The Grammar and Meaning of Psalm 10:3b
Back to Psalm 10
Introduction
The Hebrew text of Psalm 10:3b reads as follows:
יְהוָֽה | נִ֘אֵ֥ץ | בֵּ֝רֵ֗ךְ | וּבֹצֵ֥עַ |
YHWH | pasthe reviles | pasthe blesses | and-ptcp.ms.one who is greedy for gain |
This verse is difficult on many fronts, but here we will focus on two specifically.[1]
- Who or what is the subject of the verb בֵּ֝רֵ֗ךְ?
- Is it the רָ֭שָׁע 'wicked one(s)' from the previous line?
- E.g., 'And blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth' (KJV, cf. NIV, NLT, ELBBK, NGU2011, PDV2017, NTV, RVR95, Peshitta).
- Is it the participle בֹצֵ֥עַ?
- E.g., 'And the covetous renounceth, yea, contemneth Jehovah' (ASV, cf. CEB, ESV, NET, HCSB, LEB, NASB1995, NRSV, DELUT, SCH2000, BCC1923, BDS, LSG, DHH94I, LBLA, LXX, Aquila, Symmachus, Jerome).
- Is it an elided/understood relative pronoun?
- E.g., דִמְבָרַךְ גַבְרָא טָלוֹמָא 'Whoever blesses the oppressive man...' (Targum)
- Is it the רָ֭שָׁע 'wicked one(s)' from the previous line?
- What is the meaning of the verb בֵּ֝רֵ֗ךְ[2]?
- Does it have its normal meaning, 'to bless'?
- E.g., 'he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord' (NIV, cf. KJV, NLT, ELBBK, NTV, RVR95, LXX, Aquila, Symmachus, Jerome, Peshitta, Targum).
- Or is it a Euphemism for something like 'to curse'?
- E.g., 'and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord' (ESV, cf. ASV, CEB, ESV, NET, HCSB, LEB, NASB1995, NRSV, DELUT, NGU2011, SCH2000, BCC1923, BDS, LSG, PDV2017, DHH94I, LBLA).
- Does it have its normal meaning, 'to bless'?
Clarity on these two issues resolves a third issue, namely, the relationship between the two clauses of 10:3b. For that reason, the issue will not be dealt with directly here.[3]
Argument Map(s)
The Subject of בֵּ֝רֵ֗ךְ
The following argument maps consider three options.
The רָשָׁע from v. 3a
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[רָ֭שָׁע 'The wicked one']: The subject of בֵּ֝רֵ֗ךְ in 3b is the same as the verb in 3a—רָ֭שָׁע. #dispreferred
+ <Poetics>: The sound play between נפשו and ובצע invites construing both as semantic patients affected same agent.
+ <Same subject>: On the whole, however, it seems better to retain the same subject, as in the former member of the verse' (Perowne 1870, 169 :C:). #dispreferred
- <Restatement of v. 3a>: 3bα restates the message of 3a, that the wicked person boasts about himself. This implicature is obscured. if the 'wicked' is explicitly made the subject.
+ <הלל || ברך>: The semantic overlap of הלל and ברך generates 'parallelism' between the lines.
+ <The identity of the בצע>: The בֹצֵע is the wicked person of v. 3a
<_ <Circumstantial>: The participle בֹצֵע modfies ברך as a circumstantial clause (viz., 'profiting, he blesses'; Alexander 1864, 55 :C:). #dispreferred
<_ <Awkward Syntax>: If a bare participle modifies a verb circumstantially it typically follows the main clause; if it precedes, it is usually preceded by a pronoun, neither of which are the case here (JM §159a, d :G:).
+ <Ambushing and Unjust Profit>: Vv. 8–9 depict the wicked ambushing the vulnerable and innocent, and elsewhere those who ambush the innocent are identifies as those who strive after unjust gain (Prov. 1:15–19).
+ כֵּ֗ן אָ֭רְחוֹת כָּל־בֹּ֣צֵֽעַ בָּ֑צַע 'Thus are the paths of those who are greedy for unjust gain' (Prov. 1:19)
The Participle בֹצֵ֥עַ
Elided or understood relative pronoun
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[Relative]: The subject of בֵּ֝רֵ֗ךְ is an elided/understood אֲשֶׁר 'whoever'.
+ <Tradition>: This understanding has received the most support in Jewish tradition (Barthelemy 2005, 35 :M:; so the Targums)
+ b.Sanhedrin 7a:3, Y.Sanhedrin 1:1:21–23; cf. Y. Challah 1:5:8; Y.Shabbat 13:3:4
+ <Coherence>: The best way to account for the fact that the רשע of 3a is both the בצע and the semantic agent of ברך/נאץ is to make the identity of the grammatical subject of ברך indefinite: 'whoever blesses the greedy despises YHWH (The wicked blesses a greedy person—himself—and therefore despises YHWH).
+ <The Message of 3a>: 3b restates the message of 3a, that the wicked person boasts about himself.
+ <Waw>: The clause-level waw (ובצע) gives the background (see BHRG 424 :G:) for the significance of the כי clause
+ <כי>: The only reason praising the desire of one's soul would be grounds for a curse is if acting on that desire is an act of blasphemy towards YHWH.
+ <הלל || ברך>: The semantic overlap of הלל and ברך generates 'parallelism' between the lines.
+ <The identity of the בצע>: The בֹצֵע is the wicked person of v. 3a
+ <Ambushing and Unjust Profit>: Vv. 8–9 depict the wicked ambushing the vulnerable and innocent, and elsewhere those who ambush the innocent are identified as those who strive after unjust gain (Prov. 1:15–19)
+ כֵּ֗ן אָ֭רְחוֹת כָּל־בֹּ֣צֵֽעַ בָּ֑צַע 'Thus are the paths of those who are greedy for unjust gain' (Prov. 1:19)
+ <The Agent of נאץ>: The רשע from 3a is the semantic agent of נאץ in 3b.
+ <v. 13>: The wicked, like the person described in 3b, 'despise' (נאץ) the Lord in v. 13.
What is the Meaning of בֵּרֵךְ
'To bless' or 'To praise'
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['To bless/praise']: בֵּ֝רֵ֗ךְ here retains its normal semantics, 'to bless, praise, commend'. #dispreferred.
+ <Regular Semantics>: 'To bless' is the default meaning of ברך.
+ <Parallelism>: The semantic overlap between הלל and ברך invites a parallel reading of the lines.
'To Curse'[4]
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['To Curse']: בֵּ֝רֵ֗ךְ here is some sort of euphemism. The intended sense is 'to curse' (BDB :L:). #dispreferred
+ <The name of YHWH>: It would have been blasphemous for the verb 'to curse' to occur near YHWH's name. #dispreferred.
<_<נאץ>: It would presumably be just as blasphemous to have נאץ next to YHWH (Barthelemy 2005 :M:). 'This psalmist would hardly feel the need to hold back from saying that the faithless cursed Yhwh, as the next verb emplies' (Goldingay 2006, 164 :C:).
+ <Known Euphemism>: Other places in scripture contain this euphemism (see Delitzsch 1883, 225 :C:; Craigie 1983, 121 :C:). #dispreferred
+ Job 1:5; 1:11; 2:5; 2:9; 1 Kings 21:10; 21:13. #dispreferred
- <Not the Same as the other Tiqqune ha-soferim>: 'The presence of "to bless" in front of "scorns the Lord" in Ps 10:3 constitutes a complex textual problem which is not directly parallel with the six other cases (viz., Job 1:5, etc.) mentioned above. If the case in Psa 10:3 contains a theological correction, the motivation for it would have more in common with such texts as 2 Sam 12:14, or 2 Sam 12:9' (McCartney 1981, 192n.149 :M:).
- <Different Environment>: '(This) usage otherwise comes only in direct speech in Job 1–2 and in 1 Kings 21' (Goldingay 2006, 164, :C:).
- <Parallelism>: 'The parallelism here (viz., הִלֵּל) works against it' (Goldingay 2006, 164 :C:; comment mine).
Conclusion
This verse is hard and its solution largely rests on the subject of בֵּרֵךְ. Taking בֹצֵע as the subject creates too many problems. If that were the case, it would first be unclear who or what this person is 'blessing'. The three solutions to this problem are:
- Redefining ברך to mean 'curse'. This does not work since this verse is not among the verses that underwent tiqqune ha-soferim (correction of the scribes). If it was, it would be strange that נאץ would remain next to יהוה.
- Revocalisation of ברך (the בצע 'is blessed') should be a last resort, and so is not justified if good sense can be made out of the MT.
- Appealing to Zechariah 11:5 (so 'The greedy person blesses YET despises YHWH) does not support this reading since the context speaks against it. There is not indication that the Psalmist wants to portray the wicked as a hypocrite.
This narrows down the options to רשע or an indefinite relative pronoun ('whoever') as the subject. Taking רשע as the subject of ברך is the simpler reading since it is the subject of the semantically similar verb הלל in v. 3a. The sound play between נפשו and ובצע is also striking, which could be interpreted as a suggestion that they have the same semantic function. On the other hand, the psalm invites the interpretation that the desire of the wicked person is profit gained through exploiting the vulnerable, so that רשע and בצע are co-referential. A comparison of verses 8 and 9 with Proverbs 1:15–19 reinforces this expectation. The רשע is no doubt the subject of the following נאץ too, as made clear by v. 13. One must therefore make sense of the fact that the רשע is somehow the agent of the actions denoted by הלל, ברך, בצע and נאץ. The proverbial character of 3b suggests that the waw attached to it gives the background for the כי clause. The psalmist has just wished the wicked to fall by their own plots because they boast of their wicked desires. The implicature is that this boasting is an affront to YHWH. Why? Because 'he who blesses the greedy despises the Lord'. The wicked himself is greedy and 'blesses' himself (=the greedy person). He therefore despises the Lord. The grammar reflected by this interpretation seems to be that which prevailed in early Rabbinic Judaism.
For these reasons we have chosen to translate Psalm 10:3b as Whoever blesses one who desires unjust gain despises YHWH.
Research
Translations
Ancient
- LXX
- καὶ ὁ ἀδικῶν ἐνευλογεῖται
- and he who acts unjustly counts himself blessed (NETS)
- Aquila
- καὶ πλεονέκτης εὐλογήσας διέσυρε κύριον
- 'And whenever the greedy one blesses, he reviles the Lord'
- Symmachus
- καὶ πλεονέκτης εὐλογήσας παρώξυνε τὸν κύριον
- And the greedy one, blessing, provokes the Lord
- Jerome
- et avarus adplaudens sibi
- and the covetous, applauding himself
- Pehitta
- ܥܘ݁ܠܐ ܡܬ݁ܒܪܟ ܘܪܓ݁ܙ ܡܪܝܐ
- He blesses the unjust, and the Lord became angry
- Targum
- דִמְבָרַךְ גַבְרָא טָלוֹמָא מַרְחַק מֵימְרָא דַיְיָ
- Whoever blesses the oppressive man distances himself from the word of the Lord
Modern
English
- ASV: And the covetous renounceth, yea, contemneth Jehovah.
- CEB: the greedy reject the LORD, cursing.
- ESV: and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
- NET: the one who robs others [5] curses[6] and[7] rejects the Lord[8].
- HCSB: the one who is greedy curses and despises the Lord.
- KJV: And blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
- LEB: and the one greedy for gain curses and treats Yahweh with contempt.
- NASB1995: And the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord.
- NIV: he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
- NLT: they praise the greedy and curse the Lord.
- NRSV: those greedy for gain curse and renounce the Lord.
German
- DELUT: und der Geizige sagt dem Herrn ab und lästert ihn.
- ELBBK: er segnet den Habsüchtigen, er verachtet den HERRN.
- NGU2011: In ihrer Habsucht verspotten sie den Herrn und verachten ihn.
- SCH2000: und der Habsüchtige sagt sich los vom Herrn und lästert ihn.
French
- BCC1923: le ravisseur maudit, méprise Yahweh.
- BDS: Le profiteur maudit ╵et nargue l’Eternel.
- LSG: Et le ravisseur outrage, méprise l’Éternel.
- PDV2017: Parce qu’il réussit, il maudit le Seigneur et se moque de lui.
Spanish
- DHH94I: el ambicioso maldice y desprecia al Señor.
- LBLA: y el codicioso maldice y desprecia al Señor.
- NTV: elogian al codicioso y maldicen al Señor.
- PDT: y los que tienen muchos deseos de ganar dinero rechazan al SEÑOR.
- RVR95: bendice al codicioso y desprecia a Jehová.
References
10:3 Approved
- ↑ There is a textual issue that will not be dealt with in detail here. The LXX allegedly read נִ֘אֵ֥ץ ׀ יְהוָֽה with the next verse (v.4) and not at the end of v.3. Following LXX in this case is not justified, however, because נִ֘אֵ֥ץ ׀ יְהוָֽה is clearly on the same line as the remainder of v. 3 in the Dead Sea Scrolls (5/6Hev1b f1ii:25)
- ↑ The option 'to greet' will not be treated here since it is not reflected in any major translations
- ↑ Some translations take בֵּ֝רֵ֗ךְ and נִ֘אֵ֥ץ as compound predicate that share the same subject, E.g., 'the one who robs others curses and rejects the Lord' (NET, cf. ASV, ESV, HCSB, LEB, NASB1995, NRSV, DELUT, BDS, LSG, DHH94I, LBLA. Some simply coordinate the two clauses via conjunction even though there is not one in the Hebrew, E.g., 'he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord (NIV, cf. NLT, ELBBK, SCH2000(?), NTV, RVR95, Peshitta). Finally, others join the two clauses together through various kinds of suboodination, e.g., 'And blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth (KJV, cf. CEB, NGU2011, BCC1923, Aquila, Symmachus, Targum).
- ↑ Note that many of these arguments could also apply to the option 'to renounce'. For this reason—in addition to the fact that some commentators conflate the two—this gloss will not receive separate treatment
- ↑ The translation assumes the active participle is substantival, referring to the wicked man mentioned in the preceding line. The substantival participle is then understood as the subject of the following verbs. For other examples of the participle of בָּצַע (batsar) used of those who desire and/or acquire wealth through dishonest and/or violent means, see Prov 1:19; 15:27; Jer 6:13; 8:10; Hab 2:9.
- ↑ The verb בָּרַךְ (barakh) normally means “to bless,” but in a few cases it exhibits the polarized meaning “to curse” (1 Kgs 21:10, 13; Job 1:5–11; 2:5–9). (Some regard this use of בָּרַךְ as a mere euphemism.) The verb refers to the act of pronouncing or calling down a formal curse upon the object of one’s anger.
- ↑ The conjunction “and” is supplied in the translation; it does not appear in the Hebrew text.
- ↑ Another option is to translate, “he blesses one who robs others, [but] he curses the LORD.” In this case the subject of the verbs is “the wicked man” mentioned in the previous line, and “the one who robs others” is the object of the verb בָּרַךְ (barakh), which is understood in its usual sense of “bless.”