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

Chapter 4: Analysis of Psalms 3-8(v. 8). When the righteous approach him in this manner, he will receive themwith covenant love and faithfulness (vv. 8-9), defend them (v. 12), bless them(v. 13) and surround them with favour (v. 13).The Lord does not permit the wicked—portrayed as arrogant deceivers whotempt the righteous into destructive ways—to enter his presence. Yahwehdetests them, declares them guilty, banishes them from his presence andultimately destroys them.4.4 Psalm 64.4.1 Textual variantsThere are two meaningful variants in this psalm.a) There is some doubt about both occurrences of יהוה in verse 3, butCraigie (1998:90) believes “it is preferable to keep the words, for theyfit well with the tone of entreaty in the opening portion of the prayer”.ףָ‏ שְ‏ שָ‏ ה ( weary” b) In verse 8, the Masoretic Text reads “my eye has grownthe verb is in the third person with “eye” as its subject. A few old ‏;(ףֵ‏ ינִ‏ יGreek manuscripts, Aquila and Symmachus, contain a first personverb—“I have grown weary”. Although the variant reading is possible(Craigie 1998:90), I believe the external evidence slightly favours the136