Psalm 11 Macrosyntax

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Psalm 11/Macrosyntax
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Macrosyntax

  What is Macrosyntax?

Macrosyntax Diagram

  Legend

Macrosyntax legend
Vocatives Vocatives are indicated by purple text.
Discourse marker Discourse markers (such as כִּי, הִנֵּה, לָכֵן) are indicated by orange text.
The scope governed by the discourse marker is indicated by a dashed orange bracket connecting the discourse marker to its scope.
The preceding discourse grounding the discourse marker is indicated by a solid orange bracket encompassing the relevant clauses.
Subordinating conjunction The subordinating conjunction is indicated by teal text.
Subordination is indicated by a solid teal bracket connecting the subordinating conjunction with the clause to which it is subordinate.
Coordinating conjunction The coordinating conjunction is indicated by blue text.
Coordination is indicated by a solid blue line connecting the coordinating clauses.
Coordination without an explicit conjunction is indicated by a dashed blue line connecting the coordinated clauses.
Marked topic is indicated by a black dashed rounded rectangle around the marked words.
The scope of the activated topic is indicated by a black dashed bracket encompassing the relevant clauses.
Marked focus or thetic sentence Marked focus (if one constituent) or thetic sentences[1] are indicated by bold text.
Frame setters[2] are indicated by a solid gray rounded rectangle around the marked words.
[blank line] Discourse discontinuity is indicated by a blank line.
[indentation] Syntactic subordination is indicated by indentation.
Direct speech is indicated by a solid black rectangle surrounding all relevant clauses.
(text to elucidate the meaning of the macrosyntactic structures) Within the CBC, any text elucidating the meaning of macrosyntax is indicated in gray text inside parentheses.

If an emendation or revocalization is preferred, that emendation or revocalization will be marked in the Hebrew text of all the visuals.

Emendations/Revocalizations legend
*Emended text* Emended text, text in which the consonants differ from the consonants of the Masoretic text, is indicated by blue asterisks on either side of the emendation.
*Revocalized text* Revocalized text, text in which only the vowels differ from the vowels of the Masoretic text, is indicated by purple asterisks on either side of the revocalization.
(Click diagram to enlarge)




  • vv. 1-3. The כִּי clauses in vv. 2-3 are syntactically subordinated to the clause in v. 1d, and together vv. 1d-3 constitute direct speech.
  • vv. 4-5. Verse 4 introduces a new topic ("YHWH"). The fronting of the noun phrases in vv. 4bcd-5a (YHWH...YHWH...his eyes...his eyelids...YHWH), together with the repetition of YHWH's name (v. 4ab, 5a), binds this section together. The occurrence of YHWH at the beginning and end of vv. 4–5 further marks the boundaries of the paragraph. Moreover, this paragraph contains the only instance of a waw functioning at the clause level with a contrastive meaning ("but").
  • v. 6. Verse 6 introduces a new paragraph and is characterized by the presence of deontic modality ("May he rain").
  • v. 7. The discourse marker supports this paragraph division.
  • v. 1b. The prepositional phrase בַּיהוָה ("in YHWH") is in marked focus.[3] "I have sought refuge in YHWH (and in nothing else)" (cf. Pss 7:2; 31:2; 71:1; 141:8). Whereas David's advisors are focused on the protection offered by the city's fortifications (v. 3a), David has sought refuge in YHWH.
  • vv. 2a, 3a. The כִּי clauses in vv. 2a, 3a have subject-verb word order, marking the clauses as thetics, which provide the grounds for the advice to "flee" in v. 1d: "Flee... for (1) the wicked people are about to bend the bow... for (2) the foundations are about to be destroyed."[4]
  • v. 3b. The noun phrase צַדִּיק ("the righteous person") is fronted as a marked topic ("and as for the righteous one").[5] The noun phrase even occurs before the interrogative pronoun, which might suggest it is left dislocated (but see footnote in JM 155pb).
  • v. 4. YHWH becomes the topic of the discourse (vv. 4-7). The fronting of the noun phrases in vv. 4bcd-5a (YHWH...YHWH...his eyes...his eyelids...YHWH) along with the repetition of YHWH's name (v. 4ab, 5a) dramatically underscores this shift in topic. Whereas his advisors never mention YHWH, David responds by drawing their attention to YHWH and thereby reorienting them to the situation.
  • v. 4b. Left dislocation for the purpose of topic identification.[6] The prepositional phrase בַּשָּׁמַ֪יִם ("in heaven") is fronted for marked focus ("as for YHWH – his throne is [not on earth, but] in heaven").
  • v. 4cd. S-V // S-V-O. Lunn regards the word order in these clauses as pragmatically marked.[7] The fronting is probably topical, as in v. 4b. It may be an example of listing (cf. Ps 1:3).
  • v. 5. Both clauses in this verse have marked word order.[8] In the first clause, צַדִּיק ("the righteous person") is fronted for marked focus. It is the righteous person whom YHWH (loves and) refines. Cf. Prov 3:12 – כִּ֤י אֶ֥ת אֲשֶׁ֣ר יֶאֱהַ֣ב יְהוָ֣ה יוֹכִ֑יחַ. By contrast, he does not refine the wicked. Instead, he hates them. The contrast is sharpened by the fronting of the noun phrases in v. 5b (cf. Ps 1:6) (See The Division of Psalm 11:5). The fronting of "YHWH" in the first clause looks like an instance of marked topic, but since there is no reason why "YHWH" should be marked as a topic at this point, it is probably better to explain it as poetic-structural (either marking a new strophe [cf. v. 1, v. 4] or binding v. 5 together with v. 4).
  • v. 7ab. Lunn regards the word order of both verbal clauses in this verse as pragmatically marked.[9] The fronted object in v. 7aβ צְדָק֣וֹת ("righteous acts") is probably in marked focus: YHWH loves righteous acts (=deeds), not acts of violence (cf. v. 5b, 2ab). The fronted subject in v. 7b יָשָׁר ("the upright people") may be either topic ("as for the upright...") or focus ("it is the upright who will look at his face"). The grammatical discord (singular subject, plural verb) may suggest that יָשָׁר is topical ("as for the upright – they will look at his face").
  • Verse 1 presents multiple textual and grammatical issues which involves the vocative צִפּוֹר ("bird/birds"). For an in-depth discussion, see The Text, Grammar, and Meaning of Psalm 11:1d. We have interpreted צִפּוֹר as a collective noun ("birds") rather than a singular ("a bird"). In this reading, David’s advisors address David and his entourage as "birds" and urge them to flee to the mountain. The vocative contributes to the imagery of David and his entourage as vulnerable birds who are about to be trapped, evoking the situation of a king and his entourage under siege.
  • v. 2a. The כִּי at the beginning of this verse provides the grounds for the speech act in v. 1d. "Flee... because."[10] Moreover, the discourse marker הִנֵּה (look!), the primary function of which is "to call attention to something,"[11] indicates that what the speaker is about to say is noteworthy and, in this case, urgent: "The wicked people are about to bend the bow."
  • vv. 2a, 3a. The כִּי ("for") clauses in vv. 2a, 3a are most naturally understood as providing the grounds for the advice to "flee" in v. 1d: "Flee... for (1) the wicked people are about to bend the bow... for (2) the foundations are about to be destroyed."[12] (See The Semantics of Psalm 11:3 and expanded paraphrase).
  • v. 7a. The discourse marker כִּי ("for") in v. 7 grounds the whole psalm (cf. Pss 1:6; 5:13). "The reason why I can say all of this is because 'YHWH is righteous...'" Footnote: [13]
  • v. 5. The meaning of this verse depends on how the lines are divided. For an in-depth discussion, see The Division of Psalm 11:5. We understand the waw (וְ) prefixed to רָשָׁע ("the wicked person") as functioning at the clause level with a contrastive meaning, "but." This reading contrasts how YHWH deals with the righteous and the wicked: "It is the righteous whom YHWH examines, but his soul hates the wicked person, who loves violence."


  1. ↑ When the entire utterance is new/unexpected, it is a thetic sentence (often called "sentence focus"). See our Creator Guidelines for more information on topic and focus.
  2. ↑ Frame setters are any orientational constituent – typically, but not limited to, spatio-temporal adverbials – function to "limit the applicability of the main predication to a certain restricted domain" and "indicate the general type of information that can be given" in the clause nucleus (Krifka & Musan 2012: 31-32). In previous scholarship, they have been referred to as contextualizing constituents (see, e.g., Buth (1994), “Contextualizing Constituents as Topic, Non-Sequential Background and Dramatic Pause: Hebrew and Aramaic evidence,” in E. Engberg-Pedersen, L. Falster Jakobsen and L. Schack Rasmussen (eds.) Function and expression in Functional Grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 215-231; Buth (2023), “Functional Grammar and the Pragmatics of Information Structure for Biblical Languages,” in W. A. Ross & E. Robar (eds.) Linguistic Theory and the Biblical Text. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 67-116), but this has been conflated with the function of topic. In brief: sentence topics, belonging to the clause nucleus, are the entity or event about which the clause provides a new predication; frame setters do not belong in the clause nucleus and rather provide a contextual orientation by which to understand the following clause.
  3. ↑ So Lunn 2006, 297.
  4. ↑ Locatell 2019, 86-88. See Ps 3: 6b for similar case of subject-verb word order, marking the clause as a thetic.
  5. ↑ Cf. Lunn 2006 "MKD".
  6. ↑ BHRG 48.2.2.
  7. ↑ Lunn 2006, 297.
  8. ↑ So Lunn 2006, 297.
  9. ↑ Lunn 2006, 297.
  10. ↑ Cf. Locatell 2019, 86-88.
  11. ↑ Labuschagne 4.
  12. ↑ On speech-act כִּי, see Locatell 2019, 86-88.
  13. ↑ The structure of Psalm 11 is similar to the structure of both Psalm 1 and Psalm 5. Each of these three psalms has two main sections and a final verse beginning with כי that summarizes and grounds the entire psalm. These three psalms also have similar themes (e.g., strong contrast between righteous and wicked).