Psalm 70 Participant Analysis
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Psalm 70/Participant Analysis
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Psalm 70
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 70:
Profile List
| David (v. 1) |
| YHWH (vv. 2, 6) |
| "God" (vv. 2, 5-6) |
| Faithful ones (v. 5) |
| David's enemies (vv. 3-4) |
Profile Notes
- The psalmist is identified as David in the superscription. He urges YHWH to hurry to his aid (vv. 2, 6) and identifies as "poor and needy."
- YHWH is also identified as "God," to whom David calls for aid and whom the faithful ones wish, "Let God be praised!" (v. 5b).
- The faithful ones are identified as those who seek YHWH and those who love his salvation. They seem to address their own congregation with the quoted speech in v. 5.
- David's enemies are said to seek his life and delight in his harm (v. 3). They also taunt and ridicule David with the interjection "Take that!" (הֶ֘אָ֥ח ׀ הֶאָֽח; see the lexical note).
| Hebrew | Verse | English |
|---|---|---|
| לַ֝מְנַצֵּ֗חַ לְדָוִ֥ד לְהַזְכִּֽיר׃ | v. 1 | For the director. By David. To bring to remembrance. |
| אֱלֹהִ֥ים לְהַצִּילֵ֑נִי | v. 2a | God, [hurry] to rescue me! |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה לְעֶזְרָ֥תִי חֽוּשָֽׁה׃ | v. 2b | YHWH, hurry to my aid! |
| יֵבֹ֣שׁוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ֮ מְבַקְשֵׁ֪י נַ֫פְשִׁ֥י | v. 3a | May those who seek my life be disappointed and ashamed! |
| יִסֹּ֣גוּ אָ֭חוֹר וְיִכָּלְמ֑וּ | v. 3b | May those who desire my harm be turned back and be disgraced! |
| חֲ֝פֵצֵ֗י רָעָתִֽי׃ | v. 3c | those who desire my harm |
| יָ֭שׁוּבוּ עַל־עֵ֣קֶב בָּשְׁתָּ֑ם | v. 4a | May those who say "Take that!" retreat on account of their shame! |
| הָ֝אֹמְרִ֗ים הֶ֘אָ֥ח ׀ הֶאָֽח׃ | v. 4b | those who say "Take that!" |
| יָ֘שִׂ֤ישׂוּ וְיִשְׂמְח֨וּ ׀ בְּךָ֗ כָּֽל־מְבַ֫קְשֶׁ֥יךָ | v. 5a | May all those who seek you be glad and rejoice in you! |
| וְיֹאמְר֣וּ תָ֭מִיד יִגְדַּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֑ים | v. 5b | And may those who love your salvation always say, "Let God be praised!" |
| אֹ֝הֲבֵ֗י יְשׁוּעָתֶֽךָ׃ | v. 5c | those who love your salvation |
| וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ עָנִ֣י וְאֶבְיוֹן֮ | v. 6a | But I am poor and needy. |
| אֱלֹהִ֪ים חֽוּשָׁ֫ה־לִּ֥י | v. 6b | God, hurry to me! |
| עֶזְרִ֣י וּמְפַלְטִ֣י אַ֑תָּה | v. 6c | You are my help and my deliverer. |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה אַל־תְּאַחַֽר׃ | v. 6d | YHWH, do not delay! |
Participant Relations Diagram
The relationships among the participants may be abstracted and summarized as follows:
Participant Analysis Summary Distribution
Notes:
- David and YHWH are primarily present at the beginning and end of the psalm (see the poetic macrostructure), with David present and YHWH absent in v. 3, David absent and YHWH present in v. 5, and neither present in v. 4.
- There is a skillful presence of two (and only two) participants in each verse, with the exception of v. 4, which only features the enemies.
- The enemies overlap with the psalmist (v. 3), and the faithful ones overlap with YHWH (v. 5), yet the enemies and faithful ones never appear in the same verse.