The Verbal Semantics of Psalm 53:6

Introduction

The traditional Hebrew text of Ps. 53:6 reads as follows, with qatal verbs highlighted blue:

שָׁ֤ם ׀ פָּֽחֲדוּ־פַחַד֮ לֹא־הָ֪יָה֫ פָ֥חַד
כִּֽי־אֱלֹהִ֗ים פִּ֭זַּר עַצְמ֣וֹת חֹנָ֑ךְ
הֱ֝בִשֹׁ֗תָה כִּֽי־אֱלֹהִ֥ים מְאָסָֽם׃

The majority of the finite verbs in Ps 53 are qatals, and v. 6 is no exception, containing five in only three lines. The qatals of v. 6 have been rendered in a variety of ways in both ancient and modern translations. The following modern translations illustrate the points of disagreement:

• NASB: They were in great fear there, where no fear had been; For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you; You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.
• ESV: There they are, in great terror, where there is no terror! For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
• NLT: Terror will grip them, terror like they have never known before. God will scatter the bones of your enemies. You will put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

Representative of the differences among these translations is the qatal verb פִּזַּר, which has been translated into English as past (NASB: scattered), present (ESV: scatters), and future (NLT: will scatter). The issue at hand is whether such variety is possible here, for it is unlikely that the semantics of qatal פִּזַּר, and the rest of the qatals in v. 6, legitimately encode all three tenses. How should most, if not all, of the qatals in v. 6 be rendered?

1. Most qatals in v. 6 indicate anteriority and refer to past events (so NASB, KJV, LSB). Therefore v. 6 is a report of events that happened in the past.
2. Most qatals in v. 6 indicate simultaneity and refer to present or timeless events (so ESV, NET). Therefore v. 6 is a description of events that always or typically happen.
3. Most qatals in v. 6 indicate posteriority and refer to future events (so NLT, CEV, CSB, GNT). Therefore v. 6 is a prediction/prophecy of events that will take place in the future.

Argument Maps

Anteriority/Past (preferred)

According to some translations, most of the qatals in v. 6 indicate anteriority and refer to past events. For example, the NASB says, "They were in great fear there, where no fear had been; For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you; You put them to shame, because God had rejected them."

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[Anteriority/Past]: Most of the qatal verbs in v. 6 indicate anteriority and refer to past events.
 + <Prototypical Sense of Qatal>: "The qātal/perfect typically refers to an event x that happened prior to (i.e. before) another event or situation y" (BHRG §19.2.1 :G:; cf. Rogland 2003, 131 :M:).
  <_ <Less Typical Senses of Qatal>: Although dynamic qatals typically refer to events in the past, they are also used "in some special cases for the present, sometimes even for the future" (JM §112c :G:).#dispreferred
 + <Context>: All of the qatals in v. 6 can be understood according to their prototypical sense, by which they refer to events that happened before the speech time (i.e., past events). In v. 6 the psalmist is reporting about past events, reminding Israel about God's past triumph over evildoers, so as to arouse Israel's hope that God will triumph again (cf. v. 7). 
 + <Ancient Versions>: Several ancient versions understand most of the qatals in v. 6
as indicating anteriority and referring to past events, rendering the qatals with the past tense forms of their respective languages.
  + [Greek Versions]: LXX: ἦν "was" (imperfect); διεσκόρπισεν "scattered" (aorist; cf. α′); κατῃσχύνθησαν "were put to shame" (aorist; cf. α′); ἐξουδένωσεν "despised" (aorist; cf. α′, σ′); α′: ἐπτοήθησαν "were terrified" (aorist); θ′: ἐθαμβήθησαν "were astounded" (aorist); 
  + [Peshitta]: ܕܚܠܘ "feared" (perfect); ܗܘܐ "was" (perfect); ܒܗܬܘ "are ashamed" (perfect); ܐܣܠܝ "has rejected" (perfect).
  + [Targum]: דלחו (perfect); מבדר (perfect); בהיתתא (perfect); רחיקינון (perfect).
  + [Jerome (Iuxta Hebr.)]: timuerunt (perfect); dispersit (perfect); confunderis; proiecit (perfect)
  <_ <Non-Past Verbs>: Certain qatals in v. 6 are understood by the Greek versions, Jerome, and the Peshitta as non-past, rendering the qatals with the future and/or present tense forms of their respective languages.#dispreferred
   + [Greek Versions ]: LXX: φοβηθήσονται "will be afraid" (future; cf. σ′); σ′: διασκορπίσει "scatters" (present); καταισχυνθήσῃ "will be put to shame" (future).#dispreferred
   + [Peshitta ]: ܢܒܕܪ "will scatter" (imperfect).#dispreferred
   + [Jerome (Iuxta Hebr.) ]: confunderis (future or present).#dispreferred

Simultaneity/Present

According to some tranlations, most of the qatals in v. 6 indicate simultaneity and refer to present events. The ESV, for example, says, "There they are, in great terror, where there is no terror! For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; you put them to shame, for God has rejected them."

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[Simultaneity/Present]: Most of the qatal verbs in v. 6 indicate simultaneity and refer to present events.
 + <Gnomic Qatal>: "A number of Hebrew perfective (qatal) uses can be correlated with present-time reference as it is understood in English" (IBHS §30.5.1c :G:). Qatals can be "used to express general truths known to have actually occurred, and so proved from experience: here again the idiomatic rendering in English is by means of the present" (Driver 1892, 17 :M:).#dispreferred
  + [Gnomic Qatal]: Isa 40:7: יָבֵ֤שׁ חָצִיר֙ נָ֣בֵֽל צִ֔יץ כִּ֛י ר֥וּחַ יְהוָ֖ה נָ֣שְׁבָה בּ֑וֹ אָכֵ֥ן חָצִ֖יר הָעָֽם׃ "The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass" (ESV); Ps 7:16: בּ֣וֹר כָּ֭רָֽה וַֽיַּחְפְּרֵ֑הוּ וַ֝יִּפֹּ֗ל בְּשַׁ֣חַת יִפְעָֽל׃ "He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made" (ESV).#dispreferred
 - <Prototypical Sense of Qatal>: "The qātal/perfect typically refers to an event x that happened prior to (i.e. before) another event or situation y" (BHRG §19.2.1 :G:; cf. Rogland 2003, 131 :M:).
 - <Context>: Since the events related by gnomic qatals are 'timeless truths,' they ought to occur "more often than only occasionally" (Lawler 1972, 254 :A:). The events related by most of the qatals in v. 6 are "too extraordinary to be considered a common occurrence" and are therefore unlikely to be gnomic (Rogland 2003, 25 :M:).

Posteriority/Future

Finally, according to some translations, most of the qatals in v. 6 indicate posteriority and refer to future events. The NLT, for example, says, "Terror will grip them, terror like they have never known before. God will scatter the bones of your enemies. You will put them to shame, for God has rejected them."

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[Posteriority/Future]: Most of the qatal verbs in v. 6 indicate posteriority and refer to future events.#dispreferred
 - <Prototypical Sense of Qatal>: "The qātal/perfect typically refers to an event x that happened prior to (i.e. before) another event or situation y" (BHRG §19.2.1 :G:; cf. Rogland 2003, 131 :M:).
 + <Prophetic Qatal>: The qatal verbs in Psalm 53:6 fit the profile of the so-called "prophetic qatal." #dispreferred
  + <Prophetic Qatal in Biblical Hebrew>: In prophetic contexts, the qatal conjugation can "express future actions" (GKC §106.m :G:) when "the prophet so transports himself in imagination into the future that he describes the future event as if it had been already seen or heard by him" (GKC §106.n :G:).#dispreferred
   + [Prophetic Qatal in Biblical Hebrew]: Isa 5:13a: לָכֵ֛ן גָּלָ֥ה עַמִּ֖י מִבְּלִי־דָ֑עַת "Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding" (NIV); Isa 9:1a: הָעָם֙ הַהֹלְכִ֣ים בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְ רָא֖וּ א֣וֹר גָּד֑וֹל "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light" (NLT).#dispreferred
    <_ <Ambiguous Examples>: "Most examples" of the prophetic qatal/perfect "in nonprophetic poetic texts are often extremely ambiguous and open to other temporal interpretations" (Rogland 2003, 114 :M:). Similarly, all of the qatals in v. 6 can be understood according to their prototypical sense, by which they refer to events that happened before the speech time (i.e., past events).
    <_ <Qatal/Yiqtol Interchange>: In contexts in which a prophetic/future sense of qatal is argued, one can find an interchange of qatals and yiqtols. Because there are no yiqtols in v. 6, the prophetic/future sense of its qatal is unlikely (cf. GKC §106.n; Driver 1892, 20 :M:).
  + <Ps 53 as Prophetic Speech>: Ps 53 "belong(s) to the general genre of prophetic speech" (Tate 1998, 41 :C:).#dispreferred
  + <Prophetic Qatal Preceded by כִּי>: Verse 6 begins with כִּי, and the prophetic qatal/perfect "frequently appears after כִּי, the reason for an assertion or a command being found in some event the occurrence of which, though still future, is deemed certain, and contemplated accordingly by the writer" (Driver 1892, 20 :M:).#dispreferred
   + [כִּי Preceding Prophetic Qatal]: Isa 11:9 - כִּי־מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ "for the earth will be full" (LEB); Jer 25:14 - כִּי עָבְדוּ־בָם גַּם־הֵמָּה גּוֹיִם רַבִּים וּמְלָכִים גְּדוֹלִים "For many nations and great kings will let them work, even them" (LEB).#dispreferred
 + <Context>: Since the following verse (v. 7) refers Israel's deliverance as a future event, the deliverance of Israel related in v. 6 must also refer to a future event.#dispreferred
 + <Non-Past Verbs>: Certain qatals in v. 6 are understood by the Greek versions, Jerome, and the Peshitta as non-past, rendering the qatals with the future and/or present tense forms of their respective languages.#dispreferred
  + [Greek Versions ]: LXX: φοβηθήσονται "will be afraid" (future; cf. σ′); σ′: διασκορπίσει "scatters" (present); καταισχυνθήσῃ "will be put to shame" (future).#dispreferred
  + [Peshitta ]: ܢܒܕܪ "will scatter" (imperfect).#dispreferred
  + [Jerome (Iuxta Hebr.) ]: confunderis (future or present).#dispreferred

Conclusion (A)

In keeping with the prototypical semantics of qatal, we conclude that all of the dynamic qatals in Ps 53:6 indicate anteriority and refer to past events. This reading of the qatals comports with the nature of v. 6 as a report of past events. The ancient versions support this reading, for most of the qatals are rendered as indicating past time: Greek - aorist; Syriac - perfect; Targum - perfect; Latin - ?. So the earliest interpreters of v. 6 understood the qatals as referring to past events. One's reading the qatals in v. 6 has ramifications for its speech act. If referring to past events, the speech act is likely a report of events that have already happened (i.e., remember what God has done); if referring to present events (i.e., timeless truths), the speech act could be description, not of concrete events, but of what typically happens (i.e., this is how God always/typically acts); if referring to future events, the speech act could be a prediction/prophecy of future events (i.e., this is what God will do). Because there is no issue with reading the qatals in v. 6 according to their prototypical sense — indicating anteriority and referring to past events — we prefer to translate them as such.

Research

Translations

Ancient

• LXX: ἐκεῖ φοβηθήσονται φόβον, οὗ οὐκ ἦν φόβος, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς διεσκόρπισεν ὀστᾶ ἀνθρωπαρέσκων, κατῃσχύνθησαν, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἐξουδένωσεν αὐτούς.
  • "There they were in great fear, where there was no fear, because God scattered bones of men-pleasers; they were put to shame, because God despised them."
• Aquila: ἐπτοήθησαν...ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἐσκόπισεν ὀστᾶ παρεμβεβληκότων σου ᾔσχυνας ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἀπέρριψεν αὐτούς
• Symmachus: φοβηθήσονται...γὰρ ὁ θεὸς διασκορπίσει ὀστᾶ τῶν παρεμβαλλόντων περὶ σέ καταισχυνθήσῃ ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἀπεδοκίμασεν αὐτούς
• Theodotion: ἐθαμβήθησαν θάμβῳ οὗ οὐκ ἧν θάμβος...
• Peshitta: ܬܡܢ ܕܚܠܘ ܕܚܠܬܐ܂ ܐܬܪ ܕܠܝܬ ܗܘܐ ܕܚܠܬܐ܂ ܡܛܠ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܢܒܕܪ ܓܪ̈ܡܝܗܘܢ܂ ܕܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܫܦܪܝܢ ܠܒܢ̈ܝ ܐܢܫܐ܂ ܒܗܬܘ ܡܛܠ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܐܣܠܝ ܐܢܘܢ܂
  • "There they feared greatly, where there was nothing to fear. For God will scatter the bones of those who please human beings. They are ashamed, because God has rejected them."
• Jerome (Iuxta Hebr.): ibi timuerunt timore ubi non est timor quoniam Deus dispersit ossa circumdantium te confunderis quia Deus proiecit eos
• Targum: תמן דלחו דלוחא מן פסיליהון דלית בהון צרוך למדלח ארום אלהא מבדר תקוף משירית חייביא בהיתתא ‭†‬ ארום מימרא דיהוה רחיקינון׃
  • "There they greatly fear their graven images, which there is no need to fear, because God scatters the strength of the camp of sinners; you have put to shame because the Memra of the Lord has rejected them."

Modern

Anteriority/Past

• But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread. God scattered the bones of those who attacked you; you put them to shame, for God despised them. (NIV)
• There they will be seized with fright — never was there such a fright — for God has scattered the bones of your besiegers; you have put them to shame, for God has rejected them. (JPS85)
• Da überfiel sie Schrecken, ohne dass ein Schrecken da war; denn Gott hat zerstreut die Gebeine dessen, der dich bedrängt. Du hast sie zuschanden werden lassen, denn Gott hat sie verworfen. (ELB)
• Et là où ils se sont mis à trembler, il n'y avait pas de quoi trembler, car Dieu a éparpillé les os de tes assiégeants. Tu les as bafoués, car Dieu les a repoussés. (TOB)
• Allí se sobresaltaron de pavor donde no había miedo, porque Dios esparció los huesos del que puso asedio contra ti. Los avergonzaste porque Dios los desechó. (RVR95)
• Allí los tienen, sobrecogidos de miedo, cuando no hay nada que temer. Dios dispersó los huesos de quienes te atacaban; tú los avergonzaste, porque Dios los rechazó. (NVI)
• Allí, donde no había nada que temer, se sobresaltaron de terror, Porque Elohim esparció los huesos del que puso asedio contra ti, Los avergonzaste, porque Elohim los desechó. (BTX4)

Simultaneity/Present

• There they are, in great terror, where there is no terror! For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; you put them to shame, for God has rejected them. (ESV)
• They are absolutely terrified, even by things that do not normally cause fear. For God annihilates those who attack you. You are able to humiliate them because God has rejected them. (NET)
• Da erschrecken sie sehr, wo kein Schrecken ist; doch Gott zerstreut die Gebeine derer, die dich bedrängen. Du machst sie zuschanden, denn Gott hat sie verworfen. (LUT)
• Doch der Tag wird kommen, an dem sie von Schrecken gepackt werden, obwohl es keinen Grund dafür gibt. Israel, Gott vernichtet deine Feinde und Belagerer, ihre Leichen liegen verstreut auf den Feldern. Du, Israel, stürzt deine Feinde in Schande, denn Gott selbst hat sie verstoßen. (NGÜ)
• Dort trifft sie ein gewaltiger Schrecken, ohne dass Erschreckendes da ist, / denn Gott zerstreut die Knochen deines Bedrängers. Du machst sie zuschanden, denn Gott hat sie verworfen. (EÜ)
• Da trifft sie gewaltiger Schrecken, wie es noch nie einen Schrecken gab, denn Gott zerstreut die Gebeine dessen, der dich bedrängt. Du machst sie zuschanden, denn Gott hat sie verworfen. (ZÜR)

Posteriority/Future

• Terror will grip them, terror like they have never known before. God will scatter the bones of your enemies. You will put them to shame, for God has rejected them. (NLT)
• But you will be terrified worse than ever before. God will scatter the bones of his enemies, and you will be ashamed when God rejects you. (CEV)
• But then they will become terrified, as they have never been before, for God will scatter the bones of the enemies of his people. God has rejected them, and so Israel will totally defeat them. (GNT)
• There they shall be in great terror, in terror such as has not been. For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them. (NRSV)
• They will be in dire alarm when God scatters the bones of the godless, confounded when God rejects them. (REB)
• Aber schon bald werden sie in Angst und Schrecken fallen, wie sie es vorher noch nie erlebt haben. Denn Gott wird die Feinde seines Volkes vollkommen vernichten, und ihre Gebeine werden achtlos liegen bleiben. Gott hat sie verworfen und wird sie darum scheitern lassen. (HFA)
• C'est là qu'ils seront saisis de frayeur, sans motif de frayeur ; Dieu dispersera les ossements de celui qui dresse son camp contre toi ; tu les rendras honteux, car Dieu les a rejetés. (NBS)
• Alors ils vont trembler de peur, eux qui ne connaissent pas la peur. Oui, Dieu va écraser complètement les ennemis de son peuple. Ils seront couverts de honte, car Dieu les a chassés loin de lui. (PDV2017)
• Les voilà qui s'affolent, eux qui ignoraient la peur car Dieu dispersera les ossements de ceux qui oppriment son peuple ; ils seront humiliés d'avoir été rejetés par Dieu. (NFC)
• Alors ils trembleront d'épouvante sans qu'il y ait de raison d'avoir peur. Dieu dispersera les os de ceux qui t'assiègent; tu les couvriras de honte, car Dieu les a rejetés. (S21)
• C'est là qu'ils trembleront de peur, Sans motif de peur ; Dieu dispersera les os de celui qui t'assiège ; Tu (les) rendras honteux, car Dieu les a rejetés. (NVS78P)

Mixed

• Ganz plötzlich werden sie erschrecken, obwohl es keinen sichtbaren Grund dafür gibt. Denn Gott zerstreut die Gebeine derer, die sein Volk bedrängen. Gott hat sie verworfen, darum werden sie vor den Seinen zuschanden. (GNB)
• Ils sont saisis d'épouvante, quand il n'y a rien à craindre, car Dieu disperse les os de ceux qui t'attaquent, tu les couvriras de honte, 'car Dieu les a rejetés. (BDS)
• Aunque no haya razón para temblar, ellos temblarán de miedo, porque Dios esparce los huesos del enemigo. Quedarán en ridículo, porque Dios los rechaza. (DHH94I)

Secondary Literature

Driver, S. R. 1892. A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew and Some Other Syntactical Questions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lawler, John. 1972. "Generic to a Fault." In Papers from the Eighth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, April 14-16, 1972, edited by P. Peraneau, J. Levi, and G. Phares. Chicago Linguistic Society.

Rogland, Max. 2003. Alleged Non-Past Uses of Qatal in Classical Hebrew. Assen, The Netherlands: Royal van Gorcum.

References

53:6