The Meaning of הַאֲשִׁימֵם in Ps 5:11

Introduction

The Masoretic text of Psalm 5:11a says:

הַֽאֲשִׁימֵ֨ם ׀ אֱֽלֹהִ֗ים

It is clear from the verbal root of הַֽאֲשִׁימֵם that the verb relates somehow to ‘guilt’. Translations generally fall into three groups with respect to the precise relation to guilt. The three groups may be described as punishment (the result of guilt), condemnation (the declaration of guilt) or expiation (the payment required to make up for guilt).

• Many translations understand the verb to refer to the punishment that results from guilt. e.g.,
  • ‘Punish them, God’ (CEV)
  • ‘Traite-les comme des coupables, ô Dieu’ (S21)
  • ‘Bring ruin on them, O God’ (NEB)
  • ‘Zahl es ihnen heim, Gott’ (GNB)

• Other translations interpret the verb as referring to condemnation, that is, to the act of declaring one guilty, e.g.,
  • ‘Condemn them, O God!’ (NET)
  • ‘Declare them guilty, O God!’ (NIV)

• A few translations choose to bring out the nuance of expiation, that is, of making a payment in order for one party to absolve themselves of guilt.
  • ‘Lass sie büßen, Gott’ (Elberfelder)
  • ‘Make them bear their guilt, O God’ (ESV)

Argument Maps

Punishment

Some translations interpret הַאֲשִׁימֵם to refer to the punishment incurred by a guilty party. Some translate simply with ‘punish’ (CEV, GNT, RVR95, DHH94I, BTX4), others ‘treat guilty’ (NVS78P, S21), ‘destroy’ (NEB, REB) and ‘pay back’ (GNB, HFA).

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[Punish]: The verb הַֽאֲשִׁים in Ps. 5 refers to the punishment carried out upon the guilty party (DCH :L:). #dispreferred
  + <Parallelism>: The verbs that immediately follow within the same verse (יִפְּלוּ֮ ‘may they fall’ and הַדִּיחֵ֑מוֹ ‘drive them away’) involve punishment, which suggests that הַֽאֲשִׁים also refers to punishment (cf. Milgrom 1991:340 :C:). #dispreferred
   <_ <Judgement form>: In a traditional judgement formula, the specification of the punishment follows immediately after the declaration of guilt (TLOT 190 :L:).
     + [Judgement form]: Hos 10:2; 13:1; 14:1; Jer 2:3; Ezek 22:4; 25:12; Prov 30:10; Psa 34:23.
     +<Punishment in the next clause>: The punishment is stated in the following clause (יִפְּלוּ֮ ‘may they fall’).
     +<Accusation in previous verse>: The accusation is stated in the previous clause: ‘For there is nothing true in his mouth. Their inner parts are disaster. Their throat is an open tomb. They make their tongues deceitful’ (v. 10).
  +<אשׁם as 'destroy'>: The root אשׁם means to destroy elsewhere in Scripture (cf. Dahood 1966:35 :C:)#dispreferred
    +[אשׁם as 'destroy']:Psa. 34:22; Isa. 24:6; Jer. 2:3; Ezek. 6:6; Hosea 5:15, 10:2; 14:1; Joel 1:18; Prov. 30:10. #dispreferred
    +<Jerome>: Jerome sometimes translates the root with ‘to destroy’. #dispreferred
      +[Jerome]: interibunt ‘they will be ruined’ (Ezek. 6:6); disperierunt ‘the perished’ (Joel 1:18). #dispreferred
      <_ <Not in Psalm 5:11>: Jerome does not translate as ‘destroy’ in Psalm 5:11.
    +<Synonyms in Hosea 14:1>: ‘In Hos xiv 1, te'šam is synonymous with bahereb yippōlū’ (Dahood 1966:35 :C:). #dispreferred
      -<‘Destroy’ as result>: In verses like Hosea 14:1 and Psalm 34:22, the ‘destruction’ is an implication of a more basic meaning.
        +<Result can vary>: The result of being in a state denoted by אשׁם is not limited to destruction, but rather can vary (see TLOT 1.191 :L:)
          + [Result can vary]: 1 Sam 6:3f., 8, 17; Gen 42:21; 2 Kgs 12:17; Hos 14:1; Jer 51:5; Isa 53:10; also Lev 5:15ff.; Ezek 40:39; 44:29; 46:20; Ezra 10:19.
    +<Parallelism in Ps. 34:22>: In Psalm 34:22 the qal of אשׁם is parallel with the verb ‘it finishes off’. #dispreferred
      +[Ps. 34:22]: תְּמוֹתֵ֣ת רָשָׁ֣ע רָעָ֑ה וְשֹׂנְאֵ֖י צַדִּ֣יק יֶאְשָֽׁמוּ ‘Hardship finishes off a wicked person, and those who hate a righteous person perish/bear their guilt’ (Psa. 34:22). #dispreferred
      <_<‘Destroy’ as result>

Condemnation (preferred)

Some modern translations and most of the ancient versions interpret הַאֲשִׁימֵם to refer to the act of declaring a party guilty, i.e., condemning them. Some translate simply as (the equivalent of the English) ‘condemn’ (NET, GNT, JPS, NVI, Aquilla, Symmachus, Jerome, Peshitta, Targum), others as (the equivalent of the English) ‘declare guilty’ (NIV, NLT, LUT2017, NGÜ, NFC)

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[Condemnation]: The verb הַֽאֲשִׁים in Psa. 5 refers declaring one to be guilty.
 +<Context>: The judicial context of Psalm 5 suggests a declarative use of the hiphil.
   +<Judicial context of declarative hiphil>: The declarative use of hiphil is commonly used in judicial contexts (see Garr forthcoming :G:).
     + [Judicial context of declarative hiphil]: ‘they will approach the court and they (the judges) will judge them, they will declare the righteous righteous (וְהִצְדִּ֙יקוּ֙) and they will declare the wicked wicked (וְהִרְשִׁ֖יעוּ)’ (Deut. 25:1); ‘he who declares the wicked righteous (מַצְדִּ֣יק) and declares the righteous wicked (וּמַרְשִׁ֣יעַ)—both are an abomination to the Lord’ (Prov. 17:15).
   +<Legal elements>: Other elements in the Psalm assume a legal context.
     + [Legal elements]: אֶֽעֱרָךְ־לְ֝ךָ֗ ‘I will present (a case) before you’; לְנֶגֶד עֵינֶיךָ ‘(to stand) before you’ (v. 6).
    +<Ancient versions>: All the ancient versions translate הַֽאֲשִׁים with a word that refers to the act of declaring one guilty.
      + [Ancient versions]: E.g., Aquila and Symmachus ܝܚܒ ܐܢܘܢ ܐܠܗܐ ‘Condemn them, God!’; Jerome condemna eos Deus ‘condemn them, God!’ (cf. LXX, Peshitta, Targum)
    +<Judgement form>: The meaning ‘to declare guilty’ fits within the expected tripartite structure of a judgement formula, "with the declaration of guilt located exactly between the accusation and the specific announcement of punishment’ (TLOT 190 :L:).
      + [Judgement form]: Hos 10:2; 13:1; 14:1; Jer 2:3; Ezek 22:4; 25:12; Prov 30:10; Psa 34:23.
      +<Punishment in the next clause>: The punishment is stated in the following clause (יִפְּלוּ֮ ‘may they fall’).
      +<Accusation in previous verse>: The accusation is stated in the previous clause: ‘For there is nothing true in his mouth. Their inner parts are disaster. Their throat is an open tomb. They make their tongues deceitful’ (v. 10).

Expiation

A few translations interpret הַאֲשִׁימֵם to refer to the payment required in order to make up for guilt; in a word, expiation. Some German translations employ the verb büssen ‘to pay for, expiate’ (ELB, EÜ, ZÜR); some English translations express this with the verb ‘to bear guilt’ (ESV, NRSV, NJB).

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[Expiation]: The verb הַאֲשִׁים refers to an action whereby one pays for their acquittal from guilt. #dispreferred
  +<The noun refers to acquittal>: The noun from the same verbal root 'āšām denotes reparation/repayment and thus the verb should as well. #dispreferred
    +<Noun as repayment>: ‘The noun 'āšām is the restitution for desecration by either composition or sacrifice and should be rendered “reparation” and “reparation offering”’ (Milgrom 1991:339 :C:).#dispreferred
      -<Function, not actual repayment>: In situations where someone makes a payment for their guilt, the words derived from the root אשׁם denote not the actual repayment but rather the significance (viz., x of guilt obligation could be paraphrased as x whose significance is to make up for guilt obligation).
        -<Genitive constructions>: The actual means of acquittal (viz., payment) is usually the second noun in a bound phrase where אשׁם is the head noun (see TLOT 1.193 :D:).
          + [Genitive constructions]: E.g., דַּם הָאָשָׁם ‘blood of the ašam’ (Lev. 14:14, 17, 25, 28, that is, the blood whose significance is that it is the repayment for guilt), אֵיל הָאָשָׁם ‘the goat of the ašam’ (Lev. 5:16; that is, the goat intended for the guilt obligation).
  -<Secondary sense>: The restitution required of incurring guilt is a secondary connotation, not the primary denotation of the root אשׁם. 
    +<Consequences secondary for behaviour words>: ‘The biblical terms for good and bad behaviour also connote their respective reward and punishment' (Milgrom 1991:339 :C:)
   
  

Conclusion

‘It is universally accepted that the root [אשׁם] is associated with the concept of legal culpability or guilt’. Critical for the nuance of הַאֲשִׁימֵם in Psalm 5:11 is the idea that behaviour terms (‘guilt’ implies bad behaviour) in the Old Testament not only denote the behaviour itself, but also carry with them the secondary connotation of the reward or punishment associated with the behaviour. Sometimes the secondary sense is so strong that translating in accordance with it is preferable. One has to look no further than the translations of הַאֲשִׁימֵם in Psa. 5:11 for evidence of these secondary concepts. Two of the three options treated above (‘punishment’ and ‘expiation’) are but two aspects of the secondary consequence that accompanies the primary meaning of the root אשׁם. Indeed the possible consequences of אשׁם vary, demonstrating that the consequences themselves are not the semantic constant. Here in Psalm 5:11, the use of the hiphil and the judicial context work together in delimiting the precise meaning of הַאֲשִׁים. In judicial contexts, the hiphil may express the declaration of the state denoted by the verbal root. In this case it would be a declaration of guilt (אשׁם)—more specifically a guilt obligation. Declarations of guilt frequently fall into a formula in judicial contexts, with the accusation preceding (cf. v. 10) and the specific punishment following (cf. 11b–c). The use of the hiphil of אשׁם here in 5:11 seems to correspond to both of these patterns. For these reasons, we have chosen to translate Psalm 5:11a as ‘Hold them guilty, God!’

Research

Translations

Ancient

LXX

κρῖνον αὐτούς, ὁ θεός

Judge them, O God

Aquilla and Symmachus

κατάκρινον αὐτοὺς, Θεέ

Condemn them, God! (Greek retroverted from:)

ܝܚܒ ܐܢܘܢ ܐܠܗܐ

Condemn them, God!

Jerome (iuxta Hebraica)

condemna eos Deus

Condemn them, God!

Peshitta

ܢܚ݁ܝܒ ܐܢܘܢ ܐܠܗܐ݂

God will condemn them

Targum

חייב להון אלהא

Condemn them, O God;

Modern

Punishing

Punish

• CEV: Punish them, God
• GNT: Condemn and punish them, O God
• RVR95: ¡Castígalos, Dios!
• DHH94I: ¡Castígalos, Dios mío!
• BTX: ¡Oh Elohim, castígalos!

Treat guilty

• NVS78P: Traite-les comme des coupables, ô Dieu !
• S21: Traite-les comme des coupables, ô Dieu

Destroy

• NEB: Bring ruin on them, O God
• REB: GOd, bring ruin on them

Payback (from God)

• GNB:  Zahl es ihnen heim, Gott,
• HFA: O Gott, rechne mit ihnen ab!

Expiation

To ‘Atone’ for

• Elberfelder: Lass sie büßen, Gott
• EÜ2016: Gott, lass sie dafür büße
• ZÜ: Lass sie büssen, Gott

To bear guilt

• ESV: Make them bear their guilt, O God
• NRSV: Make them bear their guilt, O God
• NJB: Lay the guilt on them, God

Condemning

Condemn

• NET: Condemn them, O God!
• GNT: Condemn and punish them, O God
• JPS: Condemn them, O God
• NVI: ¡Condénalos, oh Dios!

Declare Guilty

• NIV: Declare them guilty, O God!
• NLT: O God, declare them guilty.
• LUTHER2017: Sprich sie schuldig, Gott
• NGÜ: Sprich sie schuldig, o Gott!
• NFC: Dieu, déclare-les coupables ;

Other

• PDV2017: Ô Dieu, montre qu’ils sont coupables !

Secondary Literature

Dahood, Mitchell. 1966. Psalms. Vol. 1. Anchor Bible Commentary. New York: Doubleday.

Garr, Randall. Forthcoming. ‘Hiphil’ in The Oxford Grammar of Biblical Hebrew.

DCH= Clines, David J. A., ed. 1993–2016. Dictionary of Classical Hebrew. 9 vols. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix

Milgrom, Jacob. 1991. Leviticus 1–16. New York: Doubleday.

TLOT = Ernst Jenni and Claus Westermann, eds. 1971–76 (germ.); 1997 (eng.). Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament Translated by Mark E. Biddle. 3 vols. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.

References

5:11