Psalm 34 Poetic Structure

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Taste and see!

Psalm 34

Please note: Resources for Psalm 34 are in the process of being reformatted for visual consistency and improved functionality.

See Full Poetics Layer

Poetic Structure

  What is Poetic Structure?

In poetic structure, we analyse the structure of the psalm beginning at the most basic level of the structure: the line (also known as the “colon” or “hemistich”). Then, based on the perception of patterned similarities (and on the assumption that the whole psalm is structured hierarchically), we argue for the grouping of lines into verses, verses into sub-sections, sub-sections into larger sections, etc. Because patterned similarities might be of various kinds (syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, sonic) the analysis of poetic structure draws on all of the previous layers (especially the Discourse layer).

• Poetic Macro-Structure
• Line Divisions

Poetic Macro-structure

At-a-Glance

  Legend

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.

v. 1 By David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, and Abimelek drove him out, and he went.		Superscription
v. 2 I will bless YHWH at all times. His praise will continually be in my mouth.	א	Testimony	Trust in YHWH, and he will rescue you just like he rescued me!		joy
v. 3 My soul boasts in YHWH. May the afflicted hear and be glad!	ב
v. 4 Extol YHWH with me, and let us exalt his name together!	ג
v. 5 I sought YHWH and he answered me and he rescued me from all my terrors.	ד
v. 6 Gaze at him and glow, and do not let your faces be ashamed!	ה
v. 7 This is a poor man who called out and YHWH heard and saved him from all his troubles.	ו
v. 8 YHWH’s angel encamps all around those who fear him and he delivers them.	ז
v. 9 Taste and see that YHWH is good! Happy is the man who seeks refuge in him.	ח		YHWH protects and provides for those who fear him.		confidence
v. 10 Fear YHWH, you holy ones of his! For those who fear him have no lack.	ט
v. 11 Young lions have suffered want and been hungry, but those who seek YHWH will not lack any good.	י
v. 12 Come, children! Listen to me! I will teach you the fear of YHWH.	ל	Teaching	I will teach you what it means to fear YHWH.		solemnity
v. 13 Who is the person who desires life, who wants to live a long time, who loves to see good?	מ
v. 14 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit!	נ
v. 15 Turn away from evil and do good! Seek peace and pursue it!	ס
v. 17* YHWH’s face is against those who do evil, so as to remove the memory of them from the earth.	פ		YHWH protects and provides for the righteous (who fear him) and not for the wicked.		confidence
v. 16* YHWH’s eyes are directed towards the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cries for help.	ע
v. 18 They called for help, and YHWH heard, and he delivered them from all their troubles.	צ
v. 19 YHWH is near to the broken-hearted and he saves the crushed in spirit.	ק
v. 20 The hardships of the righteous are many, but YHWH rescues him from all of them.	ר
v. 21 He protects all his bones. Not one of them has broken.	ש
v. 22 Hardship finishes off a wicked person, and those who hate a righteous person bear their guilt	ת
v. 23 YHWH redeems his servants’ lives, and no one who seeks refuge in him will ever bear guilt.	פ

Notes

• By far, the most important structuring device in Psalm 34 is the acrostic structure. Each verse (bicolon) of the psalm begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. There are two points in the acrostic which diverge from the traditional 22 letter Hebrew alphabet: the waw verse is missing, and a pe verse is added on to the end. The fact that both of these 'abnormalities' occur also in Ps. 25 strong supports seeing them as deliberately included elements of the poem. Cf. Freedman: "If these phenomena had turned up in only one psalm, we might wonder about accidental omissions and possible inadvertencies, but when there are two psalms with so many identical points in common, it is clear that a deliberate program of alteration and adaptation has taken place in both cases."
  • 'Extra' pe verse (v. 23); cf. Ps. 25:22
    • "In the word 'aleph are contained three consonants: the first in the alphabet; the twelfth, lamed, which in the twenty-two letter sequence begins the second half of the alphabet ; and the "extra" letter, pe. By going from 'aleph to taw and then adding pe, one makes lamed the exact middle of the series and sums up the whole alphabet in the name of its first letter."
    • "The simplest solution to these curiosities is that the added line at the end of each poem serves as compensation for the omitted line in the body of each poem. It would appear that the added line was intended to make up for the omission of a line in the regular sequence, thereby retaining the normal and normative 22-line total for poems of this type: alphabetic acrostics. Alternatively and better, we could say that one of the internal lines of the poem has been omitted in order to allow for or to accommodate the addition of a final closing line."
  • 'Missing' waw verse.
    • The waw verse is missing in Ps. 34, Ps. 25, and possibly also in the Qumran poem known as 'Apostrophe to Zion.'
    • "The whole alphabet is summed up in the name of its first letter. Now, to keep the total number of lines to twenty-two and still have this effect, necessitates the omission of a letter. The letter omitted is ו, perhaps because of its especially 'weak' character."
• Beyond the acrostic structure which operates at the level of the verse (bicolon), it is difficult to discern any other clear structural patterns. The difficulty has even led one commentator to conclude that "the psalm is not subdivided into thought units longer than the verse."
• There is some strong evidence, however, for a division into two parts (vv. 2-11 // vv. 12-23). Such a division is supported by the following considerations:
  • A division between v. 11 and v. 12 corresponds well with the content. See especially Speech act analysis, Emotional analysis, and Participant analysis.
  • An ancient tradition divides Psalm 34 into two parts, reading a סלה at the end of v. 11. Though absent in the MT (and Targum and Pethitta), the LXX has διαψαλμα at the end of v. 11, and a number of Latin manuscripts have semper, including the Codex Amiatinus (see Weber Gryson 5th edition).
  • The division of acrostic poems into two parts, where that the lamed line begins the second part, is attested elsewhere (e.g., Ps. 9-10).
  • A number of features support a strong break between v. 11 and v. 12
    • "With the long verse 11 [6 words, 21 letters, 12 syllables], a pause is given."
    • The long verse imperative and vocative (v. 12)
    • introduction of new topic ("the fear of YHWH") and speech act ("I will teach you") (v. 12b)
    • There is also some evidence to suggest that each of the psalm's two parts further divide into two smaller parts: (vv. 2-7; 8-11 // vv. 12-15; 17-23).
  • The division of vv. 2-11 into two parts is largely on the basis of participant analysis.
    • In vv. 2-7, David repeatedly refers to himself, and he gives his personal testimony of YHWH's deliverance.
    • In vv. 8-11, David does not refer to himself but speaks more generally of "those who fear YHWH" (יראיו), a phrase which is repeated verbatim in v. 8 and v. 10 and echoed with sound plays in vv. 9-10.
  • The division of vv. 12-23 into two parts is likewise based largely on participant analysis.
    • Verses 17-23 describe, in general terms and exclusively with indicative verbs, YHWH's provision for and protection of the righteous in contrast to the wicked. The section begins (v. 17) and ends (v. 23) with a clear contrast between the righteous and the wicked.
    • Verses 12-15 introduce the teaching and focus in on a hypothetical individual (האיש) who wants to live a long and happy life.
• There is also evidence to suggest that each of these four parts are further divided into smaller parts, such that the entire psalm consists of 22 verses (bicola) which are paired together to form 11 groups of four lines each.

Line Divisions

  Legend

Line division divides the poem into lines and line groupings. We determine line divisions based on a combination of external evidence (Masoretic accents, pausal forms, manuscripts) and internal evidence (syntax, prosodic word counting and patterned relation to other lines). Moreover, we indicate line-groupings by using additional spacing.

When line divisions are uncertain, we consult some of the many psalms manuscripts which lay out the text in lines. Then, if a division attested in one of these manuscripts/versions influences our decision to divide the text at a certain point, we place a green symbol (G, DSS, or MT) to the left of the line in question.

Poetic line division legend
Pausal form	Pausal forms are highlighted in yellow.
Accent which typically corresponds to line division	Accents which typically correspond to line divisions are indicated by red text.
|	Clause boundaries are indicated by a light gray vertical line in between clauses.
G	Line divisions that follow Greek manuscripts are indicated by a bold green G.
DSS	Line divisions that follow the Dead Sea Scrolls are indicated by a bold green DSS.
M	Line divisions that follow Masoretic manuscripts are indicated by a bold green M.
Number of prosodic words	The number of prosodic words are indicated in blue text.
Prosodic words greater than 5	The number of prosodic words if greater than 5 is indicated by bold blue text.

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.

Notes

• The division of this psalm into lines presents few problems. In most cases, the syntax, accents, pausal forms, and manuscript traditions (esp. the Greek tradition) clearly demarcate the lines. The proposed line division agrees with the Masoretic accents and the Babylonian ms Qu. 680 in every instance except v. 8.
• v. 8. The lineation of v. 8 is difficult. The oldest Greek manuscripts (S, B, A) give no division at all, presenting the whole verse as a single line. The Tiberian accents—this is the only verse in the psalm in which revia marks the main division—suggest a division between לִֽירֵאָ֗יו and וַֽיְחַלְּצֵֽם. This division corresponds to the syntactic division between the two clauses in this verse. The problem with this division, however, is that it results in a one-word line (וַֽיְחַלְּצֵֽם), and one-word lines are exceedingly rare, if not impossible. Furthermore, other ancient witnesses to the line division (which generally agree with the accents) do not divide v. 8 in this way. The old Babylonian manuscript Berlin Qu. 680—perhaps the oldest extant Hebrew manuscript to contain a lineated version of Ps. 34—divides the text as חנה מלאך יהוה סביב | ליראיו ויחלצם, (cf. Codex Amiatinus), but a division between סביב and ליראיו seems unlikely, since the two words constitute a single prepositional phrase. Another (later) Babylonian manuscript (Or2373 f.13v) divides v. 8 as חנה מלאך יהוה | סביב ליראיו ויחלצם. Some Tiberian manuscripts even read a disjunctive accent (shalshellet gadol) after יהוה. This division is the least problematic, and it results in a relatively balanced structure (2 words // 3 words), which may represent the meaning iconographically: in the second line, "those who fear YHWH" are surrounded.