wicked) through a process of testing and refining. In the end, they will be pure, and they will see his face (v. 7). By contrast, the wicked are not tested and refined. YHWH hates them (v. 5b), and they are destroyed (v. 6).

Research

Manuscripts

Hebrew Manuscripts

All Hebrew manuscripts below (in which the verse is preserved) divide the verse as follows:

יהוה צדיק יבחן // ורשע ואהב חמס שנאה נפשו

• This verse is not preserved in 5/6HevPs
• This psalm is not preserved in the Berlin Codex
• Or 2373
• Sassoon 1053
• Aleppo Codex

Greek Manuscripts

Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and Alexandrinus divide the text as follows:

κύριος ἐξετάζει τὸν δίκαιον καὶ τὸν ἀσεβῆ // ὁ δὲ ἀγαπῶν ἀδικίαν μισεῖ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν

This division of the text is implicit in the translation itself. The Vorlage of the LXX was probably divided as follows:

יהוה צדיק יבחן ורשע // ואהב חמס שנאה נפשו

Syriac Manuscripts

Codex Ambrosianus divides the text as follows (with a dot after ܠܙܕܝܩ̈ܐ):

ܡܪܝܐ ܒܚܪ ܠܙܕܝܩ̈ܐ // ܠܥܘ̈ܠܐ ܘܠܪ̈ܚܡܝ ܥܘܠܐ ܣܢܬ ܢܦܫܗ܂

• Codex Ambrosianus

Translations

Ancient

• LXX: κύριος ἐξετάζει τὸν δίκαιον καὶ τὸν ἀσεβῆ, ὁ δὲ ἀγαπῶν ἀδικίαν μισεῖ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν
• Aquila: κυριος δικαιον δοκιμαζει, και ασεβη και αγαπωντα αδικα εμισησεν η ψυχη αυτου
• αλλος: κυριος δικαιος εξεταστης
• Hier: dominus iustum probat: impium autem et diligentem iniquitatem odit anima eius.
• S: ܡܪܝܐ ܒܚܪ ܠܙܕܝܩ̈ܐ ܠܥܘ̈ܠܐ ܘܠܪ̈ܚܡܝ ܥܘܠܐ ܣܢܬ ܢܦܫܗ܂
• Tg: אלהא צדיקיא בחין ורשיעיא ורחמי חטופין סנאת נפשיה

Modern

English

• Option 1: "the righteous // but the wicked" (NIV; cf. ESV, NET, CEV, JPS-1985)
• Option 2: "the righteous and the wicked // " (NLT; cf. GNT, NRSV, NEB/REB, NJB)

German

• Option 1: "den Gerechten // aber den Frevler" (LUT; cf. NGU, ELB)
• Option 2: "den Gerechte und Frevler // " (EU; cf. HFA, GNB, ZB)

French

• Option 1: "le juste // ...le méchant" (TOB; cf. PDV, NFC, BDS)
• Option 2: "le juste et le méchant // " (NVSR, NBS)

Spanish

• Option 1: "al justo // pero al malo" (RVR95)
• Option 2: "a justos y a malvados // " (NVI, DHH)

Secondary Literature

Articles

Morgenstern 1950

God doth choose the righteous;

But the guilty person His soul hateth.

In v. 5 יבחן should, in all likelihood, be emended to יבחר with Wellhausen, Dyserinck, Ehrlich and Gunkel. Likewise in v. 5b, the second stichos of this manifestly 3/3 distich, there is, it is plain, one beat too many. This difficulty is solved very easily by regarding either ורשע or ואהב חמס as a gloss. And inasmuch as, as we have seen, in the parlance of "soul-hunting", and especially within this psalm, רשע has a somewhat technical meaning, it would seem more reasonable to retain it and to omit ואהב חמס as the gloss (p. 226).

Auffret 1981

YHWH est juste,

il scrute même l'impie,

et qui aime la violence, son (-w) âme le hait.

Nous nous écartons de la traduction habituelle pour le verset 5a. Il se pourrait en effet que צדק soit dans ce psaume réservé à Yahvé (3b.5a.7a) et à ce qu’il aime (7b) tandis que l’opposé de l’impie est désigné par ysr. Par ailleurs nous tenons compte de cette manière de l’ordre insolite des mots. Ce w devant רשע peut s’entendre comme emphatique, d’où notre traduction par »même«.¹⁸

fn. 18: Sur cette tournure stylistique voir M. Dahood et T. Penar, The Grammar of the Psalter (Psalms, III 361ss.), 401, le w étant traduit entre autres par »even« (Pss. 31:12; 64:7; 109:4; 116:2), »itself« (Pss. 83:17; 139:14), »indeed« (Ps. 120:7). Selon Dahood le substantif objet précédé de w suit le verbe (comme selon nous en Ps 11:5) en Ps 27:8 71:20 83:17 109:4 64:7.

Commentaries

Rashi

And if, because I suffer and am pursued by you, you boast, saying (below 71:11), “God has forsaken him,” it is not so, but so is the custom of the Holy One, blessed be He, to chasten and to test the righteous but not the wicked.

Radak

יהוה צדיק יבחן על דרך כי את אשר יאהב יי' יוכיח (משלי ג יב), ויביא עליו צרות ויבחננו לעיני העולם להראות צדקו לבני האדם, כי לא ימוט לעולם לבבו בעבור הצרות, וינקהו מפשעיו

Hitzig 1835

Jehova erprobt den Gerechten

Den Frevler aber und Freund der Gewaltthat

Hasst seine Seele.

Olshausen 1853

Man beachte den Gegensatz zwischen אהב חמס und שנאה נפשו.

Hupfeld 1855:241

Im 2. Gl. ist bloß die Folge der Prüfung nach der andern Seite, der Haß gegen das Böse, ohne die vorangehende Prüfung, ausgedrückt: beide Gliederer gänzen sich aus einander. Ebenso Hgstb., der 1,6 vergleicht. Aber es fragt sich ob es nicht vielmehr in der Natur der beiden Gegenstände des Urtheils, des Guten u. Bösen, liegt daß das letztere sofort, ohne weitere Prüfung, von dem sittl. Gefühl verabscheut wird, das Gute aber Prüfung erträgt u. Erprobung verlangt, vgl.17:3; 26:2; 66:10f. Job 23:10.

Alexander 1864:62

5. Jehovah the righteous will prove, will prove the righteous, and the wicked and the lover of violence his soul hates. The sentence might also be divided thus: Jehovah will prove the righteous and the wicked, and the lover of violence his soul hates. Different from both is the masoretic interpunction, which seems, however to be rather musical than grammatical or logical. — The divine proof or trial of the righteous implies favour and approval like the knowledge spoken of in Ps. i. 6 ; but in neither case is it expressed.

Perowne 1870:165

Jehovah trieth the righteous,

But the wicked and him that loveth violence doth his soul abhor

Delitzsch 1883:240

He tries the righteous, i.e., seeing into the depths of his soul, He recognizes that his inmost nature is righteous and able to stand the test (xvii. 3; Job xxiii. 10), and therefore He lovingly protects him, just as the righteous lovingly adheres to Him. The wicked, however, and him that loves the violence done by the stronger to those who are weaker, His soul hates, i.e. He hates him with all the energy of His holy nature.

Duhm 1899:35

Jahwe prüft den Gerechten und Ungerechten, Und wer Gewaltthat liebt, Den hasst seine Seele. den hasst er von Herzen, Gegensatz von Lieben und Hassen. Mit LXX ist יבחן vor צדיק zu stellen. Vor dem חמס der Gegner warnten die Freunde.

Baethgen 1904:31

אהב חמס scheint aus metrischen Gründen Glosse zu sein. LXX Aq. betrachten soll unrichtig als zweites Objekt zu יבחן.

Ehrlich 1905:23

JHVH wählt den Frommen

und den Gottlosen und den, der Unrecht liebt, hasst er.

Für יבחן lies יבחר. Die Wahl ist die Folge der im vorhergehenden erwähnten Prüfung. Zu רשע, welches allein als Gegensatz zu צדיק passt, ist noch אהב חמס hinzugefügt und dem שנאה נפשו gegenübergestellt, um durch die Begriffe von Liebe und Hass wiederum einen Kontrast zu bewirken.

Briggs 1906:93

Hebrew text, Jerome make this a complete sentence attaching ורשע to next line. G followed by Du. attaches it to previous clause, making two tetrameters. But the testing is more appropriate to the righteous, and we get a better antith. by contrasting God's dealings with the righteous and the wicked in the two lines. ורשע is the proper antith. to צדיק. Then אהב חמס must be a gl. of specification.

Kittel 1922:36-37

Es prüft Jahwe die Frommen und Frevler

und die Unrecht lieben, seine Seel hasst sie

Die Akzentuation ist jedenfalls in Unordnung, vgl. G; eine Umstellung von צדיק und יבחן ist kaum nötig.

Gunkel 1927:42-43

"Jahve prüft den Gerechten, aber den Gottlosen und den, der Gewalttat liebt"; nach dem Versmass unmöglich. G stellt um יבחן צדיק, "Jahve prüft den Gerechten und Gottlosen", Bickel, Duhm² u. a.; aber das doppelte בחן (vv. 4-5) ist auffällig, 5 soll das Ergebnis der Prüfung 4 angeben; man streiche daher ורשע und lese mit Dhserind und Ehrlich יבחר "Jahve erwählt den Gerechten". Man beachte den seinen Gegensatz שנא || אהב; dasselbe Ps. 97:10.

Dahood 1966:68

Yahweh is the Just One

who will indeed assay the wicked;

So that he who loves injustice

hates his own life.

Kraus 1988:200-1

Yahweh tests the righteous and the wicked

His soul hates him who loves violence.

A transposition צדיק ורשע יבחן is indispensable.

Bratcher & Rayburn 1991:113

By joining the wicked to line b, the verse in Hebrew may be interpreted differently: 'He examines the good; but the wicked and the lawless his soul hates' (Kirkpatrick; ASV, Mft, TOB, NJV, NIV, FRCL); RSV and TEV are like NJB, NEB, NAB, ZUR, SPCL. One cannot be dogmatic, but it seems that the interpretation followed by RSV and TEV is preferable.

Alonso-Schökel 1992

El Senor examina a honrados y a malvados,

al que ama la violencia lo aborrece.

Hossfeld & Zenger 1993:90-91

EÜ folgt G (Umstellung im Satz!). Andere Übersetzungmöglichkeit: wobei die Wortfolge im Hebr beibehalten wird: "JHWH ist gerecht, so prüft er den Frevler und den, der Gewalt liebt, hasst seine Seele."

Fokkelman 2000

v. 5: 2.2.2.3 / 3.2.3.2

Schaeffer 2001:28

In Hebrew verse 5 is formulated with the verb couched between two objects, literally, “The LORD the righteous tests and the wicked.”

Wilson 2003:252

The NIV translation somewhat obscures the balance intended in v. 5. A better rendering in my opinion is, 'YHWH examines (both) the righteous and the wicked." His reaction to his examination of the wicked is immediately described in the second half of verse 5, while the fate of the righteous is delayed to the end of the psalm.

Craigie 2004:131-2

The Lord tests the righteous,

but the wicked and the one loving violence -

his soul hates!

It is difficult to be certain of the stichometry of this verse. It would be possible to translate: 'The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked / and his soul hates the one loving violence (4 + 4). The analysis in the translation is preferred, for it sets out more clearly the contrast between the righteous and the wicked, which is pursued further in v. 6 (the wicked) and v. 7 (the righteous).

Goldingay 2006:192

YHWH - he examines faithful and faithless;

with all his being he is against the person dedicated to violence.

After the two six-word lines comes a long 4-4 line. The examination means Yhwh can look behind people’s words to see the real truth about them and thus distinguish among “human beings” between *faithful and *faithless (NRSV obscures the point slightly by translating bāḥan in a different way in this line). The word order helps to make the point: literally, “Yhwh faithful examines and faithless.” Yhwh’s examining divides faithless from faithful. Once more, the second colon takes the logic onward. After the examination Yhwh does not just conclude that this was an interesting piece of research: Yhwh takes action. The second clause brings together two further antonyms, *dedicate oneself and be *against. Yhwh acts with energy (once more, nepeš, *person) against those who themselves act with energy to “destroy the foundations” by their lawless *violence.

Jacobson 2014

The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked;

and the lover of violence, his soul hates

The verse has a couple of minor problems. The phrase yhwh ṣdyq ybḥn wršʿ wʾhb ḥms šnʾh npšw might be divided as “The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one loving violence—his soul hates” (so Craigie, Psalms 1–50, p. 131; NIV; NJPS), or “Yahweh tests the righteous and the wicked …” (so Kraus, (Psalms 1–59, p. 200; NRSV). LXX supports the latter, “The Lord tries the righteous and the ungodly, and the one loving unrighteousness hates his own.” Yet, this reading does not make sense of MT’s šnʾh npšw, which requires a feminine subject for “to hate.

References

11:5 Approved