The Text and Meaning of Ps. 34:18

Back to Psalm 34

Introduction

The traditional Hebrew text of Ps. 34:18 reads as follows:

צָעֲק֣וּ וַיהוָ֣ה שָׁמֵ֑עַ וּמִכָּל־צָ֝רוֹתָ֗ם הִצִּילָֽם׃

The subject of the 3mp verb צָעֲקוּ is ambiguous: "they cried out." Is the subject the "evildoers" from the previous verse (v. 17), or is it "the righteous" from the verse before (v. 16)? Some translations preserve the ambiguity: "they cried out." Most translations, however, specify the subject as "the righteous:" "the righteous cried out."

The issue involves not only identifying the subject of the verb, but also determining the original textual arrangement of vv. 16-17. The argument maps below will first address the textual issue: Does the MT preserve the correct arrangement of the verses, or should vv. 16 -17 be rearranged? Second, the argument maps will address the question of how best to interpret the MT: if we follow the arrangement of the MT, then who is the subject of the verb?

Argument Maps

Text

The first issue to be resolved is a textual issue. Many scholars have argued that vv. 16-17 should be rearranged such that v. 16 (the 'ayin verse) follows v. 17 (the pe verse). If the verses are rearranged in this way and v. 16 immediately precedes v. 18, then the subject of the verb in v. 18 is clearly "the righteous." The arguments for and against this view are as follows:

Vv. 16-17 rearranged

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[vv. 16-17 rearranged]: The פּ (v. 17) verse originally preceded the ע verse (v. 16) (Delitzsch :C:; Briggs :C:; Baethgen :C:; Gunkel :C:; Kraus :C:, BHS).
 + <Evildoers as subject of צָעֲקוּ?>: The current arrangement of the text suggests that "those who do evil" (עֹשֵׂי רָע) (v. 17) are the subject of "cried out" (צָעֲקוּ) in v. 18, and yet this would result in a contradiction with v. 17 and with the message of the psalm as a whole (Baethgen 1904:96 :C:).
  + [Contradiction with v. 17]: Verse 17 says that "those who do evil" (עֹשֵׂי רָע) are opposed by YHWH and completely destroyed (cf. v. 22).
  + [Clash with message of the psalm]: The psalm insists that it is the righteous (and not those who do evil) who experience YHWH's favor and protection (e.g., vv. 5, 7, 10, 11, 16, 20, 23).
 + <v. 16 --> v. 18>: Verse 18 ("they cried out, and YHWH heard") naturally follows v. 16 ("YHWH's ears are attentive to their cry for help").
 + <Pe-'ayin>: In David's day, the alphabet was written with the order pe-'ayin (First 2014 :A:).
  + <Biblical acrostics>: In several early biblical acrostics, pe precedes ayin.
   + [Lamentations 2-4]: In the MT, the three acrostic poems in Lam. 2-4 are arranged in the order pe-ayin (Lam 2:16-17; 3:46-51; 4:16-17).
   + [Prov. 31 (LXX)]: In the LXX, the acrostic poem in Prov. 31 reflects the pe-ayin order (Prov. 31:25-26; MT: עֹז... פִּ֭יהָ. LXX: στόμα... ἰσχὺν).
   + [Lam. 1 (4QLam)]: According to 4QLam, pe precedes 'ayin in the acrostic poem of Lam. 1.
  + <Ancient abecederies>: In every one of "the abecederies in the traditional aleph-bet scheme that have been discovered in ancient Israel that date from the period of the Judges and the First Temple and that span the letters ayin and pe... pe precedes ayin" (First 2014:476 :A:).
   + [Izbet Sartah ostracon]: An ostracon from Izbet Sartah (c. early 12th century BC) contains the alphabet written with pe before 'ayin (see Cross 1980 :A:).
    <_ [Many mistakes]: "Some, if not all, of its pecularities must be ascribed to error: the replacement of waw with mem and omission of waw, the interchange of het and zayin, the repetition of qop, and displacement of resh" (Cross 1980:13 :A:).#dispreferred
   + [Kuntillet 'Ajrud jar]: Three abecedaries on a jar from Kuntillet 'Ajrud (c. 800 BC) have the order pe-'ayin.
   + [Tel Zayit stone]: An abecedary from Tel Zayit (c. 10th century BC) "seems to follow the order of pe preceding 'ayin" (First 2014:475 :A:).
    <_ [Mistakes?]: "The Tel Zayit abecedary departs from the traditional order in three other instances: (1) waw precedes he, (2) het precedes zayin, and (3) lamed precedes kaf. As to the last, there is evidence that the author of the abecedary realized that this was a mistake" (First 2014:475 :A:).#dispreferred
   + [Additional ostracon]: An ostracon of unknown provenance (c. early 6th century BC) contains three abecederies in which pe precedes ayin.

vv. 16-17 not rearranged

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[vv. 16-17 not rearranged]:The original text of Psalm 34 contained the traditional ayin-pe order (Eriksson 1991 :M:).#dispreferred
 + <Textual witnesses>: The MT and all of the ancient versions (LXX, Peshitta, Jerome, Targum) have the traditional ayin-pe order. #dispreferred
 + <Ayin-pe>: Ayin-pe was the standard order of the Hebrew alphabet in David's time. #dispreferred
  + <Other acrostics>: Other acrostic psalms are arranged in the traditional ayin-pe order (Pss. 25; 111; 112; 119; 145). #dispreferred
    <_ <Pss. 111, 112, 119, 145>: The acrostics in the fifth book of the Psalter (Pss. 111, 112, 119, 145) are probably post-exilic, and the ayin-pe order became standard only after the exile (First 2014 :A:).
    <_ <Ps. 25>: The original pe-ayin order may have been rearranged also in MT Ps. 25. The text reads easily in either case (First 2014 :A:).
 + <Normal order makes sense>: "To read the verses in this order in Ps. 34 is fully intelligible" (Eriksson 1991:45 :M:). #dispreferred
  + <Antithetical parallelism>:"Verses 16 and 17 are... parallel, with at the same time a development and a contrast in v. 17 in relation to v. 16... If vv. 16f. are seen as an entity, containing an antithetical parallelism, this reversal of lines is not necessary at all" (Eriksson 1991:39 :M:). #dispreferred

Subject

If the arrangement of the MT is accepted as original, then the interpreter is left with the difficulty of determining the subject of the verb צָעֲקוּ in v. 18. Is the subject "the righteous" (v. 16) or "evildoers" (v. 17)? The arguments for and against each view are as follows:

Righteous

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["The righteous"]: The subject of צָעֲקוּ (v. 18) is "the righteous" mentioned in v. 16. (Radak :C:, Rashi :C:, Zenger 1993 :C:; Craigie 2004 :C:)
 + <Ancient versions>: The ancient versions understood "the righteous" as the subject of צָעֲקוּ.
  + [Ancient versions]: LXX (οἱ δίκαιοι), Peshitta (ܙܕܝܩ̈ܐ), Targum (צדיקייא).
 - <Distance>: "The righteous" are mentioned two verses prior (v. 16), whereas "evildoers" are mentioned in the immediately preceding verse (v. 17). The antecedent of the 3mp verb cannot, therefore, be "the righteous." #dispreferred
  - <vv. 16-17 as a unit>: Verses 16-17 constitute a unit, the topic of which is YHWH's treatment of "the righteous." Verse 18 begins a new unit and resumes this topic (cf. Eriksson 1991 :M:).
   + <Antithetical parallelism>: Verses 16-17 are antithetically parallel to one another (Eriksson 1991 :M:).
 + <Context>: The psalm insists that it is the righteous (and not those who do evil) who experience YHWH's favor and protection (e.g., vv. 5, 7, 10, 11, 16, 20, 23).

Evildoers

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["Evildoers"]:  The subject of צָעֲקוּ in v. 18 is "evildoers" mentioned in v. 17 (Ibn Ezra :C:). #dispreferred
 + <Proximity>: "Evildoers" are mentioned in the immediately preceding verse (v. 17) and are, therefore, the most likely subject of the 3mp verb צָעֲקוּ (v. 18). #dispreferred
 + <Verse 19>: The following verse (v. 19) says that YHWH is near to those with broken hearts (נִשְׁבְּרֵי־לֵב) and crushed spirits (דַּכְּאֵי־רוּחַ), and these phrases refer to people who are sorry for their sin (Ibn Ezra :C:). #dispreferred
  + [Sorrow for sin]: Ps. 51:19 – זִֽבְחֵ֣י אֱלֹהִים֮ ר֪וּחַ נִשְׁבָּ֫רָ֥ה לֵב־נִשְׁבָּ֥ר וְנִדְכֶּ֑ה אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים לֹ֣א תִבְזֶֽה #dispreferred
  - <Suffering>: These phrases can also describe people who are generally "oppressed, humbled" (HALOT :L:), who "suffer (emotional) pain" (DCH :L:).
 - <Evildoers as subject of צָעֲקוּ?>: To say that YHWH rescues "evildoers" from all their troubles would contradict v. 17 and the message of the psalm as a whole (Baethgen 1904:96 :C:).
  + [Contradiction with v. 17]: Verse 17 says that "those who do evil" (עֹשֵׂי רָע) are opposed by YHWH and completely destroyed (cf. v. 22).
  + [Clash with message of the psalm]: The psalm insists that it is the righteous (and not those who do evil) who experience YHWH's favor and protection (e.g., vv. 5, 7, 10, 11, 16, 20, 23).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the original arrangement of verses in Ps. 34:16-17 was probably pe-'ayin such that v. 17 originally preceded v. 16. This sequence of the alphabet is attested in Lamentations 2-4, LXX Proverbs 31, and in every pre-exilic Hebrew abecedary discovered to date. If this arrangement is posited for Psalm 34, then the difficulty of the ambiguous subject in v. 18a disappears entirely and the text flows much more naturally.

If this explanation is correct, then the rearrangement of Psalm 34 to fit the alphabetic sequence ayin-pe, which became standardized at a later period, probably occurred sometime between the end of the exile (5th century BC) and the translation of the LXX (c. 2nd century BC), the same time in which the MT-150 Psalter was compiled and completed. The textual evidence suggests that this final edited version of the Psalter probably included Psalm 34 in its rearranged form (ayin-pe). Whether or not a translation or edition should rearrange the text according to its original form will depend, in part, on whether the translation or edition aims to represent the text as it was composed by the author or the text as it was included in the final form of the Psalter. In either case, the subject of צָעֲקוּ ("they cried") is probably "the righteous."

Research

Translations

Ancient

• LXX: ἐκέκραξαν οἱ δίκαιοι, καὶ ὁ κύριος εἰσήκουσεν αὐτῶν
  • "The righteous cried, and the Lord listened to them."
• Peshitta: ܓܥܘ ܙܕܝܩ̈ܐ ܘܡܪܝܐ ܫܡܥ ܐܢܘܢ
  • "The righteous cried out, and the Lord heard them."
• Jerome: clamaverunt et Dominus exaudivit
• Targum: צליין צדיקייא וקדם ייי שמיע
  • The righteous pray, (and) before the Lord it is heard."

Modern

Righteous as subject

• The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth (KJV)
• When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears (RSV)
• The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them (NIV)
• When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears (ESV)
• The righteous call to the LORD, and he listens (GNT)
• The godly cry out and the LORD hears (NET)
• When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears (REB)
• The LORD hears his people when they call to him (NLT)
• When his people pray for help, he listens (CEV)
• Wenn die Gerechten schreien, so hört der HERR (LUT)
• Wenn aber rechtschaffene Menschen zu ihm rufen, hört er sie (HFA)
• Die aber nach dem Willen des HERRN leben, rufen zu ihm, und er hört sie (NGÜ)
• Doch wenn seine Treuen rufen, hört er sie (GNB)
• Schreien die Gerechten, hört es der HERR (ZÜR)
• Quand les justes crient, l'Éternel entend (NVS78P)
• Lorsque les hommes justes lancent leurs cris vers lui, l’Eternel les entend (BDS)
• Ceux qui lui obéissent, le Seigneur les entend quand ils crient (PDV)
• Dès que les justes appellent au secours, le Seigneur entend (NFC)
• Claman los justos, y Jehová oye (RVR95)
• Los justos claman, el Señor los oye (NVI)
• El Señor atiende al clamor del hombre honrado (DHH94I)

Ambiguous subject ("they")

• They cry in anguish and YHWH hears (NJB)
• They cry out and the Lord hears (JPS85)
• Sie schreien, und der HERR hört (ELB)
• Die aufschrien, hat der HERR erhört (EÜ)
• Ils crient, le SEIGNEUR entend (TOB)
• Quand ils crient, le Seigneur entend (NBS)

"Men" as subject

• When men cry for help, the Lord hears them (NEB)

References

34:18 Approved