Introduction

The Masoretic Text of Psalm 30:13 reads as follows:^[1]

לְמַ֤עַן ׀ יְזַמֶּרְךָ֣ כָ֭בוֹד וְלֹ֣א יִדֹּ֑ם

יְהוָ֥ה אֱ֝לֹהַ֗י לְעוֹלָ֥ם אוֹדֶֽךָּ׃

The first line of this verse has been interpreted in various ways, which reflect different understandings of the syntactic function of the word כָּבוֹד, as illustrated by the following modern translations:

"that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent" (ESV)
"Therefore, I will sing to you, my glory, and I will not be silent" (RVR 95)^[2]
"Therefore, with all my heart I will not stop celebrating your glory with my songs" (NFC)^[3]

The ESV understands the word כָּבוֹד as the grammatical subject and supplies the possessive modifier "my glory." The RVR 95 understands כָּבוֹד as a vocative and also supplies the possessive modifier. The NFC understands כָּבוֹד as the grammatical object and supplies the possessive modifier "your glory."^[4]

We evaluate these different possibilities in the following argument maps.

Argument Maps

Most ancient and modern translations interpret כָּבוֹד as the grammatical subject, illustrated by the ESV: "that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent."

כָּבוֹד as the grammatical subject


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[Grammatical subject]: The word כָּבוֹד should be understood as the grammatical subject of the clause לְמַ֤עַן ׀ יְזַמֶּרְךָ֣ כָ֭בוֹד (Giqatilah :C:; Saadia :C:; Delitzsch 1871, 379 :C:; Briggs & Briggs 1906, 257 :C:; Krinetzki 1961, 436 :A:; Kraus 1993, 353 :C:; Craigie 2004, 251 :C:; Goldingay 2006, 424 :C:; Jacobson & Tanner 2014, 292 :C:).#dispreferred
 <_ <Suffix>: No suffix. 
  - <Haplography>: Haplography with the following waw (Krinetzki 1961, 436 :A:).
   - <Late>: The letters yod and waw are not similar in paleo Hebrew script.
  - <LXX>: The LXX has "my." #dispreferred
   - <Translation technique>: Unlikely Vorlage.
    <_ <Context>: Just as in the LXX, "The 'my' is supplied from the context" (Goldingay 2006, 424 :C:).#dispreferred
 + <Literary structure>: The word כָּבוֹד is essentially נֶפֶשׁ (see the parallelism in Ps 7:6), such that its praise should be contrasted with the inability for dust (עָפָר) to praise (cf. v. 10; Radak :C:; cf. Ibn Ezra :C:; Malbim :C:). #dispreferred

כָּבוֹד as a vocative

Some understand כָּבוֹד as a vocative, such as the RVR 95: "Therefore, I will sing to you, my glory, and I will not be silent."^[5]


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[Vocative]: The word כָּבוֹד should be understood as a vocative in the clause לְמַ֤עַן ׀ יְזַמֶּרְךָ֣ כָ֭בוֹד (xxx).#dispreferred
 + <Supporting argument>: This is a supporting argument that another scholar has made (NAME DATE, PAGE :C:).

כָּבוֹד as grammatical object (preferred)

Some interpret כָּבוֹד as the grammatical object, such as the NFC: "Therefore, with all my heart I will not stop celebrating your glory with my songs."^[6]


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[Grammatical object]: The word כָּבוֹד should be understood as the grammatical object of the clause לְמַ֤עַן ׀ יְזַמֶּרְךָ֣ כָ֭בוֹד (Hitzig 1863, 171 :C:; Ḥakham 1979, 164 :C:; Loader 2003, 300 :A:; Böhler 2021, 537 :C:; Sommer 2022, 174 :A:).

Conclusion

Research

Translations

Ancient

LXX: ὅπως ἂν ψάλῃ σοι ἡ δόξα μου καὶ οὐ μὴ κατανυγῶ·^[7]
- "so that my glory may make music to you and I shall not be stunned."^[8]
Secunda: λα̣μαν ιζαμ̇με̇ρεχ χαβωδ οὐλω ιαδομ
- למען יזמרך כבוד ולא ידם
Aquila: ὅπως μελῳδήσηι σοι δόξα καὶ οὐ σιωπήσει.^[9]
Aquila:^[10] ὅπως μελῳδήσω σοι δόξαν καὶ οὐ σιωπήσει.^[11]
- "so that I will sing to you glory and it will not be silent."
Symmachus: ἵνα ᾄδῃ σε δόξα καὶ μὴ ἀποσιωπήσῃ.^[12]
- "so that glory will sing to you and will not be silent."
Quinta: ὅπως ψάλη σοι δόξα καὶ οὐ μὴ σιωπήσει.^[13]
- "so that glory will sing to you and will not be silent."
Theodotion: ἵνα ᾄδῃ σε δόξα καὶ μὴ ἀποσιωπήσῃ.^[14]
- "so that glory will sing to you and will not be silent."
Iuxta Hebraeos: ut laudet te gloria et non taceat
- "so that glory might praise you and not be silent"
Peshitta: ܡܛܠ ܗܢܐ ܐܙܡܪ ܠܟ ܫܘܒܚܐ ܘܠܐ ܐܫܬܘܩ ^[15]
- "Therefore I will sing praise to you and not be silent."^[16]
Targum: מן בגלל דישבחון יקירי עלמא ולא ישתקון ^[17]
- "that the honored ones of the world may praise you and not be silent."^[18]

Modern

כָּבוֹד as the grammatical subject

"glory" with suffix supplied

that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent (ESV; cf. KJV, NABRE)
afin que ma gloire te chante, que je ne sois pas muet. (NBS)

כָּבוֹד as "being"

that [my] whole being might sing hymns to You endlessly (RJPS; cf. CEB)
That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent (NASB)
So now my heart will sing to you and not be silent (NET; cf. NIV)
Ainsi mon cœur chante tes louanges et ne reste pas muet (SG21)
so that my well-being can praise you and not be silent (CJB)
damit meine Seele dich besingt und nicht schweigt (ELB)
damit mein Herz dir singe und nicht verstumme (ZÜR)
Aussi, l'âme te chante sans répit (TOB)

כָּבוֹד as interchangeable with personal pronoun

that I may sing psalms to you without ceasing (REB; cf. CSB)
dass ich dir lobsinge und nicht stille werde (LUT)
Alors je chanterai pour toi et je ne me tairai pas (PDV)

כָּבוֹד as a vocative

Por tanto, a ti cantaré, gloria mía, y no estaré callado (RVR 95)^[19]

כָּבוֹד as grammatical object

damit man dir Herrlichkeit singt und nicht verstummt (EÜ)
Alors, de tout mon cœur je n'en finirai pas de célébrer ta gloire par mes chants (NFC)

Secondary Literature

Böhler, Dieter. 2021. Psalmen 1–50. Freiburg, Basel, Wien: Herder Verlag.

Briggs, Charles A. & Briggs, Emilie G. 1906-1907. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Psalms. New York, NY: C. Scribner’s Sons.

Craigie, Peter C. 2004. Psalms 1–50. Second edition. Nashville, TN: Nelson.

Delitzsch, Franz. 1871. Biblical Commentary on the Psalms: Vol. 1. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.

Giqatilah, Moshe. Commentary on the Psalms. Cited in Ibn Ezra on Psalms.

Goldingay John. 2006. Psalms 1–41. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

Ḥakham, Amos. 1979. The Book of Psalms: Books 1–2 (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Mossad Harav Kook.

Hitzig, Ferdinand. 1863. Die Psalmen: übersetzt und ausgelegt. Leipzig und Heidelberg: C. F. Winterische Verlagshandlung.

Ibn Ezra. Ibn Ezra on Psalms.

Jacobson, Rolf A. & Tanner, Beth. 2014. “Book One of the Psalter: Psalms 1–41,” in The Book of Psalms (NICOT). Grand Rapids, MI; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Kraus, Hans-Joachim, 1993. A Continental Commentary: Psalms 1–59. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.

Krinetzki, Leo. "Psalm 30 (29): in stilistisch-exegetischer Betrachtung," Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie 83.3: 345–360.

Loader, James A. 2003. "Psalm 30 read twice and understood two times," OTE 16.2: 291–308.

Malbim. Malbim on Psalms.

Radak. Radak on Psalms.

Saadia = Qafaḥ, Yosef. 1965. The Psalms with Translation and Commentary of Saadia Gaon (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: The American Academy for Jewish Research (האקדימיה האמריקאנית למדעי היהדות).

Sommer, Benjamin D. 2022. "Form and Flexibility: A Commentary on Psalm 30." Pages 150–180 in David gavra tava. Festschrift in honor of David Marcus. Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society: Special Supplement. New York, NY: Jewish Theological Seminary.

References

30:13

↑ Text from OSHB.
↑ Por tanto, a ti cantaré, gloria mía, y no estaré callado.
↑ Alors, de tout mon cœur je n'en finirai pas de célébrer ta gloire par mes chants.
↑ This position is similar to that proposed by Sommer (2022, 174), "So that someone sings 'Glory!' to you" and Alter (1985, 133) "So that glory be sung to you."
↑ Por tanto, a ti cantaré, gloria mía, y no estaré callado.
↑ Alors, de tout mon cœur je n'en finirai pas de célébrer ta gloire par mes chants.
↑ Rahlfs 1931, 123.
↑ NETS.
↑ Ra 264, 1098.
↑ Cod. 264.
↑ Field 1885, 131.
↑ Ra 264, 1098.
↑ Ra 264, 1098.
↑ [1].
↑ CAL
↑ Taylor 2020, 105.
↑ CAL
↑ Stec 2004, 69.
↑ The RVC is similar, though seems to read כָּבוֹד as modifying the verbal suffix: "para que cante salmos a tu gloria"

[1] Text from OSHB.

[2] Por tanto, a ti cantaré, gloria mía, y no estaré callado.

[3] Alors, de tout mon cœur je n'en finirai pas de célébrer ta gloire par mes chants.

[4] This position is similar to that proposed by Sommer (2022, 174), "So that someone sings 'Glory!' to you" and Alter (1985, 133) "So that glory be sung to you."

[5] Por tanto, a ti cantaré, gloria mía, y no estaré callado.

[6] Alors, de tout mon cœur je n'en finirai pas de célébrer ta gloire par mes chants.

[7] Rahlfs 1931, 123.

[8] NETS.

[9] Ra 264, 1098.

[10] Cod. 264.

[11] Field 1885, 131.

[12] Ra 264, 1098.

[13] Ra 264, 1098.

[14] [1].

[15] CAL

[16] Taylor 2020, 105.

[17] CAL

[18] Stec 2004, 69.

[19] The RVC is similar, though seems to read כָּבוֹד as modifying the verbal suffix: "para que cante salmos a tu gloria"

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The Text and Meaning of Psalm 30:13a

Contents

Introduction

Argument Maps

כָּבוֹד as the grammatical subject

כָּבוֹד as a vocative

כָּבוֹד as grammatical object (preferred)

Conclusion

Research

Translations

Ancient

Modern

כָּבוֹד as the grammatical subject

"glory" with suffix supplied

כָּבוֹד as "being"

כָּבוֹד as interchangeable with personal pronoun

כָּבוֹד as a vocative

כָּבוֹד as grammatical object

Secondary Literature

References