Psalm 112 Participant Analysis
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Psalm 112/Participant Analysis
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The one who fears YHWH
Psalm 112
Participant Analysis
Participant Analysis focuses on the characters in the psalm and asks, “Who are the main participants (or characters) in this psalm, and what are they saying or doing? It is often helpful for understanding literary structure, speaker identification, etc.
For a detailed explanation of our method, see the Participant Analysis Creator Guidelines.
There are four participants/characters in Psalm 112:
Profile List
| Leader |
| "The man who fears YHWH" (v. 1) |
| "A light" (v. 4) |
| "Righteous one" (v. 6) |
| Offspring |
| "A generation of upright people" (v. 2) |
| YHWH |
| "Yah" (v. 1) |
| Upright Ones |
| "The poor" (v. 9) |
| Wicked |
| "Adversaries" (v. 8) |
Profile Notes
- Leader: The "man who fears YHWH" (v. 1), also referred to as the "righteous one" (v. 6b) and depicted as "a (source of) light" (v. 4a), is probably a king (see discussion here). The description of this man in Ps. 112 closely parallels the description of YHWH in Ps. 111.
- Upright Ones: The upright (v. 4a) are those who live their lives in accordance with YHWH's law. Also known as "the poor" (v. 9a), they are those who lack life's basic necessities and are therefore financially dependent upon others, including especially YHWH (cf. SDBH). Because poverty leads to dependence on YHWH, poverty and uprightness are, in the Biblical world, closely related realities (cf. Ps. 37:14). In Psalm 112, both the upright are the beneficiaries of the man's justice and generosity.
- Wicked: The wicked (v. 10) are those who do not live according to YHWH's law (cf. SDBH). Instead of serving YHWH, they serve their desires (v. 10c), which, under the reign of the man who fears YHWH, will come to an end. The man's adversaries (v. 8b) are probably a foreign power that represents a military threat (see Story behind). In the psalm, both the wicked and the adversaries play a similar role—they both express hostility towards the man—and so they are grouped together here.
| Text (Hebrew) | Verse | Text (CBC) The Close-but-clear translation (CBC) exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text according to how we understand its syntax and word-to-phrase-level semantics. It is designed to be "close" to the Hebrew, while still being "clear." Specifically, the CBC encapsulates and reflects the following layers of analysis: grammar, lexical semantics, phrase-level semantics, and verbal semantics. It does not reflect our analysis of the discourse or of poetics. It is not intended to be used as a stand-alone translation or base text, but as a supplement to Layer-by-Layer materials to help users make full use of these resources. |
|---|---|---|
הַ֥לְלוּ יָ֨הּ ׀
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1a | Praise Yah!
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אַשְׁרֵי־אִ֭ישׁ יָרֵ֣א אֶת־יְהוָ֑ה
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1b | Happy is the one [who] fears YHWH,
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בְּ֝מִצְוֺתָ֗יו חָפֵ֥ץ מְאֹֽד׃
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1c | [who] delights very much in his commands!
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גִּבּ֣וֹר בָּ֭אָרֶץ יִהְיֶ֣ה זַרְע֑וֹ
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2a | His offspring will be great on the earth,
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דּ֭וֹר יְשָׁרִ֣ים יְבֹרָֽךְ׃
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2b | a generation of upright people [who] will be blessed.
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הוֹן־וָעֹ֥שֶׁר בְּבֵית֑וֹ
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3a | Immense wealth is in his house,
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וְ֝צִדְקָת֗וֹ עֹמֶ֥דֶת לָעַֽד׃
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3b | and his righteousness endures forever.
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זָ֘רַ֤ח בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְ א֭וֹר לַיְשָׁרִים ישרים
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4a | A light for the upright has risen in the darkness,
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חַנּ֖וּן וְרַח֣וּם וְצַדִּֽיק׃
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4b | merciful and compassionate and righteous.
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טֽוֹב־אִ֭ישׁ חוֹנֵ֣ן וּמַלְוֶ֑ה
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5a | Fortunate is the one who lends generously,
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יְכַלְכֵּ֖ל דְּבָרָ֣יו בְּמִשְׁפָּֽט׃
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5b | [who] manages his affairs with justice!
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כִּֽי־לְעוֹלָ֥ם לֹא־יִמּ֑וֹט
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6a | For he will never waver.
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לְזֵ֥כֶר ע֝וֹלָ֗ם יִהְיֶ֥ה צַדִּֽיק׃
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6b | The righteous one will be remembered forever.
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מִשְּׁמוּעָ֣ה רָ֭עָה לֹ֣א יִירָ֑א
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7a | He will not be afraid of bad news.
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נָכ֥וֹן לִ֝בּ֗וֹ בָּטֻ֥חַ בַּיהוָֽה׃
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7b | His heart is confident, trusting in YHWH.
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סָמ֣וּךְ לִ֭בּוֹ לֹ֣א יִירָ֑א
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8a | His heart is encouraged. He will not be afraid,
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עַ֖ד אֲשֶׁר־יִרְאֶ֣ה בְצָרָֽיו׃
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8b | until he looks [in triumph] on his adversaries.
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פִּזַּ֤ר ׀ נָ֘תַ֤ן לָאֶבְיוֹנִ֗ים
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9a | He has given freely to the poor.
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צִ֭דְקָתוֹ עֹמֶ֣דֶת לָעַ֑ד
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9b | His righteousness endures forever.
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קַ֝רְנ֗וֹ תָּר֥וּם בְּכָבֽוֹד׃
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9c | His horn will rise in honor.
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רָ֘שָׁ֤ע יִרְאֶ֨ה ׀ וְכָעָ֗ס
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10a | The wicked person will see and become vexed.
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שִׁנָּ֣יו יַחֲרֹ֣ק וְנָמָ֑ס
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10b | He will grind his teeth and waste away.
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תַּאֲוַ֖ת רְשָׁעִ֣ים תֹּאבֵֽד׃
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10c | The desire of the wicked will come to an end.
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Participant Relations Diagram
The relationships among the participants may be abstracted and summarized as follows:
Participant Analysis Summary Distribution
