The Text, Grammar, and Meaning of Ps 89:51b

Introduction

Psalm 89:51, according to the MT, reads as follows:

זְכֹ֣ר אֲ֭דֹנָי חֶרְפַּ֣ת עֲבָדֶ֑יךָ

שְׂאֵתִ֥י בְ֝חֵיקִ֗י כָּל־רַבִּ֥ים עַמִּֽים׃

The first line of this verse presents few difficulties: "Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servants." The second line is much more difficult. One translation succinctly summarizes the situation in a footnote: "End of v. 51: unclear text, uncertain translation." The verse has been interpreted in a variety of ways, as the following modern translations illustrate:

• Remember that I carry in my bosom the whole multitude of peoples (NBS)
• [Remember] how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people (KJV)
• [Remember] how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples (NRSV)

The issue is primarily textual. The NBS, KJV, and others follow the MT and read the text as "the whole multitude" or "all the mighty people," lit: "all the many peoples" (כָּל־רַבִּים עַמִּים), while the NRSV and others emend the text to read "the insults of the peoples" (כָּל־רִבֵי עַמִּים or כָּל־רִבֵי מֵעַמִּים or some other variation). Yet the issue is also semantic and syntactic, for even those who follow the MT disagree on how to interpret it. The NBS, for example, understands the line to refer to how the psalmist carries (i.e., cares for) a multitude of people, while the KJV thinks that the words "the reproach of" are elided from the previous line.

Argument Maps

Carry all the many peoples

Some translations that follow the MT and read כָּל־רַבִּים עַמִּים understand this phrase as the object of the verb "carry" (שְׂאֵתִי) and thus a reference to the many people who are in the psalmist's care. E.g., "Remember that I carry in my bosom the whole multitude of peoples" (cf. NBS) >> "[Think of] all the people in my care" (cf. TOB). This view is especially common among the French translations we consulted (NBS, TOB, S21, NFC, NVS78P, PDV2017, BDS).

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[Carry peoples]: In v. 51b, the psalmist asks YHWH to remember how he carries all the many peoples in his bosom, i.e., how they are entrusted to his care. #dispreferred
 + <Attested figure of speech>: The figure of speech "carrying a people in one's bosom" (= taking care of them) is also found in Num 11:12. #dispreferred
  + [Num 11:12]: "Did I conceive all this people (כָּל־הָעָם הַזֶּה)? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom (שָׂאֵהוּ בְחֵיקֶךָ), as a nurse carries a nursing child’?" (Num 11:12, ESV). #dispreferred
  <_ <Not coherent>: It does not make any sense in this context to say that the Israelite king cares for all the many Gentile nations in his bosom (cf. Baethgen 1904, 279 :C:).
   - <Israel>: The phrase "all the many peoples" refers not to the Gentile nations, but to Israel as a vast nation consisting of multiple tribes.#dispreferred
    + <Judg 5:14>: The plural עֵמִּים is used to refer to Israel in Judges 5:14.#dispreferred
     + [Judg 5:14]: "Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples (בַּֽעֲמָמֶיךָ)" (Judg 5:14, NASB).#dispreferred
 + <King speaking>: The first-person speaker in v. 51b is probably the king, and it makes sense for the king to say that he cares for many people (i.e., the people under his rule).#dispreferred
   <_ <All the many peoples>: It is unlikely that "the people of God over whom David ruled would be designated as 'all the many/great peoples'" (Le Dieu, cited in Poole 1678, 1071 :C:).
    -> <Israel>
 + <כָּל־רַבִּים עַמִּים>: The earliest recoverable form of the text reads: "all the many peoples" (כָּל־רַבִּים עַמִּים) (Barthélemy 2005, 633-635 :M:).#dispreferred
  + <Manuscripts and ancient versions>: The reading כָּל־רַבִּים עַמִּים is found in some of our earliest and best witnesses to the text.#dispreferred
   + [Manuscripts and ancient versions]: MT: כָּל־רַבִּ֥ים עַמִּֽים; LXX: πολλῶν ἐθνῶν; Symmachus: πάντων πολλῶν ἐθνῶν (cf. Targum: כל גידופיהון דסגיעין עממין).#dispreferred
    - <LXX minus>: The LXX has no equivalent of רַבִּים (= πάντων) in its text. It appears to have read simply כָּל עַמִּים.
     - <Stylistic abbreviation>: The LXX translator probably read כָּל־רַבִּים עַמִּים but abbreviated his translation for stylistic reasons (Barthélemy 2005, 633-635 :M:).#dispreferred
  - <רַבִּים + כֹּל>: It does not make sense for the modifiers "many" and "all" to modify the same noun: "all many peoples."
   - <Ezek 31:6>: There is a clear example רַבִּים and כֹּל modifying the noun "nations" in Ezekiel 31:6 (cf. Barthélemy 2005, 635 :M:).#dispreferred
    + [Ezek 31:6]: כֹּ֖ל גּוֹיִ֥ם רַבִּֽים #dispreferred
     <_ <Word order>: In this example, רַבִּים follows the noun in modifies, whereas in Ps 89:51, it precedes it.
  - <Word order רַבִּים>: In Hebrew, "the position of the adjective is normally after the noun" (JM §141b :G:). It is not grammatical, then, for רַבִּים to precede עַמִּים. Instead, we would have expected the text to say כָּל עַמִּים רַבִּים. 
   <_ <רַבִּים exceptional>: The adjective רַבִּים is exceptional in this manner; sometimes it precedes the noun that it modifies (see JM §141b :G:). #dispreferred
    + [רַבִּים exceptional]: E.g., Jer 16:16 (לְרַבִּים צַיָּדִים); Prov 7:26; 31:29; Neh 9:28; 1 Chr 28:5 (see JM §141b :G:). #dispreferred

Carry [the scorn of] all the many peoples

Other translations that follow the MT and read כָּל־רַבִּים עַמִּים think that some word for "scorn" or "reproach" or "insults" is elided in this clause. E.g., "[Remember] how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people" (KJV, cf. ESV). The KJV clearly reads כָּל־רַבִּים עַמִּים ("all the many/mighty peoples"), but it adds "the reproach of" in italics. The italics inidcate that the Hebrew text lacks this phrase. Similarly, the Spanish translation BTX4 thinks that the word "reproach" is elided from the previous clause: "Remember, Adonai, the reproach of your servants, the reproach that I carry in my bosom from all the many peoples." In a footnote, it says that "reproach is inserted to fill in the elipsis of the original." The German translation ELB sees the elision in a slightly different way: "In my breast I carry all the many peoples ⟨with their scorn⟩." The commonality of all these translations, however, is that they see the notion of "scorn" elided in this clause, and they understand the whole clause as being about how the psalmist bears the scorn of the nations.

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[Carry scorn of peoples]: We should understand the text to say: "how I carry in my bosom \[the scorn\] of all the many peoples." The word "scorn" is elided (cf. Radak :C:; Malbim :C:; de Dieu, cited in Poole 1678, 1071 :C:).#dispreferred
 + <"Scorn" in the context>: The emphatic presence of "scorn" in the surrounding lines (vv. 51a, 52ab) makes it easily accessible to the reader and thus the best candidate for an elided constituent in v. 51b.#dispreferred
  + <Previous line>: The word "scorn" (חֶרְפַּת) occurred in the previous line.#dispreferred
   + [Previous line]: "Remember, Lord, the scorn of (חֶרְפַּת) your servants," #dispreferred
    <_ <Different semantics>: The elision of "scorn of" (חֶרְפַּת) in the b-line would require that it have a different meaning than it does in the a-line. In the a-line, the phrase "scorn of your servants" refers to the scorn that your servants *receive*, whereas in the b-line, the phrase "\[scorn of\] all the many nations" would refer to the scorn that the nations *give*.
  + <Following lines (v. 52)>: The following verse emphasizes the concept of "scorn," repeating the verb "scorn" (חֵרְפוּ) twice (cf. de Dieu, cited in Poole 1678, 1071 :C:).#dispreferred
   + [Following lines (v. 52)]: "with which your enemies have scorned (חֵרְפוּ), YHWH, with which they have scorned (חֵרְפוּ) the footsteps of your anointed one!" #dispreferred
 - <Noun-phrase elipsis>: Although the elipsis of verbs is common in biblical Hebrew poetry (cf. Miller 2003 :A:), the elipsis of noun phrases is rare, and examples are "difficult to find" (Holmstedt 2021, 88 :A:).
  <_ <Amos 1:3>: There are some examples, e.g., Amos 1:3 (Holmstedt 2021, 88 :A:).#dispreferred
   + [Amos 1:3]: "For three transgressions of Damascus (עַל־שְׁלֹשָׁה֙ פִּשְׁעֵ֣י דַמֶּ֔שֶׂק), / and for four, I will not revoke the punishment (וְעַל־אַרְבָּעָ֖ה לֹ֣א אֲשִׁיבֶ֑נּוּ)" (Amos 1:3, ESV).#dispreferred
 + <Attested figure of speech>: The notion of "scorn" (חֶרְפָּה) being in someone's "bosom" (חֵיק) is a figure of speech found elsewhere in the Psalter.#dispreferred
  + [Ps 79:12]: "Return sevenfold into the lap (חֵיקָם) of our neighbors the taunts (חֶרְפָּתָם) with which they have taunted you, O Lord!" (Ps 79:12, ESV).#dispreferred
 + <כָּל־רַבִּים עַמִּים>: The earliest recoverable form of the text reads: "all the many peoples" (כָּל־רַבִּים עַמִּים) (Barthélemy 2005, 633-635 :M:).#dispreferred
  + <Manuscripts and ancient versions>: The reading כָּל־רַבִּים עַמִּים is found in some of our earliest and best witnesses to the text.#dispreferred
   + [Manuscripts and ancient versions]: MT: כָּל־רַבִּ֥ים עַמִּֽים; LXX: πολλῶν ἐθνῶν; Symmachus: πάντων πολλῶν ἐθνῶν (cf. Targum: כל גידופיהון דסגיעין עממין).#dispreferred
    - <LXX minus>: The LXX has no equivalent of רַבִּים (= πάντων) in its text. It appears to have read simply כָּל עַמִּים.
     - <Stylistic abbreviation>: The LXX translator probably read כָּל־רַבִּים עַמִּים but abbreviated his translation for stylistic reasons (Barthélemy 2005, 633-635 :M:).#dispreferred
  - <רַבִּים + כֹּל>: It does not make sense for the modifiers "many" and "all" to modify the same noun: "all many peoples."
   - <Ezek 31:6>: There is a clear example רַבִּים and כֹּל modifying the noun "nations" in Ezekiel 31:6 (cf. Barthélemy 2005, 635 :M:).#dispreferred
    + [Ezek 31:6]: כֹּ֖ל גּוֹיִ֥ם רַבִּֽים #dispreferred
     <_ <Word order>: In this example, רַבִּים follows the noun in modifies, whereas in Ps 89:51, it precedes it.
  - <Word order רַבִּים>: In Hebrew, "the position of the adjective is normally after the noun" (JM §141b :G:). It is not grammatical, then, for רַבִּים to precede עַמִּים. Instead, we would have expected the text to say כָּל עַמִּים רַבִּים. 
   <_ <רַבִּים exceptional>: The adjective רַבִּים is exceptional in this manner; sometimes it precedes the noun that it modifies (see JM §141b :G:). #dispreferred
    + [רַבִּים exceptional]: E.g., Jer 16:16 (לְרַבִּים צַיָּדִים); Prov 7:26; 31:29; Neh 9:28; 1 Chr 28:5 (see JM §141b :G:). #dispreferred

Carry all the insults of the peoples (כָּל־רִבֵי [מ]עַמִּים) (preferred)

Most of the translations we consulted choose to emend the text. The NEB/REB, for example, says, "[Remember] how I have borne in my heart the calumnies of the nations." The translation then has a footnote saying "prob. rdg.; Heb. all of many peoples." In a supplementary volume (Brockington 1973), the NEB/REB translators make clear that the text they are reading is כָּל־רִבֵי מֵעַמִּים. The consonants are the same as MT, but the words have been redivided and revocalized; the mem at the end of רבים has been moved to the beginning of עמים. Many other translations reflect a similar interpretation, though they do not clarify exactly what Hebrew text they are reading (cf. NIV, NRSV, CEB, NET, GNT, NLT, CEV, NJB, NGÜ, EÜ, GNB, ZÜR, HFA, RVR95, NIV, DHH94I). In addition to the reading of the NEB/REB, other interpreters have suggested emending the text to כָּל־רִבֵי עַמִּים or כָּל־רִבֵי־ם עַמִּים (with enclitic mem). All of these emendations result in the same basic meaning (some form of the plural construct form רִיבֵי), and so all will be dealt with in the same argument map.

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[Carry insults of peoples]: The earliest recoverable form of the text read: "all the insults of the peoples" (כָּל־רִבֵי עַמִּים) or something very similar.
 + <Ancient versions>: Some of the ancient versions appear to have read כָּל־רִבֵי עַמִּים.
  + [Ancient versions]: Aquila: πάσας ἀδι̣κίας λαῶν; Quinta: πάσας τὰς ἀδικίας τῶν ἐ̣θνῶν; Jerome (iuxta Hebr.): omnes iniquitates populorum; Peshitta: ܟܠܗ ܪܢܝܗܘܢ ܕܥܡ̈ܡܐ.
 + <Context>: The noun רִיב makes good sense in the context.
  + <Parallelism>: רִיב is a natural parallel to the word חֶרְפָּה in the previous line.
   + [רִיב / חֶרְפָּה]: E.g., Ps 74:22 (רִיבֶךָ / חֶרְפָּת‏ְךָ); cf. 1 Sam 25:39 (רִיב חֶרְפָּת‏ִי).
 + <רִיבֵי עַמִּים>: The same phrase רִיבֵי עַמִּים occurs in Ps 18:44.
  + [Ps 18:44]: "You have delivered me from the attacks of the people (מֵרִיבֵי עָם)" (Ps 18:44, NIV). On the emendation of עָם to עַמִּים in this verse, see our note on this verse.
 - <Mem>: The reading כָּל־רִבֵי עַמִּים is unable to explain how the mem (in רבים) entered the textual tradition.#dispreferred
  <_ <Enclitic mem>: The mem was in the text from the beginning, but it is an enclitic mem (a particle that sometimes appears to occur at the end of the first noun in a construct chain) (cf. IBHS §9.8c :G:). Thus, we should read the text as כָּל־רִבֵי־ם עַמִּים ("all the insults of the peoples").
   + <Examples of enclicit mem>: There are several classic cases where an enclitic mem is used "to separate a construct from its dependent genitive" (Cohen 2004, 260 :A:)
    + [Examples of enclicit mem]: Deut 33:11—מְחַץ מָתְנֵי־מַ קָמָיו = מְחַץ מָתְנַיִם קָמָיו (cf. Gen 14:6; Isa 10:1; Ezek 22:18; see Cohen 2004 :A:).
  <_ <Preposition>: The mem was in the text from the beginning, but it is a min preposition prefixed to עַמִּים. Thus, we should read the text as כָּל־רִבֵי מֵעַמִּים ("all the insults from the peoples") (Brockington 1973, 145 :M:).
   + [רִיב with מִן preposition]: Cf. Ps 43:1—וְרִיבָה רִיבִי מִגֹּוי
   - <Prepositional phrase in construct chain>: In Hebrew, it is unusual to find a prepositional phrase like מֵעַמִּים embedded within a construct chain.#dispreferred
    <_ <Exceptions>: "The construct state is found not only before a noun... but sometimes also before... a preposition," including a prefixed min preposition (JM §129l-n :G:).
     + [Construct + min preposition]: E.g., Jer 23:23 (אֱלֹהֵי מִקָּרֹב); Ezek 13:2 (לִנְבִיאֵי מִלִּבָּם); Hos 7:5 (חֲמַת מִיָּיִן).

Conclusion (B)

The reading "all the insults of the peoples" is probably the earlier reading. Specifically, we prefer to read the text as כָּל־רִבֵי מֵעַמִּים ("all the insults from the peoples") (so NEB, REB). Some early versions appear to support this (if not a similar) reading (e.g., Aquila, Quinta, Jerome, Peshitta). This reading also explains the reading of the MT (a redivision of the words), and it makes sense in the context. The word "quarrel," "insult," or "indictment" (רִיב) is a good parallel for the word "reproach" (חֶרְפָּה) in the parallel line (cf. Ps 74:22; 1 Sam 25:39), and the phrase "indictments of the peoples" (רִיבֵי עַמִּים) occurs also in Ps 18:44. One potential objection to this interpretation is the fact that it is somewhat rare to find a prepositional phrase like מֵעַמִּים embedded within a construct chain. We might have expected either כָּל־רִבֵי עַמִּים or כָּל־רִבִים מֵעַמִּים. But there are many examples of prepositional phrases embedded within construct chains (cf JM §129l-n), including min prepositional phrases (e.g., Jer 23:23; Ezek 13:2; Hos 7:5). In conclusion, then, we have interpreted v. 51 as follows:

Remember, Lord, how your servants are scorned

[Remember] how I carry in my heart all the indictments from the peoples.

Research

Translations

Ancient

• LXX: μνήσθητι, κύριε, τοῦ ὀνειδισμοῦ τῶν δούλων σου, οὗ ὑπέσχον ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ μου, πολλῶν ἐθνῶν
  • Remember, O Lord, the reproach against your slaves which I bore in my bosom, from many nations.
• Aquila: μ̣νήσ̣θητι κ̅ε̣̅ ὀνει̣δισμο̣ῦ δού̣λων σο̣υ αἵροντός μου ἐν κόλπ(ῳ) πάσας ἀδι̣κίας λαῶν·
  • Remember, O Lord, the reproach against your slaves, my taking up in [my] bosom all injustices of peoples.
• Symmachus: μνημόνευσον κ̅ε̅ τὸν̣ ὄνειδον τῶν δούλων σου ὃν ἐβάστασα ἐντ(ῷ) κόλπῳ μου πάντων πολλῶν ἐθνῶν
  • Remember, O Lord, the reproach against your slaves, which I carried in my bosom from all many nations.
• Quinta: μνήσθητι κ̅ε̅ τοῦ ὀνειδισμοῦ τῶν δούλων σου οὗ ὑπέσχ(ον) ἐν τ(ῷ) κόλπ(ῳ) μου πάσας τὰς ἀδικίας τῶν ἐ̣θνῶν
  • Remember, O Lord, the reproach against your slaves, how I bore in my bosom all the injustices of the nations.
• Jerome (iuxta Hebr.): recordare Domine obprobrii servorum tuorum quia portavi in sinu meo omnes iniquitates populorum
  • Remember, O Lord, the reproach of your servants, for I have carried in my bosom all the iniquities of the people.
• Targum: אידכר ייי חיסודא דעבדך סוברית בעטפי כל גידופיהון דסגיעין עממין׃
  • Remember, O LORD, the reproach of your servant; I have borne in my bosom all the revilements of many peoples
• Peshitta: ܐܬܕܟܪ ܡܪܝܐ ܚܣܕܗ ܕܥܒܕܟ܂ ܕܫܩܠܬ ܒܚ̈ܝܝ ܟܠܗ ܪܢܝܗܘܢ ܕܥܡ̈ܡܐ܂
  • Remember, O Lord, the reproach of your servant, for I have carried during my life all the cares of the people.

Modern

Carrying insults

Emendation

• [Remember] how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations (NIV)
• [Remember] how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples (NRSV)
• Remember how I bear in my heart all the insults of the nations (CEB)
• [Take note] of how I must bear so many insults from people (NET)
• [Don't forget] how I endure all the curses of the heathen (GNT)
• [Remember] how I have borne in my heart the calumnies of the nations (NEB and REB)
• I carry in my heart the insults of so many people (NLT)
• I suffer many insults (CEV)
• I take to heart the taunts of the nations (NJB)
• Mein Herz ist schwer durch den Hohn der Nachbarvölker! (NGÜ)
• im Innern brennt mir der Hohn der Völker (EÜ)
• Ich muss den Hohn vieler Völker ertragen (GNB)
• [Bedenke...] dass ich in meiner Brust trage den Hohn der Völkerdass ich in meiner Brust trage den Hohn der Völker (ZÜR)
• Ich leide darunter, dass die Völker uns verachten! (HFA)
• [Acuérdate del] oprobio de muchos pueblos, que llevo en mi seno (RVR95)
• [Recuerda] que llevo en mi pecho los insultos de muchos pueblos (NVI)
• [Recuerda] que llevo esos insultos en mi pecho (DHH94I)

Elision

• [die Schmach] die ich trage in meiner Brust von all den vielen Völkern (LUT)
• [the abuse] that I have borne in my bosom [from] many peoples (NJPS)
• Oprobio que llevo en mi seno de parte de todos, los muchos pueblos (BTX4)
• In meiner Brust trage ich all die vielen Völker ⟨mit ihrem Hohn⟩ (ELB)
• and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations (ESV?)

Carrying peoples

• Souviens-toi que je porte sur mon sein toute la multitude des peuples (NBS)
• Souviens-toi que j'ai la charge de tous ces peuples nombreux! (S21)
• Souviens-toi que je porte la charge de tous ces gens (NFC)
• (Souviens-toi que) je porte en mon sein tous les peuples nombreux (NVS78P)
• [Souviens-toi] de tout ce peuple qui m’est confié (PDV2017)
• et pense à ces nombreux peuples dont je suis chargé (BDS)
• [Pense] à tout ce peuple dont j'ai la charge (TOB)

Secondary Literature

Barthélemy, Dominique. 2005. Critique textuelle de l’Ancien Testament 4: Psaumes. Edited by Norbert Lohfink. Orbis biblicus et orientalis, 50,4. Fribourg/Suisse: Academic Press.

Brockington, L. H. 1973. The Hebrew Text of the Old Testament: The Readings Adopted by the Translators of the New English Bible.

Cohen, Chaim. 2004. “The Enclitic-Mem in Biblical Hebrew: Its Existence and Initial Discovery.” In Sefer Moshe: The Moshe Weinfeld Jubilee Volume: Studies in the Bible and the Ancient Near East, Qumran, and Post-Biblical Judaism, 231–260. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.

Holmstedt, Robert. 2021. “Investigating Ellipsis in Biblical Hebrew.” In Linguistic Studies on Biblical Hebrew, edited by Robert Holmstedt, 84–102. Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics 102. Leiden; Boston: Brill.

Malbim on Psalms.

Miller, Cynthia L. 2003. “A Linguistic Approach to Ellipsis in Biblical Poetry: (Or, What to Do When Exegesis of What Is There Depends on What Isn’t).” Bulletin for Biblical Research 13 (2): 251–70.

Poole, Matthew. 1678. Synopsis criticorum aliorumque sacrae scripturae. Vol. 2: a Jobi ad Canticum Canticorum.

Radak on Psalms.

References

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