Verse-by-Verse Notes

• Grammar
• Semantics
  • Semantics/Lexical Semantics
  • Phrase-Level Semantics
  • Verbal Semantics
  • Semantics/Story behind the Psalm
• Exegetical Issues
• Discourse
  • Participant Analysis
  • Macrosyntax
  • Speech Act Analysis
  • Emotional Analysis
• Poetics
  • Poetic Structure
  • Poetic Features
• Synthesis
  • Verse-by-Verse Notes
  • Translation and Performance Notes
• Close-but-Clear
• Videos
  • Overview
  • Top 3 Exegetical Issues
  • Top 3 Poetic Features
• Post to wiki

Version: 1.0
Overseer: Ryan Sikes

Introduction

The purpose of Verse-by-Verse Notes is to present the Layer-by-Layer exegetical materials in a verse-by-verse format. The notes and visuals for Verse-by-Verse Notes represent a compilation of notes and visuals made at the various layers. The Verse-by-Verse Notes give the preferred interpretation as concisely as possible, providing detailed discussions of alternate views in footnotes. Thus, creating the Verse-by-Verse Notes requires mostly the (re)organization and editing of existing content and not the creation of new content.

As you create Verse-by-Verse Notes for your psalm, it will be helpful to keep in mind our Personas, particularly Sarah and Moses, for whom the Verse-by-Verse notes are designed.

Steps

1. Setting up the page

• Log in to the wiki and create a new page for the Verse-by-Verse notes. The page should be titled "Psalm # Verse-by-Verse" and the # sign replaced with the number of your psalm. To create a page with this title, type "Psalm # Verse-by-Verse" into the "Search" bar. When given the option to "Create the page "Psalm # Verse-by-Verse" on this wiki!" click the link ("Psalm # Verse-by-Verse").
• Copy the following text and paste it onto the new page.

{{Verse-by-Verse Welcome|Chapter=#}}
===v. 1===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! v. !! Hebrew !! Close-but-Clear
|-
| 1a || Paste Hebrew text here || Paste CBC text here 
|-
| 1b || Paste Hebrew text here || Paste CBC text here 
|}
====Expanded Paraphrase====
====Grammatical Diagram====
====Notes====
*
=Legends=
'''Grammatical diagram'''
{{Grammatical Legend}}
'''Shapes and colours on grammatical diagram'''
{{Phrasal Legend}}
'''Expanded paraphrase'''
{{Story Behind}}
=Bibliography=
=Footnotes=
[[Category:Verse-by-Verse Notes]]
[[Chapter::#]]

• In the copied/pasted text, replace all # signs with the number of your psalm.
• For all preferred emended or revocalized Hebrew texts, replace the MT reading in the main text with the emended or revocalized Hebrew with astrisks on either side of the altered Hebrew text (e.g., *מֵחֹשֶׁךְ*). Do not supply accents for the altered Hebrew text. Be sure to discuss each emendation or revocalization in the notes below.
• Add a new section and new sub-sections for each verse in your psalm (e.g., ===v. 1===). Note that the copied/pasted text includes only one verse ("v. 1"). Copy the "v. 1" heading and all of the content under this heading (including the sub-headings "Expanded Paraphrase", "Grammatical Diagram", and "Notes") and paste it as many times as is necessary to include all the verses in your psalm. Be sure to change to numbers to reflect the correct verse numbers.
• Create new sections corresponding to the sections in the Synthesis visual, and group the individual verses within these larger sections. Create a level-one heading for each major section. E.g., =Title of section (vv. 1-8)=. If the synthesis visual also gives sub-sections within the main sections, then use level-two headings to replicate these sub-sections. E.g., ==Title of sub-section (vv. 1-4) ==. In the end, the hierarchical structure of the verse-by-verse notes page should correspond to the structure indicated in the synthesis visual.

2. Expanded paraphrase and grammatical diagram

Each verse should include an expanded paraphrase and a grammatical diagram with phrase-level glosses.

• For the expanded paraphrase, go to the wiki page "Story Behind the Psalm" for your psalm, click "Edit" to see the page's code, copy the expanded paraphrase of each verse, and paste each copied portion of text into the relevant section on the new page.
• For the grammatical diagram with phrase-level glosses, go to the wiki page "Semantics" for your psalm, click "Edit" to see the page's code, copy the code for the image under each verse (e.g., [[File:Psalm 8 - v.2 semantics.jpg|class=img-fluid|825px]]) and paste each copied portion of text into the relevant section on the new page.

3. Importing notes

• Gather all of the notes that you have written for your psalm; copy them and paste them into the relevant sections on the wiki page. Be sure to check your work on each layer for any notes you might have written. These notes might include, for example,
  • Notes on the grammatical diagram
  • Notes on lexical semantics
  • Notes about semantic domains
  • Notes about repeated roots
  • Notes from the phrase-level semantics tables
  • Notes form the verbal semantics table
  • Notes from the Story-Behind assumptions table
  • Notes from the Story-Behind imagery tables
  • Notes from Macrosyntax
  • Notes from the emotional analysis table
  • Notes from the speech act analysis table
  • Notes from poetic structure
  • Notes about poetic features
  • Links to exegetical issues.
• Each of the imported notes should constitute its own bullet-point in the Verse-by-Verse Notes.
• Some notes will belong to an individual verse, while other notes which pertain to multiple verses will fit better directly under one of the section or sub-section headings.

4. Organizing notes

How to order the notes

The first step of organizing the notes for each verse is to put them in the proper order. The following two principles should guide the order in which the notes are presented.

• The order in which the notes are organized should generally follow the order of the text. So, for example, any notes about v. 1a should precede any notes about v. 1b, and any notes about the first word in v. 1a should precede any notes about the second word in v. 1a, etc.
• The second organizing principle for ordering the notes (subordinated to the first principle) is scope; notes that have a broader scope should precede notes with a narrower scope. So, for example, a note about the location of v. 1 in the larger discourse should precede a note about the emotions of v. 1a, Similarly, a note about the emotions in v. 1a should precede a note about the first phrase in v. 1a, and a note about the first phrase in v. 1a should precede a note about the first word in v. 1a, etc.

When to hyperlink

If the verse in question is the subject of an exegetical issue, poetic feature, or other extended discussion, write a 1–2 sentence summary of your conclusion in the verse-by-verse note. Then include a link to the full discussion. For example, the note for Ps 110:3 provides a summary of the exegetical conclusion, along with a link to the full treatment of the exegetical issue:

• Verse 3 is, in the words of one Bible translation, "one of the most difficult texts in all the Bible." The difficulty is due, primarily, to a number of textual issues. For a thorough discussion of the primary issues, see The Text, Grammar, and Meaning of Ps. 110:3. In short, we follow the MT throughout v. 3 with one exception: we read "on holy mountains" (בְּהַרְרֵי קֹדֶשׁ) instead of "in holy garments" (בְּהַדְרֵי קֹדֶשׁ).

When to footnote

Some of the imported material will constitute the main text for the page, and some of it will be included only as footnotes. In general, the following information should be included only as footnotes:

• Citations of secondary literature and translations (especially ancient translations).
• Presentation of alternative viewpoints and discussions of what other scholars have said about a particular issue. The main text should succinctly present our views about the psalm and the reasons for them. Any sustained discussion of opposing viewpoints should be included in the footnotes.
• Technical discussions about fine points of analysis.
• Large amounts of data.

Consider the following example from Psalm 8. The main text is clear and concise, while the more detailed discussion takes place in footnotes: 'The word translated fortress (עֹז) normally means "strength," but here the verb יִסַּד requires us to understand עֹז as a physical structure ("strength">"stronghold").'

In this example, the detailed discussion in the footnotes was an existing note from lexical semantics, while the short and simple main text had to be added during the process of creating the Verse-by-Verse notes.

5. Adding text

You may find that your existing notes are not sufficient and that you need to add more text.

• You may discover that you never addressed a particular exegetical difficulty that ought to be addressed.
• Your existing notes may be dense and highly technical (best for footnotes), and you may need to write clear and concise summaries of your viewpoints wherein you can footnote your more technical discussions. (See the example from Ps. 8 in the previous section.)

6. Formatting text

• When a note (i.e., a bullet point) discusses a particular word or phrase from the CBC, bold that word/phrase the first time it is mentioned in the note. (Bold the CBC text, not the Hebrew text.) This will allow readers to see at a glance which part of the verse is being discussed in a given note.
• No other text on the page should be bold.
• Following the bolded CBC text, include the Hebrew text in parentheses. Include vowels but not accents. See, for example, the following note from Ps 19:
  • The first word of v. 2, the sky (הַשָּׁמַיִם), introduces the topic of the first half of the psalm (vv. 2-7). The "sky" (שָׁמַיִם) is the place where God dwells, the place where birds fly, and—what is most important for this psalm—the place where the sun, moon, and stars are located (Gen 1:15-19).
• In general, Hebrew text should be vocalized and the accents should be removed (unless they are germane to the discussion). Where possible, use English text instead of Hebrew text, and include the Hebrew text in parentheses.

7. Citing sources

• All secondary sources should be cited in the footnotes (rather than in the main text).
• Use the following format for citing secondary sources in the footnotes: Author Date, Page.
• Some sources can be cited in an abbreviated (e.g., ancient and modern translations, standard lexicons and reference grammars; etc.). For abbreviations of sources see the relevant section in the Style Guide.

8. Bibliography

In the section titled "Bibliography," give bibliographic information for all of the secondary sources that you cite in the page. (You do not need to give bibliographic information for the modern translations or ancient versions or standard reference works listed in the abbreviations section of the style guide.)

1. Input information for each of your sources in the CDBR Zotero Library.
2. Select all of the relevant sources in the library and click the "create bibliography" button (icon: books).
3. From the menu select "Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition (author-date)."
4. Copy the bibliography and paste it into the "Secondary" Literature" section of the wiki. Ensure that the sources are listed in alphabetical order.
5. Remove unnecessary URL's, add italics where necessary, and place a colon (:) before each source.
6. If a resource is open access, then include a link to that resource. E.g., Gunkel, Hermann. 1926. Die Psalmen. 4th ed. Göttinger Handkommentar zum Alten Testament 2. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

9. Including other visuals

Include other visuals throughout your notes where relevant and useful. For example, a Venn Diagram might accompany a note about the meaning of a word, or a Poetic Features visual might accompany a note about a poetic feature, etc. These other visuals should, by this time, be published to other parts of the wiki, so that you can copy them and paste them to your Verse-by-Verse page. The process for copying these visuals is the same as the process for copying the expanded paraphrase and grammatical diagram described above.

10. Posting on the main Psalm page

Once the Verse-by-Verse notes have been finalized, they need to be linked on the main Psalm page. Start by adding a new section to the main page.

Copy the following section + title and add your Psalm number:

=Psalm # Verse-by-Verse=

Then copy the following text:

Click the link to view all of [[Psalm # Verse-by-Verse]], or click on an individual verse below.

Afterwards, make a bullet point list for each verse (using an asterisk per bullet) and insert a link to the individual verses of your psalm. Getting the link to each verse can be done by copying this example verse from Psalm 8 and modifying the the psalm number and verse numbers to fit your psalm.

* [https://psalms.scriptura.org/w/Psalm_8_Verse-by-Verse#v._1 v. 1]

Help

Good Examples

The Verse-by-Verse notes for Psalm 118 (by Oobie Weinberg) are especially good. What made these particular notes so helpful were the following points (the following text is from Nikki Mustin, via email):

1. Notes from different layers: Where pertinent, Oobie mentioned speech act analysis, participant analysis, macrosyntax, poetics, etc. It wasn’t like there was a note or a reappearance of any visualization at EVERY shift in the psalm in these areas, but where they are important or tricky, Oobie made a note about it. I think it’s a skill for us all to learn and improve—to know what’s worth including in each verse from all the layers, and what isn’t. I also really appreciated that he had several specific notes reminding the reader of the emotional content of the whole section a verse is in, not just that verse in isolation (ex. from v. 5: “The dominant emotion of this testimony section (vv. 5-18) is one of confidence (as seen clearly, for example, in the declaration ‘YHWH is for me, I shall not fear!’ in v. 6). However, there are also moments of distress (vv. 5, 1-13), thankfulness (vv. 5, 13), expectation (v. 20), and solemnity (v. 18).” This is the kind of info that COULD be found in the emotional analysis layer, or perhaps even in the overview…but the fact that it’s stated here in the VxV highlights to the reader the importance of the emotional content. This is important, because a real temptation for users of our materials will be to jump right to the VxV or TCs, without taking the time for the videos or Synthesis info or any other layers. [For what it’s worth, from the exegete’s perspective…I think it’s worth erring on the side of too MUCH info in the VxV notes—when in doubt, include it, I say. At least, for us making TCs, it’s easier to have too many VxV notes than too few.]
2. Focus on participant analysis (what’s important to remember about this psalm?). For this psalm in particular, PA—who is speaking to whom, when-- is one of the most important layers to really understand the psalm. Oobie hearkened back to this often throughout the notes, which reminds the reader that PA should be a focus of both drafting and checking for this psalm. Similarly, Oobie included notes or lines in notes that reminds the reader about over-arching principles that should be kept in mind, even when working in a specific verse (ex. from v. 5: “In Ps. 118 a leader of Israel gathers in Jerusalem to celebrate how YHWH has saved him from distress, probably from a military situation where he faced many literal enemies.”)
3. Verbiage. Oobie’s notes use clear language that is not super technical or academic-y, yet at the same time, not dumbed-down or over-simplified. Even for a literate-preference, academic person, language like this makes for faster reading and absorption of the info, making our materials more accessible and helpful without a practitioner having to ESL-ize the verbiage much or at all. Oobie does well at including short phrases or sentences that make a world of difference when it comes to clarity and comprehensibility. Ex. from v. 1: “In Hebrew words have a numerical value, based on the numerical value of each of their letters.” He didn’t need to include this explanation for the note to make sense to those pretty familiar with Hebrew…but for everyone else, I think intro sentences like that are the difference between the note making sense and it not making sense.
4. Use of visuals. Oobie struck the right balance, I thought, of visuals and text. Sometimes, there can be too many visuals, and it can make the whole page look cluttered and a bit challenging to follow. On the other hand, we all know the value of a good visual. I thought Oobie included them where they were helpful, and nowhere else. It makes the notes visually appealing and digestible, without being too much. For example, in v. 5 he has this note: “The word order of this verse is unusual in order to indicate a new section of direct speech.” Now, he could have included a screenshot of the macrosyntax visual of this verse…but that wouldn’t have been necessary. I think a statement like this will suffice for most people; if they need more granular detail, they can look to the Macrosyntax layer. But the fact that the note called attention to the unusual word order…and gave the reason why the psalmist probably did that…is what makes it a good note for translators.
5. Calls to other verses’ notes. Because these notes are likely to be read in isolation—verses as needed, not the whole document start to finish—it’s likely that important notes tied to a certain verse’s note could be missed. Oobie included this in verse 28, for example: “For further details on the intertextual relationships between Ps. 118 and Ex. 15 see visual in v. 14 notes above.”

Common Mistakes

• Including too many details in the main text (rather than the footnotes).
• Including too few visuals. (For the right balance, see the Ps 118 example above.)
• Including too many visuals. (For the right balance, see the Ps 118 example above.)
• Using bold for text other than CBC text.
• Inconsistencies between CBC, expanded paraphrase, and/or phrasal diagrams. Be sure that you iron out all inconsistencies before publishing your draft of Verse-by-Verse notes.
• Errors of spelling and punctuation. It is recommended that you use some kind of tool to check for these errors (e.g., Grammarly).

Rubric

Dimension	Description
Completeness	The page includes every element required by the creator guidelines. It includes the welcome text at the beginning, with the correct Psalm number. It includes the category label [[Category:Verse-by-Verse Notes]] at the bottom of the page, as well as the indication of the chapter/psalm number, e.g., [[Chapter::67]]. It includes the correct sections: (1) a section for each verse, (2) a section for legends, (3) a section for the bibliography, (4) a section for footnotes. Each verse includes the Hebrew text, the CBC text, the expanded paraphrase, and the phrase-level diagram. It includes a complete bibliography in the bibliography section. Every secondary source cited in the page (standard reference works and translations excluded) has a complete bibliographic entry. It includes a thorough series of notes for the psalm as a whole, ideally with notes on each verse. It includes other visuals where relevant throughout the page (e.g., Venn diagrams, poetic features visuals, poetic structure visual, macrosyntax visual, etc.).
Quality	The notes provide a thorough exegesis of the psalm. No important issues are left undiscussed. The notes are ordered according to the principles given in the creator guidelines (i.e., order of the text and scope).
Engagement with secondary literature	Secondary sources are cited throughout the page, especially in the argument maps. The arguments of other scholars with whom we disagree are put forward in the strongest possible terms. No secondary source which is especially relevant to the discussion has been omitted.
Clarity of language	The notes in the main text are clear and concise. Technical discussions are relegated to footnotes. Language is not too technical so as to be inaccessible to Sarah.
Formatting/Style	Correct spelling and punctuation is used throughout. Page is properly titled. Page is properly structured. When a note discusses a particular word or phrase from the CBC, that word/phrase is bolded the first time it is mentioned in the note. No other text on the page is bolded. Sources are cited properly, both in the footnotes and in the bibliography. Any extra visuals that have been included are appropriately sized and positioned.

Submitting your draft

Copy the text below into your forum submission post, entitled Verse-by-Verse Notes - Psalm ###. After posting, change your post into a wiki post so the reviewers can check the boxes. To change your forum post into a wiki post, click on the three dot menu at the end of the text.

Click on the wrench.

Select "make wiki."

[Verse-by-Verse Notes Layer Rubric](https://psalms.scriptura.org/w/Verse-by-Verse_Notes#Rubric)

|Guardian Review|Overseer Review|Final Checks|Description|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
||||**Completeness**
|[ ]||| The page includes every element required by the creator guidelines.
|[ ]||| It includes the welcome text at the beginning, with the correct Psalm number.
|[ ]||| It includes the category label [[Category:Verse-by-Verse Notes]] at the bottom of the page, as well as the indication of the chapter/psalm number, e.g., [[Chapter::67]].
|[ ]||| It includes the correct sections: (1) a section for each verse, (2) a section for legends, (3) a section for the bibliography, (4) a section for footnotes.
|[ ]||| Each verse includes the Hebrew text, the CBC text, the expanded paraphrase, and the phrase-level diagram.
|[ ]||| It includes a complete bibliography in the bibliography section. Every secondary source cited in the page (standard reference works and translations excluded) has a complete bibliographic entry.
|[ ]|[ ]|| It includes a thorough series of notes for the psalm as a whole, ideally with notes on each verse.
|[ ]|[ ]|| It includes other visuals where relevant throughout the page (e.g., Venn diagrams, poetic features visuals, poetic structure visual, macrosyntax visual, etc.).
||||**Quality**
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| The notes provide a thorough exegesis of the psalm. No important issues are left undiscussed.
|[ ]|[ ]|| The notes are ordered according to [the principles given in the creator guidelines](https://psalms.scriptura.org/w/Verse-by-Verse_Notes#4._Organising_notes) (i.e., order of the text and scope).
||||**Engagement with secondary literature** 
|[ ]|[ ]|| Secondary sources are cited throughout the page, especially in the argument maps.
|[ ]|[ ]|| The arguments of other scholars with whom we disagree are put forward in the strongest possible terms.
|[ ]|[ ]|| No secondary source which is especially relevant to the discussion has been omitted.
||||**Clarity of language** 
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| The notes in the main text are clear and concise. 
|[ ]|[ ]|| Technical discussions are relegated to footnotes.
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Language is not too technical so as to be inaccessible to [Sarah](https://psalms.scriptura.org/w/Personas).
||||**Formatting/Style** 
|[ ]||| Correct spelling and punctuation is used throughout.
|[ ]||| Page is properly titled.
|[ ]||| Page is properly structured.
|[ ]|[ ]|| When a note discusses a particular word or phrase from the CBC, that word/phrase is bolded the first time it is mentioned in the note.
|[ ]||| No other text on the page is bolded.
|[ ]||| Sources are cited properly, both in the footnotes and in the bibliography.
|[ ]||| Any extra visuals that have been included are appropriately sized and positioned.