Psalm 45 Macrosyntax
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Psalm 45/Macrosyntax
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The Divine King's Majesty
Psalm 45
Macrosyntax
Macrosyntax Diagram
| Macrosyntax legend | |
|---|---|
| Vocatives | Vocatives are indicated by purple text. |
| Discourse marker | Discourse markers (such as כִּי, הִנֵּה, לָכֵן) are indicated by orange text. |
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The scope governed by the discourse marker is indicated by a dashed orange bracket connecting the discourse marker to its scope. |
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The preceding discourse grounding the discourse marker is indicated by a solid orange bracket encompassing the relevant clauses. |
| Subordinating conjunction | The subordinating conjunction is indicated by teal text. |
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Subordination is indicated by a solid teal bracket connecting the subordinating conjunction with the clause to which it is subordinate. |
| Coordinating conjunction | The coordinating conjunction is indicated by blue text. |
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Coordination is indicated by a solid blue line connecting the coordinating clauses. |
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Coordination without an explicit conjunction is indicated by a dashed blue line connecting the coordinated clauses. |
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Marked topic is indicated by a black dashed rounded rectangle around the marked words. |
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The scope of the activated topic is indicated by a black dashed bracket encompassing the relevant clauses. |
| Marked focus or thetic sentence | Marked focus (if one constituent) or thetic sentences[1] are indicated by bold text. |
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Frame setters[2] are indicated by a solid gray rounded rectangle around the marked words. |
| [blank line] | Discourse discontinuity is indicated by a blank line. |
| [indentation] | Syntactic subordination is indicated by indentation. |
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Direct speech is indicated by a solid black rectangle surrounding all relevant clauses. |
| (text to elucidate the meaning of the macrosyntactic structures) | Within the CBC, any text elucidating the meaning of macrosyntax is indicated in gray text inside parentheses. |
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. |
(Click diagram to enlarge)
- The major discourse discontinuities are indicated by the concluding discourse marker עַל כֵּן in vv. 3, 8 and 18.
- vv. 10-11 are distinguished by the vocative, "daughter," in v. 11, representing the addressee throughout these verses, and the pattern of waw conjunction throughout vv. 11-13.
- vv. 13-14 are distinguished by the sudden lack of waw conjunction replaced by focus-fronting in vv. 14a-b, 15a.
- v. 2b – The order participle-pronoun in אֹמֵ֣ר אָ֭נִי creates a pattern of phonetic repetition with the previous line's רָ֘חַ֤שׁ לִבִּ֨י. (This could perhaps also explain the pausal form on אָ֭נִי). The reversal of this pattern in the following line's לְ֝שׁוֹנִ֗י concludes the pattern and the verse's three-line structure. Alternatively, the syntax may not be pragmatically marked at all, if of late Aramaic influence (in which we expect participle + subject), suggested also by the only other instance of סֹפֵר מָהִיר appearing in Ezra 7:6.
- v. 5a – The initial placement of הֲדָ֬רְךָ֨ provides a tail-head linkage with the previous line's final ה֝וֹדְךָ֗ וַהֲדָרֶֽךָ, which both function syntactically as nominal adverbs.
- v. 5b – The post-verbal order of וְתוֹרְךָ֖ נוֹרָא֣וֹת יְמִינֶֽךָ places the subject יְמִינֶֽךָ at the end of the line, to provide an inclusio וַהֲדָ֬רְךָ֨ ... יְמִינֶֽךָ for the verse, which is immediately followed by the tail-head linkage of another 2ms-suffixed noun, חִצֶּ֗יךָ, in v. 6a.
- v. 6b – The most plausible Information Structure explanation for the double fronting of עַ֭מִּים תַּחְתֶּ֣יךָ יִפְּל֑וּ is as topic "peoples" followed by focus "under you." This analysis is, however, quite unsatisfying. Preferable, then, is the recognition of the pattern of symmetry between these first two constituents and those of the previous line:
- חִצֶּ֗:יךָ שְׁנ֫וּנִ֥ים
- עַ֭מִּים תַּחְתֶּ֣יךָ
- v. 7b – The order of the verbless clause, שֵׁ֥בֶט מִ֝ישֹׁ֗ר שֵׁ֣בֶט מַלְכוּתֶֽךָ׃, if read with שֵׁ֣בֶט מַלְכוּתֶֽךָ as the topic/grammatical subject, would indicate a comment-topic order and, as our preferred interpretation, indicates the marked focal nature of שֵׁ֥בֶט מִ֝ישֹׁ֗ר. On the other hand, if the topic/grammatical subject was determined to be שֵׁ֥בֶט מִ֝ישֹׁ֗ר, we would have the specificational clause "As for the scepter of righteousness—that's the scepter of your kingdom" ➞ "It's the scepter of your kingdom that is a scepter of righteousness." Both are grammatically possible, and variation even exists according to grammatical definiteness in Greek translations (compare the LXX's ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου with Heb 1:8's καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς εὐθύτητος ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου).
- v. 9a – The comment in the predicational מֹר־וַאֲהָל֣וֹת קְ֭צִיעוֹת כָּל־בִּגְדֹתֶ֑יךָ is מֹר־וַאֲהָל֣וֹת קְ֭צִיעוֹת, which is thus to be read as marked focus (cf. v. 7b).
- v. 9b – The double fronting in מִֽן־הֵ֥יכְלֵי שֵׁ֝֗ן מִנִּ֥י שִׂמְּחֽוּךָ is best interpreted as Information Structural, with a locative frame setter followed by narrow focus, as suggested by the expanded CBC.
- v. 13b – The fronting of פָּנַ֥יִךְ functions as additive focus, i.e., foreign people will not only seek to do homage and appease the king, but also the new queen.
- vv. 14-15a – These three clauses are focus fronted with a scalar interpretation to make clear the lavish and luxurious circumstances around the wedding preparations.
- v. 17a – The fronted תַּ֣חַת אֲ֭בֹתֶיךָ indicates a locative (though, by extension, temporal) frame setter of origin from which to interpret the appearance of the king's offspring.
- v. 18b – The fronted עַמִּ֥ים indicates an additive focus interpretation of this constituent, in addition to the "I" of the previous clause (note, also, the parallel nature of both אַזְכִּ֣ירָה שִׁ֭מְךָ and יְ֝הוֹדֻ֗ךָ, the latter rendered as יהודון שמך "they will praise your name" in Targum Psalms; and בְּכָל־דֹּ֣ר וָדֹ֑ר and לְעֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד)—see, e.g., 'aussi les peuples (TOB).
- v. 4 – The vocative גִּבּ֑וֹר, "great one," is placed after the clause-nucleus "to provide rhetorical highlighting, though of a less specific nature [than focus]."[3]
- v. 7 – The vocative אֱ֭לֹהִים, "God," is the second constituent, suggesting the preceding entity, "your throne" (כִּסְאֲךָ֣) is focused.[4]
- v. 11 – The vocative בַ֣ת, "daughter," introduces a previously unaddressed participant and delays the following sequence of imperatives. The feminine singular form of the preceding imperative, שִׁמְעִי, avoids ambiguity in any case, as the king has previously been addressed in masculine singular.
(There are no notes on discourse markers for this psalm.)
(There are no notes on conjunctions for this psalm.)
- ↑ When the entire utterance is new/unexpected, it is a thetic sentence (often called "sentence focus"). See our Creator Guidelines for more information on topic and focus.
- ↑ Frame setters are any orientational constituent – typically, but not limited to, spatio-temporal adverbials – function to "limit the applicability of the main predication to a certain restricted domain" and "indicate the general type of information that can be given" in the clause nucleus (Krifka & Musan 2012: 31-32). In previous scholarship, they have been referred to as contextualizing constituents (see, e.g., Buth (1994), “Contextualizing Constituents as Topic, Non-Sequential Background and Dramatic Pause: Hebrew and Aramaic evidence,” in E. Engberg-Pedersen, L. Falster Jakobsen and L. Schack Rasmussen (eds.) Function and expression in Functional Grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 215-231; Buth (2023), “Functional Grammar and the Pragmatics of Information Structure for Biblical Languages,” in W. A. Ross & E. Robar (eds.) Linguistic Theory and the Biblical Text. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 67-116), but this has been conflated with the function of topic. In brief: sentence topics, belonging to the clause nucleus, are the entity or event about which the clause provides a new predication; frame setters do not belong in the clause nucleus and rather provide a contextual orientation by which to understand the following clause.
- ↑ Miller 2010, 358.
- ↑ Miller 2010, 357.