Thursday, February 14, 2013

Psalm 9:11

וְיִבְטְחוּ בְךָ יֹודְעֵי שְׁמֶךָ כִּי לֹא־עָזַבְתָּ דֹרְשֶׁיךָ יְהוָה׃

Rough Word-by-word:
And they will trust in you ones knowing the name of you as not you forsook ones inquiring of you, LORD.

Smooth Translation:
And the ones who know your name will trust in you, for you have not forsaken those who seek you, LORD.

וְיִבְטְחוּ conjunction and Qal imperfect 3mp from בָּטָח ( he trusted) "and they will trust"

בְךָ preposition with 2ms pronominal suffix "in you"

יֹודְעֵי Qal active participle mp in construct from יָדַע (he knew) "ones knowing of"

שְׁמֶךָ noun ms with 2ms pronominal suffix "[the] name of you"

כִּי preposition "like, as"

לֹא־עָזַבְתָּ adverb of negation with Qal perfect 2ms from עָזַב (he forsook) "not you forsook"

דֹרְשֶׁיךָ Qal active participle mp with 2ms pronominal suffix from דָּרַש (he sought, he inquired) "ones inquiring of you"

יְהוָה Tetragrammaton "LORD"

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Psalm 9:10

וִיהִי יְהוָה מִשְׂגָּב לַדָּךְ מִשְׂגָּב לְעִתֹּות בַּצָּרָה׃

Rough Word-by-word:
and he will be the LORD a high place for the oppressed, a high place for seasons of distress

Smooth Translation:
And the LORD will be a high place for the oppressed, a high place for seasons of distress.

וִיהִי conjunction with Qal imperfect 3ms from הָיָה (he was) "and he will be"

יְהוָה Tetragrammaton "the LORD"

מִשְׂגָּב noun ms "a high place"

לַדָּךְ preposition with definite article and adjective ms "for the oppressed"

מִשְׂגָּב noun ms "a high place"

לְעִתֹּות preposition with noun fp "for seasons of"

בַּצָּרָה noun fs "distress"

Psalm 9:9

וְהוּא יִשְׁפֹּט־תֵּבֵל בְּצֶדֶק יָדִין לְאֻמִּים בְּמֵישָׁרִים׃
Rough Word-by-word:
and he he will judge the world in righteousness and he will contend for peoples in uprightness.

Smooth Translation:
And he, himself, will judge the world in righteousness and he will contend for people in uprightness.

וְהוּא conjunction and pronoun 3ms "and he"

יִשְׁפֹּט־תֵּבֵל Qal imperfect 3ms from שָׁפַט ( he judged) and noun fs "he will judge [the] world"

בְּצֶדֶק preposition with noun fs "in righteousness"

יָדִין Qal imperfect 3ms from דִּין (he judged, he contended) "he will contend"

לְאֻמִּים preposition and noun mp "to, for peoples"

בְּמֵישָׁרִים preposition and noun mp "in straightness, in uprightness"

Monday, February 11, 2013

Psalm 9:8

וַיהוָה לְעֹולָם יֵשֵׁב כֹּונֵן לַמִּשְׁפָּט כִּסְאֹו׃

Rough Word-by-word:
And the LORD to forever he will sit. He intensely established for judgment the throne of him.

Smooth Translation:
And the LORD will sit forever. He has established his throne for judgment.

וַיהוָה conjunction with Tetragrammaton "and the LORD"

לְעֹולָם preposition with noun ms "to forever"

יֵשֵׁב Qal imperfect 3ms from יָשַׁב (he sat) "he will sit"

כֹּונֵן Polel perfect 3ms from כוּן (he established) "he intensely established"

לַמִּשְׁפָּט preposition with noun ms "to/for judgment"

כִּסְאֹו noun ms in construct with 3ms pronominal suffix "the throne of him"

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Psalm 9:7

הָאֹויֵב ׀ תַּמּוּ חֳרָבֹות לָנֶצַח וְעָרִים נָתַשְׁתָּ אָבַד זִכְרָם הֵמָּה׃

Rough Word-by-word:
The one being an enemy they were complete desolate lands to perpetuity and cities you uprooted he perished memory of them.

Smooth Translation:
The enemy people are finished; desolate lands forever, and cities you uprooted, their memory perished.


הָאֹויֵב definite article with Qal active participle ms from אָיַב (to be an enemy) "the enemy"

תַּמּוּ Qal perfect 3cp from תָּמַם (he was complete) "they were complete"

חֳרָבֹות noun fp "dry, desolate lands"

לָנֶצַח definite article and preposition with noun ms "[the] to perpetuity"

וְעָרִים conjunction with noun fp "and cities"

נָתַשְׁתָּ Qal perfect 2ms from נָתַשׁ (he uprooted) "you uprooted"

אָבַד Qal perfect 3ms from אָבַד (he perished) "he perished"

זִכְרָם noun ms with 3mp pronominal suffix "memory of them"

הֵמָּה pronoun 3mp "they"

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Definite Weingreen

I've been wondering for some time about how to determine if an adjective is attributive or predicate in Hebrew. Page 33 in Weingreen's grammar gives a discussion of this very thing. I will be watching to see how well this holds up. Here is what he has to say:

When the noun is definite the adjective which qualifies it has the article.
(iii)
'the man is good' is expressed in Hebrew as 'good (is) the man' טוֹב הָאִישׁ
and sometimes simply 'the man (is) good' הָאִישׁ טוֹב

'the woman is good' is expressed in Hebrew as 'good (is) the woman'
טוֹבָה האִשָּׁה and sometimes simply 'the woman (is) good' הָאִשָּׁה טוֹבָה

Note: The present tense of the verb 'to be' ('am', 'art', 'is', 'are') is not expressed in Hebrew,  but is implied in the context, as above. The above examples show that when the adjective is used predicatively it usually precedes (though sometimes it follows) the noun.

Summary:
 ...The adjective follows the noun it qualifies, and agrees with it in gender and number. If the noun is definite, then the adjective has the article. When used predicatively, the adjective usually precedes (though sometimes it follows) the noun.

There is a footnote about the "sometimes following" - "This alternative order is used when the noun is to be emphasized: ti would mean 'the man (or woman) is good'.


Psalm 9:6

גָּעַרְתָּ גֹויִם אִבַּדְתָּ רָשָׁע שְׁמָם מָחִיתָ לְעֹולָם וָעֶד׃

Rough Word-by-word:
You rebuked nations; you destroyed the wicked; the name of them you wiped out for forever and forever.

Smooth Translation:
You rebuked nations; you destroyed the wicked; their name you wiped out forever and forever.

גָּעַרְתָּ Qal perfect 2ms from גָעַר (he rebuked) "you rebuked"

גֹויִם noun mp "nations"

אִבַּדְתָּ Piel perfect 2ms from אָבַד (he perished) "you intensely perished" (BibleWorks 4 says that the Hiphil and Piel mean destroy - so, "you destroyed" might be a better translation - I can see the causative in the Hiphil, but am surprised by the causative in the Piel)

רָשָׁע adjective ms [the] wicked

שְׁמָם noun ms in construct with 3mp suffix "[the] name of them"

מָחִיתָ Qal perfect 2ms from מָחָה ( he wiped out) "you wiped out"

לְעֹולָם preposition with noun ms "for forever"

וָעֶד conjunction and noun ms "and perpetuity" or "and forever" ( but with a little different nuance than
עֹולָם )