Saturday, March 13, 2010

Psalm 119 - Part 21 Grammar

שָׂרִים רְדָפוּנִי חִנָּם
וּמִדְּבָרְךָ פָּחַד לִבִּי
Sultans persecute me for nothing
but from your word my heart stands in awe
שָׂשׂ אָנֹכִי עַל אִמְרָתֶךָ
כְּמוֹצֵא שָׁלָל רָב
Singing I sing for your promise
as finding great booty
שֶׁקֶר שָׂנֵאתִי וַאֲתַעֵבָה
תּוֹרָתְךָ אָהָבְתִּי
Scandal I hate and abhor
I love your teaching
שֶׁבַע בַּיּוֹם הִלַּלְתִּיךָ
עַל מִשְׁפְּטֵי צִדְקֶךָ
Seven times a day do I praise you
for the judgments of your righteousness
שָׁלוֹם רָב לְאֹהֲבֵי תוֹרָתֶךָ
וְאֵין לָמוֹ מִכְשׁוֹל
Such great peace to those loving your teaching
and there is no stumbling for them
שִׂבַּרְתִּי לִישׁוּעָתְךָ יְהוָה
וּמִצְו‍ֹתֶיךָ עָשִׂיתִי
Steadfast is my hope in your salvation יְהוָה
and I have done your commandments
שָׁמְרָה נַפְשִׁי עֵדֹתֶיךָ
וָאֹהֲבֵם מְאֹד
Savors my being your testimonies
and I love them greatly
שָׁמַרְתִּי פִקּוּדֶיךָ וְעֵדֹתֶיךָ
כִּי כָל דְּרָכַי נֶגְדֶּךָ
So I keep your precepts and your testimonies
for all my ways are near you

How is our poet feeling after 21 parts of the poem? Happy to be nearing its end? Still has trouble from external sources and internal sources will be evident in part 22. Likes the superlative in this section.

Details
sarymשָׂרִיםsultansplural noun
rdapvunyרְדָפוּנִיpersecute methird person plural qal+object first person pronoun
xinamחִנָּםfor nothingadverb - derived from grace חֵן
vumidbarkaוּמִדְּבָרְךָbut from your wordprefix conjunction+singular noun with possessive second person singular pronoun
paxàdפָּחַדstands in awethird person (root) form qal perfect
libyלִבִּיmy heartsingular noun with first person singular pronoun
sasשָׂשׂsingingits even a participle!
)anoky `àl )imratekaאָנֹכִי עַל אִמְרָתֶךָI for your promisestand-alone pronoun+preposition+singular noun with possessive second person singular pronoun
kmvocé)כְּמוֹצֵאas findingpreposition+participle
shalal rabשָׁלָל רָבgreat bootynoun+modifier
sheqrשֶׁקֶרscandalnoun
sané)tyשָׂנֵאתִיI hatefirst person singular qal perfect
và)atà`ébahוַאֲתַעֵבָהand abhorconnector+first person singular qal imperfect
tvoratkaתּוֹרָתְךָyour instructionsingular noun with possessive second person singular pronoun
)ahabtyאָהָבְתִּיI lovefirst person singular qal perfect
shebà`שֶׁבַעseven timesnumber
bàyvomבַּיּוֹםa daypreposition+noun
hilàltykaהִלַּלְתִּיךָdo I praise youfirst person singular must be piel perfect + object second person singular pronoun
`àlעַלforpreposition
mishp+éyמִשְׁפְּטֵיthe judgments ofplural noun in construct (loses its ending)
cidqkaצִדְקֶךָyour righteousnesssingular noun with possessive second person singular pronoun
shalvomשָׁלוֹםpeacenoun
rabרָבsuch greatmodifier
l)ohabéyלְאֹהֲבֵיto those lovingpreposition+participle in construct
tvoratekaתוֹרָתֶךָyour instructionsingular noun with possessive second person singular pronoun
v)éyn lamvoוְאֵין לָמוֹand there is for them noconjunction+particle of not being+ preposition+archaic third person possessive pronoun
mikshvolמִכְשׁוֹלstumblingnoun (derived from verb)
sibàrtyשִׂבַּרְתִּיsteadfast my hopeqal perfect first person phrased for the S
lyshvu`atkaלִישׁוּעָתְךָin your salvationpreposition+singular noun with possessive second person singular pronoun
yyיְהוָהO LORDdivine name
vumicvoteykaוּמִצְו‍ֹתֶיךָand your commandmentsprefix conjunction+plural noun with possessive second person singular pronoun
`asytyעָשִׂיתִיI have doneqal perfect first person
shamrahשָׁמְרָהsavoursthird person qal perfect feminine
nàpshyנַפְשִׁיmy beingsingular noun+possessive first person pronoun
`édoteykaעֵדֹתֶיךָyour testimoniesplural noun with possessive second person singular pronoun
va)ohabémוָאֹהֲבֵםand I love themconnector+first person imperfect+object pronoun
m)odמְאֹדgreatlyadverb
shamàrtyשָׁמַרְתִּיso I keepqal first person perfect (extra s)
piqvudeykaפִקּוּדֶיךָyour preceptsplural noun with possessive second person singular pronoun
v`édoteykaוְעֵדֹתֶיךָand your testimoniesprefix conjunction+plural noun with possessive second person singular pronoun
ky kal drakàyכִּי כָל דְּרָכַיfor all my waysconjunction+modifier+plural noun - truncated ending from possessive first person pronoun
negdekaנֶגְדֶּךָare before youpreposition+second person possessive pronoun

4 comments:

Carl Kinbar said...

Hi Bob,

Have you every thought of teaching online? You already have a lot of teachable material from aleph-bet to psalms.

Just a thought.

Carl

Bob MacDonald said...

I have done lots of teaching but not online. And I write more to learn than to teach. If my work proves useful to some as part of the difficulty in starting to learn Hebrew, that is good - but beware! I have no committee critiquing my choices - so be critical.

Sometimes I am reaching out to see if something bears weight. In this series, I have used the suggestion I read about in Khan (per a tip from my son-in-law) here that there was a tradition that divided the Hebrew letters in two groups. The suggestion bears weight and is quite useful for the beginning of the precess of learning grammatical forms and seeing the root from the affixes.

I think teaching happens when people learn - that I am happy to enable if anyone has 'questions'. Others do this as well and I am grateful to them.

Carl Kinbar said...

Thanks for the response. I agree 100% about the link between teaching and learning. I'm 64 and still learning (see my Notes on the Hebrew text at midrashetc.com -- they're not as detailed as yours, just the tip of the iceberg).

Bob MacDonald said...

Hi Carl - good to meet - we are the same age. I have been following your blog from its beginning.