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

Chapter 4: Analysis of Psalms 3-810:3:1). His weeping is so intense that his eye ‏,ףֶ‏ שֶ‏ ש)‏ “couch” 4:3:1) his ‏,מָ‏ סָ‏ ה)‏has “wasted away” ‏,ףָ‏ שַ‏ ש)‏ 2:2:1, v. 8a) and “grown weak” ‏,ףָ‏ תַ‏ ר)‏ 9:1:1, v. 8b)with “grief” ‏,כָ‏ ףָ‏ ס)‏ 21:4:1, v. 8a).The sudden introduction of “foes” 68 ‏,קושֵ‏ ש)‏ 26:14:4) is both unexpected andperplexing. Until this point there has been no indication that foes are thecause of the psalmist’s anguish. Wilson (2002:181) cautiously suggests itsupports the view that the references to disease in the psalm are metaphors“for suffering experienced through the attacks of opponents”. Mays’(1994a:61) explanation seems to fit better:They are not the cause of the psalmist’s affliction; rather, theyare its exploiters and exacerbators [sic]. Perhaps in the veryface of the psalmist’s appeal to God they have publicly andwillingly given him up for dead, reckoned him deserving of his9c, the author linked it with both cola. Thus there is no Hebrew phrase underlying the ESV“with my weeping” in 9c. This is supplied from “with my tears” in 9b, but changed for variety.‏.קשש as “foes” assumes it derives from the Hebrew root קושְ‏ שָ‏ י 68 The normal translation ofCraigie (1998:90) summarises a mass of speculation about possible alternative derivationsfrom Akkadian and Ugaritic by Driver (1956), Gordon (1965), Dahood (1966) and Gibson(1978), but eventually rejects all of them in favour of the traditional Hebrew etymology.146