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יְהוָה מֵמִית וּמְחַיֶּה

מוֹרִיד שְׁאוֹל וַיָּעַל׃

7 יְהוָה מוֹרִישׁ וּמַעֲשִׁיר

מַשְׁפִּיל אַף־מְרוֹמֵם׃

8 מֵקִים מֵעָפָר דָּל

מֵאַשְׁפֹּת יָרִים אֶבְיוֹן

לְהוֹשִׁיב עִם־נְדִיבִים

וְכִסֵּא כָבוֹד יַנְחִלֵם

כִּי לַיהוָה מְצֻקֵי אֶרֶץ

וַיָּשֶׁת עֲלֵיהֶם תֵּבֵל׃

9 רַגְלֵי [חֲסִידוֹ] יִשְׁמֹר

וּרְשָׁעִים בַּחֹשֶׁךְ יִדָּמּוּ

כִּי־לֹא בְכֹחַ יִגְבַּר־אִישׁ׃

10 יְהוָה יֵחַתּוּ [מְרִיבוֹ] [עָלוֹ]

בַּשָּׁמַיִם יַרְעֵם

יְהוָה יָדִין אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ

וְיִתֶּן־עֹז לְמַלְכּוֹ

וְיָרֵם קֶרֶן מְשִׁיחוֹ׃ פ

Vocabulary

Verse 6

שׁאול  name: “Sheol, grave”

Syntax & Miscellaneous

• The verbal sequence contains three periphrastic participles (i.e. participles that function as finite verbs, ellipses of the linking verb) followed by a finite verb.
• The parallel words, “death”/“go down to Sheol” and “live”/“raised up,” are a merism indicating that the Lord is in control of everything in life from beginning to end or life to death.  This figure of speech is found frequently in Hebrew poetry.

Vocabulary

Verse 7

עשׁר  verb (Hiphil): “make rich” (BDB, 799)

שׁפל  verb (Hiphil): “humiliate, lay low” (BDB, 1050)

Verse 8

עפר  “dust”

דל  noun: “poor” (BDB, 195)

אשׁפת  noun: “heap of trash, ash” (BDB, 1046)

אביון  “needy, poor”

נדיב  “noble” (BDB, 622)

מצוק  “support, pillar” (BDB, 848)

תבל  “world” (BDB, 385)

Verse 9

חסיד “pious” (BDB, 339)

דמם  verb: “be silent” (BDB, 199)

גבר  verb: “prevail” (BDB, 149)

Verse 10

רעם  verb (Hiphil): “thunder” (BDB, 947)

דין  verb: “execute judgment” (BDB, 192)

אפס  “end” (BDB, 67)

משׁיח “anointed” (BDB, 603)

Syntax & Misc.

Verse 7

• The parallelism and word pairs continue from verse six.

Verse 8

• The verbless clause plus lamed, לַיהוָה מְצֻקֵי אֶרֶץ, can indicate possession.

Verse 9

• Qere: חֲסִידָיו. 

Verse 10

• Qere: מְרִיבָיו. 
• Qere: עָלָיו.     

כִּי שָׁמַעְנוּ אֵת אֲשֶׁר־הוֹבִישׁ יְהוָה אֶת־מֵי יַם־סוּף מִפְּנֵיכֶם בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם וַאֲשֶׁר עֲשִׂיתֶם לִשְׁנֵי מַלְכֵי הָאֱמֹרִי אֲשֶׁר בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן לְסִיחֹן וּלְעוֹג אֲשֶׁר הֶחֱרַמְתֶּם אוֹתָם׃ 11 וַנִּשְׁמַע וַיִּמַּס לְבָבֵנוּ וְלֹא־קָמָה עוֹד רוּחַ בְּאִישׁ מִפְּנֵיכֶם כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הוּא אֱלֹהִים בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל־הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת׃ 12 וְעַתָּה הִשָּׁבְעוּ־נָא לִי בַּיהוָה כִּי־עָשִׂיתִי עִמָּכֶם חָסֶד וַעֲשִׂיתֶם גַּם־אַתֶּם עִם־בֵּית אָבִי חֶסֶד וּנְתַתֶּם לִי אוֹת אֱמֶת׃ 13 וְהַחֲיִתֶם אֶת־אָבִי וְאֶת־אִמִּי וְאֶת־אַחַי וְאֶת־אַחוֹתַי וְאֵת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר לָהֶם וְהִצַּלְתֶּם אֶת־נַפְשֹׁתֵינוּ מִמָּוֶת׃

Vocabulary

Verse 10

יבשׁ  verb (Hiphil): “dry up”

ים סוף  name: “Red Sea”

האמר  name: “Amorites”

סיחן  name: “Sihon”

עוג  name: “Og”

חרם  verb (Hiphil): “devoted to destruction” (BDB, 335)

Syntax & Miscellaneous

• The phrase, אֵת אֲשֶׁר, indicates that a relative clause is the object of the verb.

Verse 11

נמס  verb: “melt, become fearful” (BDB, 587)

ממעל  “above” (BDB, 751)

Verse 12

אות  “sign”

חסד  “loving-kindness, covenant love”

Syntax & Misc.

Verse 13

• Qere: אַחְיוֹתַי.  Plural with pronominal suffix attached.

Comment/Question by our friend Talmida concerning the Origin and Order of the Hebrew Alphabet:

Do you think that the acrostics were intentionally imperfect in the psalms missing a letter or two? I wondered if the psalms hadn’t been revised or edited in some way.

I would be surprised if the deletions (i.e. the exclusion of one or more entire cola/lines) were a product of intentional editorial abbreviation. The acrostic pattern of the psalm would have been recognized by the editor/redactor/scribe and much more readily completed rather than deleted. Additionally, both of the major textual “rules” support the shorter and more difficult reading of the acrostics witnessed by MT . Textual critics refer to these phenomena as lectio bevior potior (“the shorter reading is to be preferred”) and lectio difficilior praeferenda (“the more difficult reading is to be preferred”). It should be noted, however, that these “rules” are not absolute and could be otherwise. Unintentional deletion also seems unlikely on account of the similarity of the phenomena in separate psalms (for further reading on Hebrew text criticism see: Emanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible [Fortress Press: Minneapolis, 1992] and R.W. Klein, Textual Criticism of the OT—The Septuagint after Qumran [Guides to Biblical Scholarship, OT Series 4: Philadelphia, 1974]).

The following observations should be made about the order of the Hebrew alphabet as witnessed by acrostics in the MT.

1. Irregularity of deletion. The letter deleted varies between psalms. Psalm 145 omits nun, Psalm 34 skips waw, Psalm 25 leaves out kaf (waw is dubious), and Psalm 9-10 exclude daleth, mem, nun, samek and sade. This irregularity may point to random omission; however based upon the normal understanding of text criticism mentioned above, random deletion seems unlikely.
2. Fluidness of the alphabetical order. As with the Tel-Zayit abecedary, several of the acrostics demonstrate letter reversal (cf. Psalm 10 [pe/ayin]; Lamentation 2-4 [pe/ayin], but Lamentation 1 [ayin/pe]). This could be the product of regional differences or variation in memorization traditions, but either way it seems unlikely to be purely editorial in nature.

The original question still remains. If these readings are original, what is the purpose of skipping certain letters? Two suggestions are as follows:

First, form is not always the determiner of content. The psalmist was not bound to the acrostic pattern at all costs; therefore he may have excluded a letter for functional reasons unknown to the contemporary reader.

Second, assuming that part of the purpose of an acrostic is to aid in memorization, the deletion of an element could help differentiate between similar texts.

Guest Blogger: B. Preston from Post tenebras lux is a very promising first year Hebrew student.

 וַֽיהוָ֞ה אָמַ֣ר אֶל־אַבְרָ֗ם אַחֲרֵי֙ הִפָּֽרֶד־לֹ֣וט מֵֽעִמֹּ֔ו שָׂ֣א נָ֤א עֵינֶ֙יךָ֙ וּרְאֵ֔ה מִן־הַמָּקֹ֖ום אֲשֶׁר־אַתָּ֣ה שָׁ֑ם צָפֹ֥נָה וָנֶ֖גְבָּה וָקֵ֥דְמָה וָיָֽמָּה׃ 15 כִּ֧י אֶת־כָּל־הָאָ֛רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־אַתָּ֥ה רֹאֶ֖ה לְךָ֣ אֶתְּנֶ֑נָּה וּֽלְזַרְעֲךָ֖ עַד־עֹולָֽם׃ 16 וְשַׂמְתִּ֥י אֶֽת־זַרְעֲךָ֖ כַּעֲפַ֣ר הָאָ֑רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀ אִם־יוּכַ֣ל אִ֗ישׁ לִמְנֹות֙ אֶת־עֲפַ֣ר הָאָ֔רֶץ גַּֽם־זַרְעֲךָ֖ יִמָּנֶֽה׃ 17 ק֚וּם הִתְהַלֵּ֣ךְ בָּאָ֔רֶץ לְאָרְכָּ֖הּ וּלְרָחְבָּ֑הּ כִּ֥י לְךָ֖ אֶתְּנֶֽנָּה׃ 18 וַיֶּאֱהַ֣ל אַבְרָ֗ם וַיָּבֹ֛א וַיֵּ֛שֶׁב בְּאֵלֹנֵ֥י מַמְרֵ֖א אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּחֶבְרֹ֑ון וַיִּֽבֶן־שָׁ֥ם מִזְבֵּ֖חַ לַֽיהוָֽה׃ פ

Verse 14 

פרד “to separate, divide” (Strong’s, 6504)
נשא “to lift, lift up, carry ” (Qal imperative)
ימין “south, right hand, right side”
ימ “west, westward, sea”

Verse 15

נתן “(he) gave”

Verse 16

ים “to put, set, place, make”

מנה “number, count, reckon”

Verse 17

הלך “walk, went, has gone”

ארך “length, forbearance” (Strong’s 753)

רחב “breadth, width, expanse” (Strong’s 7341)

Verse 18

בוא “to come, go, enter”
אלון “tree, strong tree, oak”
ממרא “Mamre”
חברון “Hebron”

Syntax & Misc.

Verse 15

• The preposition/conjunction, עד, can express a temporal, degree, terminative, emphatic, locative but here when combined with עולם denotes “forever.”

בֶּן־אָדָ֕ם צֹפֶ֥ה נְתַתִּ֖יךָ לְבֵ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֤ מִפִּי֙ דָּבָ֔ר וְהִזְהַרְתָּ֥ אוֹתָ֖ם מִמֶּֽנִּי׃ 18 בְּאָמְרִ֤י לָֽרָשָׁע֙ מ֣וֹת תָּמ֔וּת וְלֹ֣א הִזְהַרְתּ֗וֹ וְלֹ֥א דִבַּ֛רְתָּ לְהַזְהִ֥יר רָשָׁ֛ע מִדַּרְכּ֥וֹ הָרְשָׁעָ֖ה לְחַיֹּת֑וֹ ה֤וּא רָשָׁע֙ בַּעֲוֹנ֣וֹ יָמ֔וּת וְדָמ֖וֹ מִיָּדְךָ֥ אֲבַקֵּֽשׁ׃ 19 וְאַתָּה֙ כִּֽי־הִזְהַ֣רְתָּ רָשָׁ֔ע וְלֹא־שָׁב֙ מֵֽרִשְׁע֔וֹ וּמִדַּרְכּ֖וֹ הָרְשָׁעָ֑ה ה֚וּא בַּעֲוֹנ֣וֹ יָמ֔וּת וְאַתָּ֖ה אֶֽת־נַפְשְׁךָ֥ הִצַּֽלְתָּ׃ ס          20 וּבְשׁ֨וּב צַדִּ֤יק מִצִּדְקוֹ֙ וְעָ֣שָׂה עָ֔וֶל וְנָתַתִּ֥י מִכְשׁ֛וֹל לְפָנָ֖יו ה֣וּא יָמ֑וּת כִּ֣י לֹ֤א הִזְהַרְתּוֹ֙ בְּחַטָּאת֣וֹ יָמ֔וּת וְלֹ֣א תִזָּכַ֗רְןָ צִדְקֹתָו֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֔ה וְדָמ֖וֹ מִיָּדְךָ֥ אֲבַקֵּֽשׁ׃ 21 וְאַתָּ֞ה כִּ֧י הִזְהַרְתּ֣וֹ צַדִּ֗יק לְבִלְתִּ֥י חֲטֹ֛א צַדִּ֖יק וְה֣וּא לֹא־חָטָ֑א חָי֤וֹ יִֽחְיֶה֙ כִּ֣י נִזְהָ֔ר וְאַתָּ֖ה אֶֽת־נַפְשְׁךָ֥ הִצַּֽלְתָּ׃ ס

Vocabulary

Verse 17

צפה  “watchman” (BDB, 859)

זחר  verb (Hiphil): “give a warning” (BDB, 264) 

Verse 18

רשׁע  adjective: wickedness (BDB, 957)

בקשׁ  “require”

Syntax & Miscellaneous

• The beth preposition is temporal “when”  (see also verse 20)
• The repetition of a finite verb with infinitive absolute with the same root, מֹ֣ות תָּמ֔וּת, is an emphatic usage (“You shall surely die”).
• Waw is used for conjunction, disjunction, and other transition words.

Verse 20

עול  “unrighteousness” (BDB, 732)

מכשׁול  “stumbling block” (BDB, 506)

Syntax & Misc.

Verse 19

• The conditional, כי, is in second position.
• The verb, ישׁב, can mean “turn from” or even “repent.”

Verse 20

• Notice the similarity between 18-19 (רשׁע) and 20-21 (צדיק).