Psalm 39 Participant Analysis
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Psalm 39/Participant Analysis
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Psalm 39
Please note: Resources for Psalm 39 are in the process of being reformatted for visual consistency and improved functionality.
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 4 participants/characters in Psalm 39:
Profile List
| David (v. 1) |
| "a person" (v. 12) |
| YHWH (vv. 5, 13) |
| "Lord" (v. 8) |
| The wicked (v. 2) |
| "fools" (v. 9) |
| People (v.7) |
| "every person 'standing firm'" (v. 6) |
| "man" (v. 7) |
| "every person" (v. 12) |
Profile Notes
- The psalmist is identified as David in the superscription. He quotes himself twice (vv. 2, 5–6), being also the recipient of his inner speech in v. 2.
- YHWH is the addressee David's prayer (the psalm itself) and the quoted speech of vv. 5–6. He is the object of David's hope (v. 8) and is addressed as "YHWH" in vv. 5 and 13 and "Lord" in v. 8
- The wicked are mentioned only in passing (v. 2). David vows not to speak while in their presence, at the risk that they will either mock his afflicted state and consider him guilty, or mock the God who is apparently not answering his plea. If he were to speak, as fools, they would scorn him (v. 9).
- The impersonal group of the psalm are described as "every person 'standing firm'" in v. 6c, followed by the generic אִישׁ and third-person plural impersonals in v. 7. Finally, the generic אִישׁ and "every person" are repeated again in v. 12.
- v. 1. For the qere לִֽידוּת֗וּן and the ketiv לידיתון, see the textual note.
- v. 14. For the revocalization *הֶשַׁ֣ע* (MT: הָשַׁ֣ע), see the lexical note.
- v. 2. As an instance of inner speech, "the psalmist’s opening words are addressed to himself."[1]
- Is the addressee in vv. 2–7 the congregation or YHWH?
- It is possible that the addressee of vv. 2–7 are the psalmist's community.[2] YHWH is absent throughout vv. 2–7, with the exception of the quoted speech in vv. 5–6b. The shift of addressee between vv. 7–8 could be indicated by the interactional discourse marker "But now," as a conversation-management tool.[3] On the other hand, Occam's razor probably dictates that YHWH is the addressee throughout the psalm, so that is our preferred interpretation. It is also preferable that the two instances of the refrain (vv. 6c, 12c) be addressed to the same person (see below).
- Is the addressee in v. 12c the congregation or YHWH?
- If the addressee of vv. 2–7 were identified with the congregation, the same could plausibly be the case for the second refrain in v. 12c.
Participant Relations Diagram
The relationships among the participants may be abstracted and summarized as follows:
Participant Analysis Summary Distribution
Notes:
- YHWH is present throughout the psalm, with the exception of v. 7 and the introduction of the psalmist's inner musings and vow of silence (vv. 2–4). David, predictably, appears in first-person speech throughout.
- The wicked/fools appear once in each of the two larger poetic sections of the psalm (vv. 2–6b; 6c–12).
- The concentrated presence of the generic people coincides precisely with the absence of the other three participants (v. 7).