Smith DTh Thesis (final).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

Chapter 4: Analysis of Psalms 3-8[T]he verb translated “I make preparations” ‏(עשך)‏ may be usedwith respect to the making of formal preparations for a sacrifice(e.g. setting the wood upon the altar). But the word may also beused of preparing one’s words (e.g. in a legal case or debate)and there can be no certainty that it is used in any technicalsacrificial sense here.‏,קָ‏ ץָ‏ ה)‏ “watch” After presenting his case (or his sacrifice), the psalmist will35:3:1, v. 4b) expectantly for the Lord’s response. 49The wicked (strophes 2 and 4). The second strophe (vv. 5-7) depicts therelationship between God and the wicked. Each of the six lines contains onecharacterisation of the wicked (except v. 7b, which contains twocharacterisations). Each line also contains one term, usually a verb, indicatingtheir relationship with Yahweh.Three of the seven terms used to describe the wicked are generic terms forwickedness. The first two, שֶ‏ שַ‏ ע (30:6:1, v. 5a) and שַ‏ ע (299:29:3, v. 5b), are49 Several terms in this strophe did not warrant discussion, but their statistical data is‏,בִ‏ ין)‏ “consider” 41:15:1), ‏,אָ‏ זַ‏ ן)‏ ear” presented here for the sake of completeness: “give214:18:2). ‏,בֹרֶ‏ ש)‏ “morning” 84:4:1) and ‏,פָ‏ לַ‏ ל)‏ “pray” 46:8:1), ‏,רָ‏ שַ‏ ב)‏ attention” “give 170:26:1),127