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Psalm 139:20 Masoretic text

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:24 am
by Kenneth Greifer
In "The Jerusalem Bible" by Koren Publishing and in the Soncino Press "The Psalms", Psalm 139:20 says ירמוך and נשוא.
In every other book I have seen, it says יאמרך and נשא. Which is the usual Masoretic text? Or are both?

Kenneth Greifer

Re: Psalm 139:20 Masoretic text

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:38 am
by Kirk Lowery
The Leningrad Codex has יאמרך and ‎נָשֻׂ֖א. Note the qibbuts under the shin. The other spelling uses shureq, so plene spelling or a difference of opinion on the length of the vowel. The first word's difference may be a different ms reading...or a simple publisher's typo...it also has shureq (a waw) for qibbuts. If those publications are unpointed, then using a waw to indicate vowels would be normal...

Re: Psalm 139:20 Masoretic text

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:10 am
by Joseph
If the text reads "ירמוך" then I would say it's a typo... probably meant to be "ימרוך" following a textual variant. BHS has a footnote on it. The waw in each word is just indicates a vowel.

Re: Psalm 139:20 Masoretic text

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:30 am
by Kenneth Greifer
I am sorry about the "typo." That was my typo. The 2 books say ימרוך. Both books also have written vowels.

Kenneth Greifer

Re: Psalm 139:20 Masoretic text

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:34 am
by Kirk Lowery
Ah. Then I agree with Joseph. The textual variant can be explained that the alef is silent and so dropped out of the text line due to pronunciation...

Re: Psalm 139:20 Masoretic text

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:49 am
by Kenneth Greifer
Both of the books I used say they are based on the Masorah. One sounds like a very religious Jewish Hebrew Bible (Koren Publishing) and the other one by Soncino Press is based on C.D. Ginsburg's Hebrew Bible, and he was a prominent Masorah scholar, according to them. His Bible is by the Trinitarian Bible Society. It is confusing to me how they say they are the correct versions, but other books also say they are based on the tradition, and they are different.

Re: Psalm 139:20 Masoretic text

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:03 am
by Kenneth Greifer
One more question: Grammatically, does either version make sense or are they both messed up? Most commentaries seem to say the text is corrupt somehow.

Re: Psalm 139:20 Masoretic text

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:10 am
by Kirk Lowery
Well, it makes sense to me. There are no grammatical anomalies that I can see. I just note that the expression for take someone's name in vain is similar to the prohibitions in the Torah for taking God's name in vain.

So what were the commentaries upset about?

Re: Psalm 139:20 Masoretic text

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:36 am
by Kenneth Greifer
Here is an example of some commentaries.

http://biblehub.com/commentaries/psalms/139-20.htm

Look at the top two on the left and right side of the screen. Cambridge and Ellicott.

Re: Psalm 139:20 Masoretic text

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:54 pm
by Joseph
The main textual issue in this verse is with the final word "‎ עָרֶֽיךָ" and whether it should be translated "enemies." You really only have 1 Sam 28:16 to go on for this rendering. Thus Ellicott suggests emending the text. Cambridge makes basically the same point and also argues emending the vowel points יַמְרוּךָ for יֹמְרוּךָ thus changing the meaning from "speak" to "rebel". At least one early Greek translation seems to support this repointing (see BHS footnote). However, my two cents, I don't see any reason to emend the text here even with the vowel points. 1 Sam 28:16 is enough support to get "enemies" and there doesn't seem to be an really convincing alternatives to the text. As for the vowel points, changing the points throws off the parallelism, and you're left with a reading that's bit awkward. I'd go with the BHS/WLC reading here.