Hebrew Scholars

Is there anything in the morphology or syntax that can show who the "he" and "his" is referring to in the following passage:

Psalm 37:23 - "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: And he delighteth in his way."

Is the he God or a good man? Thanks!

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Comments

Ekkie Tepsupornchai

There's no clear indication from what I can see of the Hebrew word itself. The "he" that you refer to is not a standalone word in Hebrew, it is instead implied from the form of the verb "delights." The Hebrew system provides unique forms of each given verb depending upon the subject (e.g. 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person, singular, plural, masculine, feminine). On the other hand, the word for "his" is indeed a standalone word, but is generic in form and thus would not provide a clear indication of its antecedent.

My reading would be that both pronouns are referring to the "man"; thus, the man delights in his way. My reasoning is that this man is the subject of both the preceding and the following clauses. By the way, the word used for "good man" is actually one word in Hebrew which can also mean strong or young man. The Hebrew language has many words to denote "man," each with a different nuance. For what it's worth, the NASB disagrees with me, as it capitalizes the "He" implying that it's referring to God.

I welcome any correction. I'm still relatively new to Hebrew, but I believe that what I have above is objective (aside from my interpretation of the verse itself).

George Somsel

Is there anything in the morphology or syntax that can show who the "he" and "his" is referring to in the following passage:

Psalm 37:23 - "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: And he delighteth in his way."

Is the he God or a good man? Thanks!

מֵיהוה מִצְעֲדֵי־גֶבֶר כּוֹנָנוּ וְדַרְכּוֹ יֶחְפָּץ׃

The footsteps of a man are made firm by YHWH
And his path delights.

On the other hand, the JPS Tanak renders

²³The steps of a man are made firm by the Lord,
when He delights in his way.

The NRSV similarly renders it as a temporal or circumstantial relation. Of course, the waw is subject to various understandings. What must be understood is not simply the morphological form of the words but the poetical structure as well. Sometimes the parallelism can be antithetical, but usually the second line builds on or explicates the first.

Lankford Oxendine

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/314208#Comment_314208

So the normal Hebrew structure for hymns is abab not the chiastic abba?

George Somsel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/314216#Comment_314216

So the normal Hebrew structure for hymns is abab not the chiastic abba?

The Psalms aren't my primary focus so I don't offhand recall the possibilities, but abba might be conceivable. See what comes down the pike.

Paul-C

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/314219#Comment_314219

Why not consult some of the more scholarly commentaries to see what others suggest about the literary structure of this passage?

Lankford Oxendine

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/314224#Comment_314224

The commentaries in the Platinum package are not of much use. They either don't address the issue or if they do, they don't explain their point of view. Which commentaries do you consider "scholarly"?

Paul-C

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/314227#Comment_314227

Mark Barnes (on his training videos website) helpfully suggests the following "technical" commentaries when suggesting ways to tag your library:

Technical Commentaries

Anchor Yale Bible
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha Commentaries (Charles)
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
The Book of Isaiah (Young)
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Classic Commentaries on the Greek New Testament
Continental Commentary
Eerdmans Critical Commentary
Exegetical Summaries
The Expositor’s Greek Testament
Forms of the Old Testament Literature
Hermeneia
International Critical Commentary
JPS Tanakh Commentary
Lange’s Commentary
Mentor Old Testament Commentary
New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament
New International Greek Testament Commentary
Socio-Rhetorical Commentary Series
Word Biblical Commentary
Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament

Paul-C

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/314230#Comment_314230

Morris Proctor suggested a similar list (I haven't compared them to each other):

Scholar or Critical

Analytical Bible Expositor
Anchor Yale Bible Commentary
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture
Ariel’s Bible Commentary
Baker Exegetical Commentary
Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels (Thomas Aquinas)
Charles Hodge Commentary
Classic Commentaries on the Greek New Testament
Commentary on the OT (Keil & Delitzsch)
Critical and Exegetical Commentary
Eerdmans Critical Commentary
Form of the OT Literature
Greek Testament (Henry Alford)
Hermeneia
Horae Homileticae (Simeon)
JPS Bible and Torah Commentary
JPS Tanakh Commentary Collection
Lange’s Commentary on the Hole Scriptures
Lenski’s Commentary on the New Testament
New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament
Pillar NT Commentary
Socio-Rhetorical Commentary Series
Word Biblical Commentary

George Somsel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/314224#Comment_314224

Why not consult some of the more scholarly commentaries to see what others suggest about the literary structure of this passage?

Good suggestion. Here is what Dahood has to say

23. who makes sure. With Perles, Analekten zur Textkritik des Alten Testaments, p. 76, deriving yeḥpāṣ from ḥāpaṣ ii, which in Job 40:17 describes the action of the hippopotamus or crocodile which stiffens its tail like a cedar. Being paired with kōnānū, "are made steady," and occurring in a sapiential psalm, ḥāpaṣ is surely related to the root in Job 40:17. Hence yeḥpōṣ is vocalized as in Job 40:17.

Dahood, Mitchell, S.J. Vol. 16, Psalms I: 1-50: Introduction, Translation, and Notes, in loc. Anchor Yale Bible. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008.

This would confirm the parallelism.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/314216#Comment_314216

So the normal Hebrew structure for hymns is abab not the chiastic abba?

If we had The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism (Biblical Resource)
by Adele Berlin in Logos I'd answer. Hint Hint[;)]

George Somsel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/314249#Comment_314249

So the normal Hebrew structure for hymns is abab not the chiastic abba?

If we had The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism (Biblical Resource) by Adele Berlin in Logos I'd answer. Hint Hint

I support that.