Psalm 39 Exegetical Issues
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Psalm 39/Exegetical Issues
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Psalm 39
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Exegetical Issues Video
This resource is forthcoming.
Introduction to Exegetical Issues
Presented here are the top three Exegetical Issues that any interpreter of the psalm—whether they’re reading the text in Hebrew or looking at a number of translations—are likely to encounter. These issues usually involve textual criticism, grammar, lexical semantics, verbal semantics, and/or phrase-level semantics, though they sometimes involve higher-level layers as well.
Exegetical Issues for Psalm 39
- The Masoretic Text of Psalm 39:5 reads as follows:[1] הוֹדִ֘יעֵ֤נִי יְהוָ֨ה ׀ קִצִּ֗י וּמִדַּ֣ת יָמַ֣י מַה־הִ֑יא אֵ֝דְעָ֗ה מֶה־חָדֵ֥ל אָֽנִי
- The ESV represents a typical modern translation of this verse: "O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!"[2]
- How should the expressions "my end" and "the measure of my days" be understood? Do they refer to the end of the psalmist's life or to the end of his allotted period of suffering?
- Psalm 39:3 contains the phrase מִטּוֹב, whose meaning is disputed. For instance, the CSB understands the phrase מִטּ֑וֹב to modify the absence of speech implied by הֶחֱשֵׁ֣יתִי "I kept silent." The TOB interprets the מִן in מִטּ֑וֹב as comparative "more than." The CEB interprets the מִן in מִטּ֑וֹב as privative, that is "away from good," i.e., producing no good. We evaluate each of these three possibilities in the exegetical issue page.
- The end of Psalm 39:4 introduces quoted speech. The extent of the quotation is debated. Some translations and commentators limit the speech to v. 5, while others claim that it extends through vv. 5–6a; vv. 5–6; vv. 5–7; or the rest of the psalm, vv. 5–14. Also possible (though not represented in modern translations consulted) is to understand the quotation to consist of vv. 5–12. We evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each of these interpretations of the quoted speech in this exegetical issue page.