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

Chapter 4: Analysis of Psalms 3-8However, if the enemy should be found to have laid an evil snare for thepsalmist, Yahweh will cause it to recoil upon his own head (vv. 15-17).Yahweh is an invisible arbitrator in the affairs of men. He executes judgementby vindicating the righteous and shaming the wicked.4.6 Psalm 84.6.1 Textual variantsThe Hebrew text of Psalm 8:2b is peculiar; and many textual emendationshave been proposed (see Sfair 1942; Dahood 1966; Donner 1967; Soggin1971; Tournay 1971; Hamp 1972; Smith 1997). The first problem is found inאֲ‏ שֶ‏ ש ( heavens” verse 2b, which literally reads “which give your majesty on theThe awkwardness of ‏.אֲ‏ שֶ‏ ש ְ נָ‏ ה and relates to the words ‏,(הודְ‏ ‏ָך ףַ‏ ל־הַ‏ שָ‏ מָ‏ יִם, ְ נָ‏ ה coupled with the out-of-place imperative ‏,אֲ‏ שֶ‏ ש beginning the colon withsuggests that the Hebrew text is corrupt (Craigie 1998:104; cf. Dahood 1966;Soggin 1971). The solution I favour, taken from the NET Bible, simply emendsor נָ‏ תַ‏ ָ ה ְ from a masculine singular imperative to a second person perfect נָ‏ הimperfect ֵ ן ִ and interprets אֲ‏ שֶ‏ ש as either a relative pronoun (“you who”) or a167