Psalm 3 Participant Analysis
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Psalm 3/Participant Analysis
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Victory is YHWH's!
Psalm 3
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 5 participants/characters in Psalm 3:
Profile List
| David |
| YHWH's people |
| YHWH |
| "YHWH" (vv. 2a, 4a, 6b, 8a, 9a) |
| "[my] God" (vv. 3b, 8a) |
| Enemies |
| "my adversaries" (v. 2a) |
| "those rising against me" (v. 2b) |
| "those saying about me..." (v. 3a) |
| "tens of thousands of people" (v. 7a) |
| "my enemies" (v. 8b) |
| "wicked people" (v. 8c) |
| Absalom |
Profile Notes
- The speaker in this psalm is David, the king of Israel and the representative of YHWH's people.
- YHWH is David's God. YHWH made a covenant with David, promising to give him an eternal dynasty and kingdom and to rescue him from all of his enemies (see 2 Sam 7; Ps 89).
- The enemies in this psalm are the many people who joined in rebellion against David under the leadership of Absalom, David's own son (see 2 Sam 15ff). Absalom is David's third-born son, the first by his wife Ma'acha, daughter of Talmi, king of Geshur (a "small Aramaic state between Bashan and Hermon" [HALOT, 205]) (2 Sam 3:3).
| Hebrew | Line | English |
|---|---|---|
| מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִ֑ד בְּ֝בָרְח֗וֹ מִפְּנֵ֤י ׀ אַבְשָׁל֬וֹם בְּנֽוֹ׃ | 1 | A psalm. By David. When he was fleeing from Absalom, his son. |
| יְ֭הוָה מָֽה־רַבּ֣וּ צָרָ֑י | 2a | YHWH, how my adversaries have become many! |
| רַ֝בִּ֗ים קָמִ֥ים עָלָֽי׃ | 2b | Many are those rising against me. |
| רַבִּים֮ אֹמְרִ֪ים לְנַ֫פְשִׁ֥י | 3a | Many are those saying about me, |
| אֵ֤ין יְֽשׁוּעָ֓תָה לּ֬וֹ בֵֽאלֹהִ֬ים סֶֽלָה׃ | 3b | "There is no victory for him in God!" Selah. |
| וְאַתָּ֣ה יְ֭הוָה מָגֵ֣ן בַּעֲדִ֑י | 4a | But you, YHWH, are a shield for me, |
| כְּ֝בוֹדִ֗י וּמֵרִ֥ים רֹאשִֽׁי׃ | 4b | my honor, and the one who lifts my head. |
| ק֭וֹלִי אֶל־יְהוָ֣ה אֶקְרָ֑א | 5a | I call aloud to YHWH, |
| וַיַּֽעֲנֵ֨נִי מֵהַ֖ר קָדְשׁ֣וֹ סֶֽלָה׃ | 5b | and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah. |
| אֲנִ֥י שָׁכַ֗בְתִּי וָֽאִ֫ישָׁ֥נָה | 6a | I lay down and fell asleep. |
| הֱקִיצ֑וֹתִי כִּ֖י יְהוָ֣ה יִסְמְכֵֽנִי׃ | 6b | I woke up, because YHWH supports me. |
| לֹֽא־אִ֭ירָא מֵרִבְב֥וֹת עָ֑ם | 7a | I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר סָ֝בִ֗יב שָׁ֣תוּ עָלָֽי׃ | 7b | who have taken position against me all around. |
| ק֘וּמָ֤ה יְהוָ֨ה ׀ הוֹשִׁ֘יעֵ֤נִי אֱלֹהַ֗י | 8a | Rise up, YHWH! Save me, my God! |
| כִּֽי־הִכִּ֣יתָ אֶת־כָּל־אֹיְבַ֣י לֶ֑חִי | 8b | For you have struck all my enemies on the jaw. |
| שִׁנֵּ֖י רְשָׁעִ֣ים שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ׃ | 8c | You have broken wicked people's teeth. |
| לַיהוָ֥ה הַיְשׁוּעָ֑ה | 9a | Victory is YHWH's! |
| עַֽל־עַמְּךָ֖ בִרְכָתֶ֣ךָ סֶּֽלָה׃ | 9b | Your blessing is on your people. Selah. |
- The psalmist alternates from addressing YHWH in the second person (vv. 2-4, 8, 9b) to speaking about him in the third person (vv. 5-6, 9a). The clearest instance of such person shifting is in v. 9, where the first half mentions "YHWH" in the third person, and the second half addresses him in the second person ("your"). This kind of person shifting is common in Hebrew poetry and also occurs in prose, e.g., when someone is speaking to a king (see e.g., Esth 3:8-9; Ps 45:2). When the psalmist says something about YHWH in the third person, it does not necessarily imply that he is no longer speaking to YHWH (cf. Pss 7; 18).
Participant Relations Diagram
The relationships among the participants may be abstracted and summarized as follows:
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Participant Analysis Summary Distribution
