PHILOLOGICAL NOTES ON THE PSALMS

H. L. Ginsberg has recently written that "the clearer the general superior-
ity of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible over its rivals becomes
(which of course does not imply its superiority in every detail over every
other witness), the greater becomes the need for conjectural emendation."1
Correctly understood and properly applied, this is a valid principle. If by
conjectural emendation is understood the violent alteration and mutilation
of the text, so popular a few decades ago and still prevalent in certain
quarters, such a principle must be abandoned. But if one intends by con-
jectural emendation the prudent application of several accepted rules of
textual criticism, Ginsberg's formulation may be heartily endorsed.
Despite the efforts of numerous scholars, the Psalter still remains a book
in which a textual critic, employing a few simple principles of textual
criticism, can work with positive results. The translations presented here
are some of these results.
4:7. For the second half of this verse some commentators have recom-
mended the reading, nds m&fillnfi dr parieka yahw&, but this suggestion has
met with little success because it postulates the textual omission of a m£m
and because it finds no support among the versions.2 The translation which
results from such an emendation is distinctly superior to those of the ver-
sions, but to achieve such a translation it is not at all necessary to suppose
the omission of a m£m. Recent studies, confirmed by epigraphic discoveries,
make it abundantly clear that the preposition 'al can mean 'from,' especially
with verbs denoting * toflee.'3Thus in Dan. 6:19 Sintlh naddat lal6ht clearly
means 'his sleep fled from him/ and in the Ahiram inscription wnht tbrh
'I gbl is to be rendered 'and let peace Heefrom Byblus.'4 In Ps. 81:6 besltd
c
al eres misrdytm is to be translated 'in his going from the land of Egypt,'
as recently pointed out by G. R. Driver.6 The recognition that lM can also
1
Hebrew Union College Annual, XXIII (1950-51), I, 97.
2
E. Podechard, Le Psautier: Notes critiques, I, 22, following Gunkel, adopts this read-
ing on the ground that confusion between he and mhn is not unknown in biblical manu-
scripts. Although this explanation is not convincing, the translation which he offers is
quite acceptable: "Loin de nous s'est allee la lumiere de 'sa* face!"
3
L. Semkowski, Biblica, VII (1926), 95; M. Lidzbarski, OLZ, XXX (1927), cols.
455-56.
4
Cf. W. F. Albright, JAOS, LXVII (1947), 156.
8
Die Welt des Orients, 1950, p. 415. In a recent article in Vetus Testamentum, I (1951),
247, Driver has discussed this passage of Ps. 4 and has proposed a very similar transla-
tion: 'the light of thy countenance hasfledfrom over us.' In order to defend the Masoretic
consonantal text, he argues that dr is feminine here, but the Psalmists' consistent treat-
ment of dr as masculine militates strongly against such a view. The present writer ar-
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mean from will help to clear up a very difficult passage in Zach. 9:16 where
we recommend the omission of nUn in nezer, the result of dittography, so
that the text reads ki abr& zdr mitndsesdt (al admatd, 'for the slingstones of
the stranger are put to flight from His land.' In the Keret Epic (A, 116-18) a
similar sentiment is expressed in the passage which reads hzk 'I i$'l qrth
'abn ydk mfdpl, 'thine arrows shoot not into the city, (nor) thy hand-stones
flung headlong.'6 Hence in Ps. 4:7 one need either to omit the mater lectionis
he in nesdh and to read the colon nets 'allnd dr pdnekd yahwt, 'the light of
Thy countenance, O Lord, has fled from us,' or to adopt the explanation
which has been suggested to me by Dr. D. N. Freedman. It is the opinion of
Dr. Freedman that perhaps no emendation at all is necessary because
Masoretic nesdh may reflect an original *ndsa > nds. The old verbal ending
would be for metrical reasons (if preserved, the final short vowel would be
lengthened):
2 rabbim dmerim
2 mi yarlwd tdb
2 ndsa lalenH
2 dr pdnikd yahwi
Since this latter solution leaves the Masoretic text intact and divides the
verse into two balanced cola of a 2 plus 2 meter, it must be given the pre-
ference over my original explanation.
It is true that we do not find the expression nds dr elsewhere in the Bible,
but in Cant. 2:17, 4:6 occurs the phrase ndsd hassHdlim 'the shadows have
fled/7
127:2. The grammatically and conceptually difficult clause kin yittln
ltdidd Slna? will produce good sense if we emend the text to read kin yittln
lididd dolen 'thus he gives to His beloved rich nourishment.' The original
text possibly read lyddw dsn which was later spelled out fully lydydw dwsn.
An Aramaic ending was then added to the noun ddlen, a frequent phenom-
enon in the Dead Sea Scrolls, so that the reading became ddsnd\ and finally

rived at his translation and grammatical analysis of this passage independently of Driver's
article.
6
This is Ginsberg's rendition in Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 144a. In his earlier
(1946) translation Ginsberg read the singular 'hand-stone'; the superiority of the 1950
translation is indicated by the text of Zacharias. The writer wishes to express his grati-
tude to Prof. Albright, who called his attention to the Ugaritic parallel.
7
In the article cited above under note 1, Ginsberg emends the text to read nHth in-
stead of nesdh, and as evidence of sdmek miswritten for tit he cites these two passages
from Canticles and Qoh. 2:1. Despite the support of Sym., Syr., and Vulg. at Cant.
2:17 and 4:6, his emendation of these four texts is both unnecessary and unconvincing.
Suum cuique.

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by the haplography of the second dw the present text arose. In the Bible
only the noun delen is attested, occurring three times in the Psalms, but in
Mishnic Hebrew the noun dolen is used with the signification 'fatness, rich
land.' This rendition is supported by the sentiment expressed in Ps. 111:5
terep ndtan Url'dw 'He has given nourishment to those who fear Him., Cf.
alsoPs. 23:2.
127:5. In the ancient and modern versions Psalm 127 has a very anti-
climactic ending. 'They will not be put to shame when they speak with their
enemies in the gate' is the usual translation of this half-verse, and the only
dispute among commentators is whether the poet is referring to warfare or
to the administration of justice at the city gate. The Amarna letters throw
an entirely different light on this half-verse and clearly indicate that it
should be translated 'they will not be put to shame for they will drive their
enemies from the gate (city).' In Amarna letter 76, 38-41 Rib-Addi writes
to the Pharaoh, uSSira sdbl pitati raid u tudabir aydbi larri iltu libbi mdtilu
'send a large number of archers so that they might drive out the enemies of
the king from the midst of his country.'8 In Amarna letter 138, 68-70
similar language is employed, tidabbiru sdbl aziri iltu dli 'they will drive the
troops of Aziri from the city,' and in EA 279, 20-23 we read, nidubbur
amllfitu larfita iltu mdt larri biliya. In this analysis et becomes the nota
accusativi, but since Masoretic dyebim is indefinite, whereas the sense
demands 'their enemies,' we assume that dyebtm conceals an original dyeb$hem
which became, with the syncope of the intervocalic hi, dy'btm? Of course
here the preposition ba in balld'ar is to be taken in the sense of from, a
signification which it carries in Ugaritic, Phoenician, and Hebrew. What is
more, if one prefers to understand ldlar as 'city,' there can be no objection
because there is good biblical support for this meaning (Isa. 14:31; Ps.
87:2), and the Amarna parallels seem to suggest that the poet may have
intended such a connotation.
56:6. The acknowledgment that biblical dibber can also signify 'drive
out,' 'pursue' will serve to clarify an unintelligible passage in Ps. 56.10
8
See George E. Mendenhall, JNES, VI (1947), 124, n. 4; cf. also H. Zimmern, ZA,
VI (1891), 158.
9
The writer is indebted to Dr. Freedman for this excellent observation.
10
At II Chron. 22:10 the Masoretic text has watPdabber et kol zera* hammamlakd 'and
she drove out all the royal family.' Because of the doublet in II Kings 11:1 the verb is
generally emended to F'abbed; the Masoretic reading may be right after all, although
this cannot be insisted upon because the context indicates that Athaliah slew all the
members of the royal family with the exception of Joash. In Ps. 47:4 yadber (vocalize
y*dabber) clearly means 'he subjects (drives) peoples under us/ and at Ps. 18:48 the
text should be vocalized widabber %ammtm tahldy 'and he subjects (drives) peoples under
me.' The emendations which have hitherto been offered become superfluous.

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In verse 6 after ydm we should restore a mim, which was lost by haplog-
raphy, and read as follows: kol hayydm medabberay ylids6bH ldlay kol
maWbdtdm Idrd* 'all the day long my pursuers are sorely troubled on my
account, all of their plans are for evil.' The following verse explains the
nature of their perpetual vexation: 'they lie in wait (Ps. 59:4), they hide,
lo (Ugar. hm) they watch my steps/ The nipVal vocalization of the root
'sb, followed by the preposition lai, is favored by the parallel construction
at II Sam. 19:3.
Weston College MITCHELL DAHOOD, S.J.

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