The Text and Meaning of Psalm 30:8a

Introduction

The Masoretic Text of Psalm 30:8 reads as follows:

יְֽהוָ֗ה בִּרְצוֹנְךָ֮  הֶעֱמַ֪דְתָּה לְֽהַרְרִ֫י עֹ֥ז

הִסְתַּ֥רְתָּ פָנֶ֗יךָ הָיִ֥יתִי נִבְהָֽל׃

One scholar has recently noted that "The first line found in this verse is extremely difficult." This difficulty is illustrated by the distinction found in the following two translations:

• for You, O ETERNAL One, when You were pleased, made [me] firm as a mighty mountain (RJPS)
• LORD, by your favour you made my mountain strong (REB)

The RJPS provides the object (in brackets) "me," which is not present in the MT, and translates the MT's לְֽהַרְרִ֫י עֹ֥ז "as a mighty mountain." The REB, on the other hand, understands "strength" (עֹז) as the grammatical object and reflects the common interpretation of the MT's לְֽהַרְרִ֫י עֹ֥ז as "strength for my mountain."

We consider these two possibilities in the following argument maps.

Argument Maps

Object drop

A number of translations and commentators supply the expected object "me," such as the RJPS: "for You, O ETERNAL One, when You were pleased, made [me] firm as a mighty mountain." This view also requires various solutions for the MT's לְֽהַרְרִ֫י.

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[Object drop]: The object "me" should be supplied consonants להררי עז should be read as לְהַרְרֵי עֹז "mountains of strength" (Saadia :C:; Moshe Giqatilah :C:;  GKC §90n :G:; Kraus 1993, 352 :C:; Craigie 2004, 251 :C:).#dispreferred
 + <Manuscripts>: This is compatible with Babylonian manuscripts BL Or 2373 and JTS 611, which contain the vocalization לְהַרְרֵי "mountains of." #dispreferred
  <_ <Ancient witnesses>: Most vocalized manuscripts, as well as ancient witnesses such as the Secunda, attest to the î suffix, not the ê plural construct ending.
   + [Secunda]: See, e.g., λααραρι in the Secunda.
  - <Plural mountains>: Despite the RJPS (cited above), the suggested revocalization following the Babyloian manuscripts BL Or 2373 and JTS 611 suggests a plurality of mountains, which makes little sense of the metaphor for the singular psalmist (Hitzig 1863, 170 :C:).
   <_ <Another emendation>: The final yod should be removed to read (singular) "strong mountain" (Jacobson & Tanner 2014, 291 :C:). #dispreferred
   <_ <Old genitive>: The yod in the MT's לְֽהַרְרִ֫י עֹ֥ז should be read as the old genitive ending, and therefore a singular "mountain of strength" (Malul 1996, 141 :C:).#dispreferred
    + [Old genitive]: See, e.g., בְּנִ֣י אֲתֹנ֑וֹ "his donkey’s colt" (ESV) in Genesis 49:11; שֹׁכְנִ֖י סְנֶ֑ה "him who dwells in the bush" (ESV) in Deuteronomy 33:16.#dispreferred
 <_ <Object drop>: While object drop does occur in Biblical Hebrew (Atkinson 2026 :G:), if there is another syntactic solution, that should be pursued.
  - <Textual error>: The object should not be elided, but rather the text should be emended to read הֶעֱמַדְתָּנִי (Kraus 1993, 352 :C:). #dispreferred
   - <Textual evidence>: There is no textual evidence for such a consonantal text.

MT: "strength for my mountain" (preferred)

Other translations do not need to supply an object because they understand "strength" (עֹז) as the object and read the MT's לְֽהַרְרִ֫י simply as "for my mountain" the recipient, such as the REB: "LORD, by your favour you made my mountain strong."

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["strength for my mountain"]: The MT's לְֽהַרְרִ֫י should be maintained and read as "for my mountain" (Meiri :C:; Delitzsch 1871, 374 :C:; Goldingay 2006, 424 :C:; Böhler 2021, 535 :C:).
 + <MT>: This is an unproblematic and simple reading of the MT.
 + <Ancient versions>: This interpretation is reflected in Aquila, Quinta, Sexta and Jerome: "you established strength for my mountain" (see the ancient versions below).

Conclusion (A)

The claims that "The first line found in this verse is extremely difficult" has led much of modern scholarship (though also Medieval commentators and translators as early as Saadia and Moshe Giqatilah) to search for a number of other solutions for this line's text and syntax. These primarily involve supplying an elided object "me" and understand the consonants להררי עז as either a plural construct "as mountains of strength" or as reflecting the old genitive suffix "as a mountain of strength" (aside from a number of proposed emendations). Nevertheless, the pursuit of such solutions are unnecessary, since the MT text, as reflected in most ancient versions, is not problematic. The issue seems to be with the intended sense of the line, rather than its syntax. Although the psalmist as a possessor of a mountain may sound strange, in a psalm dedicated to the establishing of his house, i.e., royal dynasty, which was established on Mount Zion, it follows that he would not rely on his own strength (v. 7), but rather trust on God to provide strength to his house/mountain. Thus, we prefer to follow the MT and translate "YHWH, in your favor you established strength for my mountain."

Research

Translations

Ancient

• LXX: κύριε, ἐν τῷ θελήματί σου παρέσχου τῷ κάλλει μου δύναμιν· 
  • "O Lord, by your will, you furnished my beauty with power"
• Secunda: יהוה βαρσωναχ̣ εεμε̣δεθ λααραρι οζ (reflecting the MT's לְהַרְרִי)
• Aquila: יהוה ἐν τῇ εὐδοκίᾳ σου ἔστησας τῷ ὄρει μου κράτος.
  • "YHWH, in your pleasure you established for my mountain strength."
• Symmachus: יהוה ἐν τῇ εὐδοκίᾳ σου ἔστησας τῷ προπάτορί μου κράτος.
  • "YHWH, in your pleasure you established for my progenitors strength."
• Quinta: יהוה ἐν τῇ εὐδοκίᾳ σου ἔστησας τῷ ὄρει μου δύναμιν.
  • "YHWH, in your pleasure you established for my mountain strength."
• Sexta: ... ἔστησ(ας) τῷ ὄρ‹ει› μου δύναμιν
  • "... you established for my mountain strength."
• Iuxta Hebraeos: Domine in voluntate tua posuisti monti meo fortitudinem
  • "Lord, in your will you set strength for my mountain."
• Peshitta: ܐܠܗܐ ܒܨܒܝܢܟ ܐܩܝܡܬ ܥܠ ܫܘܒܚܝ ܚܝܠܐ
  • "O God, by your desire you have established strength on my glory."
• Targum: יהוה ברעותך איתעתדתא לטוריא עושינא
  • "O Lord, by your will you established the mighty mountains."

Modern

Object drop

• for You, O ETERNAL One, when You were pleased, made [me] firm as a mighty mountain (RJPS; cf. CEB, CSB, GNT, NABRE)
• Pero tú, Señor, en tu bondad me habías afirmado en lugar seguro (DHH)
• Denn, HERR, durch dein Wohlgefallen hattest du mich auf einen starken Fels gestellt (LUT; cf. ELB, ZÜR)

MT: "strength for my mountain"

• LORD, by your favour you made my mountain strong (REB; cf. ESV, KJV, NASB, NIV)
• Eternel, par ta grâce tu avais affermi ma montagne (SG21; cf. TOB)
• HERR, in deiner Güte hast du meinen Berg gefestigt (EÜ)

Secondary Literature

Atkinson, Ian. 2026. "Post-verbal word order," in Geoffrey Khan et al. (ed.) The Cambridge Grammar of Biblical Hebrew. Cambridge: University of Cambridge and Open Book Publishers.

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

Briggs, Charles A. & Briggs, Emilie G. 1906. 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.

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.

Malul, Meir. 1996. "Chapter 30" (in Hebrew). Pages 138–142 in Psalms: Volume 1. Olam HaTaNaKh. Tel Aviv: דודזון–עתי.

Meiri, Menachem. Meiri on Psalms.

Saadia = Qafaḥ, Yosef. 1965. The Psalms with Translation and Commentary of Saadia Gaon (in Hebrew: תהלים עם תרגום פוירוש הגאון). 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

30:8