תהלים קיא

         1  אוֹדֶ֣ה יְ֭הוָה בְּכָל־לֵבָ֑ב        בְּס֖וֹד יְשָׁרִ֣ים וְעֵדָֽה׃

         2  גְּ֭דֹלִים מַֽעֲשֵׂ֣י־יְהוָ֑ה           דְּ֝רוּשִׁ֗ים לְכָל־חֶפְצֵיהֶֽם׃

         3  הוֹד וְהָדָ֥ר פָּֽעֳל֑וֹ             וְ֝צִדְקָת֗וֹ עֹמֶ֥דֶת לָעַֽד׃

 

        4 זֵ֣כֶר עָ֭שָׂה לְנִפְלְאוֹתָ֑יו       חַנּ֖וּן וְרַח֣וּם יְהוָֽה׃

        5 טֶ֭רֶף נָתַ֣ן לִֽירֵאָ֑יו              יִזְכֹּ֖ר לְעוֹלָ֣ם בְּרִיתֽוֹ׃

        6 כֹּ֣חַ־מַֽ֭עֲשָׂיו הִגִּ֣יד לְעַמּ֑וֹ     לָתֵ֥ת לָ֝הֶ֗ם נַֽחֲלַ֥ת־גּוֹיִֽם׃

 

        7 מַֽעֲשֵׂ֣י־יָ֭דָיו אֱמֶ֣ת וּמִשְׁפָּ֑ט       נֶֽ֝אֱמָנִ֗ים כָּל־פִּקּוּדָֽיו

        8 סְמוּכִ֣ים לָעַ֣ד לְעוֹלָ֑ם             עֲ֝שׂוּיִ֗ם בֶּֽאֱמֶ֥ת וְיֹשֶֽׁר׃

                                       

        9   פְּד֤וּת ׀ שָׁ֘לַ֤ח לְעַמּ֗וֹ      צִוָּֽה ֯ לְעוֹלָ֥ם בְּרִית֑וֹ      קָד֖וֹשׁ וְנוֹרָ֣א שְׁמֽוֹ׃

10      9 רֵ֘אשִׁ֤ית־חָכְמָ֨ה׀יִרְאַת־יְהוָ֗ה    שֵׂכֶל־טוֹב לְכָל־עֹֽשֵׂיהֶ֑ם    תְּ֝הִלָּת֗וֹ עֹמֶ֥דֶת לָעַֽד׃

The colors signal lexical, clause constituent, and information structure chains. For example, green marks the objects of praise in the psalm; grey, attributes of the objects of praise; magenta, the performers of praise and the qualities they should possess: the beginning of wisdom: fear of the Lord, and keen sense

Comments

[Theophrastus]

OK, just to nitpick -- why didn't you color this the same as the English translation? For example, in the English translation, you colored ראשית with magenta lettering and gray background.

[JohnFH]

Theophrastus,

That is acute on your part. I'm uncertain about how best to analyze 111:10. As I look at again, it makes better sense to regard רֵאשִׁית־חָכְמָה׀יִרְאַת and שֵׂכֶל־טוֹב as entirely new, rather than anaphoric of either the grey or magenta chains. What do you think? If so, that would make 111:10 a true kicker of a verse from the point of information structure.

[Bob MacDonald]

To divide functionally as you have is an interesting idea. It reminds me of entity-relationship diagrams in my profession. You inspired me to look again at this psalm. I still have not decided what to do about Oxford. The trip will catch me in England with a 2 week hiatus till I am supposed to be in Israel. Uncertainty reigns at the moment so I wait...

[JohnFH]

Hi Bob,

I'm sure you would enjoy the Oxford Conference very much. If my college-age son makes some good money this summer, I might be able to go as well. He's trying to sell themes or whatever they call him (he is a computer graphic design artist).

[Phil]

John, I'm still trying to understand the colouring system. "Objects of praise" obviously doesn't refer to a grammatical category, as many of them are grammtical subjects. I guess it's about subject matter, what the Psalmist considered praiseworthy. But shouldn't יזכר be green in v. 5 and not ברית? It's the fact that God remembers that is the grounds for praise and not so much the covenant itself.

Forgive me if I'm being dense!

[Phil]

While reading up on verb valency I discovered this, which may help answer my question: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thematic_relation.

[JohnFH]

Hi Phil,

I'm experimenting the coloring scheme at the moment. I have revised it again and will post it with further discussion in a few weeks.

For your question about verb valency, I would invite you to go over and pose it to John Cook or Rob Holmstedt on their new blog, Ancient Hebrew Grammar.

[Phil]

What an amazing blog, thanks!

You inspired me to do something similar with the historical psalm superscriptions. My thesis is that the Psalter constructs a particular Davidic persona, one that is relatively consistent on various levels (superscriptions, content of the Psalms themselves, macro- and micro-structure, thematic ordering etc.) and that this persona can provide us with an integrating moment when thinking about the theology of the Psalter. Semantic/syntactical analysis like this really helps me uncover the kind of patterns I'm looking for. At some point I'll be situating Ps 24 (with my own idiosyncratic interpretation of it!) within this broader "personal narrative."

ברכות