TheBibleNet: Psalm 13

Psalms:

Bk 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Bk 2: 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72

Bk 3: 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89

Bk 4: 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106

Bk 5: 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119a 119b 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132
133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150

Additional Psalms: 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 Samuel Chronicles

Essays: Intro - Music - Form & Language

In this Psalm, and worth looking at/comparing Psalms 29, 62, 148 and 150, the same word or words are repeated many times, allowing for a play on ideas, because context always impacts upon meaning. This technique, as far as I am aware, has no formal name in English (you can learn more about it here; but no, these are not homonyms or homophones), though almost every one of the great writers, poets, dramatists, uses it to the degree that they could not meaningfully investigate their theme without it. So we are in a very sophisticated realm, even if this is also that most primitive of places, the ancient world! The same is true of the use of rhymes, though the investigation of idea with these is rarely as profound, and it is there primarily to serve the music; repetition of the same suffix, at the ends of lines and in caesural pauses, is where you will mostly find it.

13:1 LA MENATSE'ACH MIZMOR LE DAVID

לַמְנַצֵּחַ מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד

KJ (King James translation): (To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.) How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

BN (BibleNet translation): For the Leader. A Psalm to David.

As now appears to be its modus operandi, KJ has again incorporated the first verse into the title, creating a difference between it and the Yehudit original in the numbering that follows.

LA MENATSE'ACH: Is there a word missing? The leader of... or is the MENATSE'ACH the overall "artistic director", and the others that we have encountered previously, with their specific designations, the second-tier of command in the choir and orchestra?

13:2 AD ANAH YHVH TISHKACHENI NETSACH AD ANAH TASTIR ET PANEYCHA MIMENI

עַד אָנָה יְהוָה תִּשְׁכָּחֵנִי נֶצַח עַד אָנָה תַּסְתִּיר אֶת פָּנֶיךָ מִמֶּנִּי

KJ (13:1): How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

BN: For how long, YHVH, will you forget me. For ever? For how long will you hide your face from me?

AD ANAH is not the same as the "How long?" that we encountered previously - AD MEH in Psalm 4:3. This is more like Yesha-Yah, in Isaiah 6:11, but still not the same: his was AD MATAI: "until when?". As to the precise differences: AD MEH will end when a terminating event takes place (until what?): MEH infers a noun. AD MATAI will end when a moment in time is reached (until when?): MATAI infers such a moment. AD ANAH, rather surprisingly, infers a location (until where?): the questioner has to reach an unnamed point, and then it will end: ANAH really means "where"? And presumably the answer is: when you build my palace, my sanctuary, the Temple in Yeru-Shala'im - but it isn't stated (and if it is that, then this dates the piece to not later than 900 BCE).

TASTIR ET PANEYCHA:This too we encountered previously (Psalm 10:11); phrased there as HISTIR PANAV, but the concept is the same.

13:3 AD ANAH ASIT ETSOT BE NAPHSHI YAGON BI LEVAVI YOMAM AD ANAH YARUM OYEVI ALAI

עַד אָנָה אָשִׁית עֵצוֹת בְּנַפְשִׁי יָגוֹן בִּלְבָבִי יוֹמָם עַד אָנָה יָרוּם אֹיְבִי עָלָי

KJ (13:2): How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

BN: For how long must I go on, chewing this matter over in my gut, grieving in my heart from day to day? {N} For how long will my enemy be held higher in your esteem than me?

13:4 HABIYTAH ANENI YHVH ELOHAI HA'IYRAH EYNAI PEN IYSHAN HA MAVET

הַבִּיטָה עֲנֵנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהָי הָאִירָה עֵינַי פֶּן אִישַׁן הַמָּוֶת

KJ (13:3): Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

BN: Look at me, and answer me, YHVH my god; lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

HABIYTA: See my notes on TABIT at Psalm 10:14.

13:5 PEN YOMAR OYEVI YECHALTIV TSARAI YAGIYLU KI EMOT

פֶּן יֹאמַר אֹיְבִי יְכָלְתִּיו צָרַי יָגִילוּ כִּי אֶמּוֹט

KJ (13:4): Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

BN: Lest my enemy say: I have beaten him; lest my adversaries rejoice when I am brought down.

YECHALTIV: Pronunciation question: AV or IV? The chirik-yud combination can be either, depending on context.

EMOT: Where does KJ get "moved" for this? EMOT here surely goes with MAVET at the end of the previous verse? But wait - that was MAVET with a final TAV, where this is EMOT with a final Tet. Homophones and word-play yet again. MOT here means "waver", and is used for the "trembling" and "shaking" of the earth at times of bad weather or tectonic movement.

13:6 VA ANI BE CHASDECHA VATACHTI YAGEL LIBI BIY'SHU'ATECHA ASHIYRAH LA YHVH KI GAMAL ALAI

וַאֲנִי בְּחַסְדְּךָ בָטַחְתִּי יָגֵל לִבִּי בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ אָשִׁירָה לַיהוָה כִּי גָמַל עָלָי

KJ (13:5): But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

BN: As for me, I have placed my trust in your mercy; my heart will rejoice in your salvation. {N} I will sing to YHVH, because he has treated me as a person should be treated. {P}

GAMAL: Yes, also a camel, but not here. And yes, the third letter of the alphabet (Gimmel - ג), which actually looks more like a giraffe than a camel; but likewise not here. See the link.

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Psalms:

Bk 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41