Psalm 9-10-Logotechnical Analysis

Psalm 9-10— Logotechnical Analysis Guidelines Please read the General Introduction as well as the Introduction to Book I. For common features found in the numerical analysis charts, see the "Key to the charts". Specific features of Psalm 9-10 In the Masoretic tradition Psalms 9 and 10 are counted as two separate psalms, but there is ample evidence to show that they belong inextricably together to form a single poem. Unlike Psalms 7 and 40, which are indeed composite poems, the present psalm has been designed, in my judgement, as a single numerical composition. This also holds true for Psalm 42-43. The mere fact that Psalms 9 and 10 are counted as separate poems in MT is not sufficient to regard them as comprising two psalms. In fact, there is no cogent evidence indicating that they constitute a composite consisting of two originally independent poems. Therefore, it remains hard to explain why Psalms 9 and10 were ever regarded as separate psalms in the Masoretic tradition. Let me provide evidence to substantiate my view of Psalm 9-10 as a single entity: The LXX understood the composite poem as a single composition, which is also the case in some Hebrew manuscripts. Unlike the other ‘nameless’ psalms in (the ‘Davidic’) Book I (1, 2 and 33), whose lack of a heading can be explained, there is no explanation for the fact that Psalm 10 has no heading other than because it is structurally part of Psalm 9. In my judgement, the ‘nameless’ Psalm 1 was composed by the editor/composer of the Psalter as the introduction to Book I and to the entire Psalter and Psalm 2 to introduce the first group of Davidic psalms (3-8), while Psalm 33 was specifically composed to prelude the alphabetic acrostic Psalm 34 in the last group of Davidic psalms (32-41). The selah at the end of Psalm 9 clearly indicates that this is not the end of the psalm; nowhere in the Psalter is a selah to be found at the bottom of a poem. In fact, in my opinion, the selah signifies the striking arithmetic middle of the twin psalms: 10:1, its meaningful centre. This brings us to the most distinctive feature of the poem, its perfectly balanced structure, with the 7 words of 10:1 at the arithmetic centre. It is flanked by 156 (6 x 26) words on either side 319 = 156 + 7 + 156. Moreover, the meaningful centre coincides precisely with the lamed-verseline, as in several alphabetic acrositics – see the General Introduction, “The alphabetic acrostics”. In addition, the Psalm 9-10 as a whole has 136 (8 x 17) words after atnach. Finally, there is an exact parallel to be found in the twin psalms 111 and 112. Psalm 111 is made up of 72 words, while Psalm 112 has 77 words, altogether 149 words. Their mathematical centre is constituted by the 5 words in 112:1a, the meaningful centre of the twin psalms: 149 = 72 + 5 + 72. For particulars, see my analysis of Psalm 111. There is no doubt about Psalm 9 being a partial alphabetic acrostic; the successive letters aleph through kaph are all present, except the daleth. Psalm 10 begins with a lamedh-verseline (v. 1a) and ends with verselines having the successive initial letters qoph (12a), resh (14a), shin (15a) and taw (17a). Such evident vestiges of an acrostic in Psalm 10 cannot simply be waved aside. The fact of the matter is that the composite poem as a whole is a defective alphabetic acrostic, and in my view, the defectiveness is not due to corruption of the text. The only corruption is the missing word with initial tsadeh in 10:10a, which can be restored – see below “Textcritical remarks”. In Ps. 9:9a the heh is present as the second letter of the initial word, which need not pose a problem (compare Nah. 1:7b). This means that the psalm really lacks only five letters: daleth, mem, nun, samekh and ayin. My explanation for the defectiveness is that these letters were deliberately omitted by the author in order to achieve a hidden acrostic. Taken in their normal alphabetic order, these five letters constitute the words avÅsOn £ad, ‘the blood of a wayfarer’. This ingenious little acrostic may be interpreted as a subtle comment on the fact that YHWH is called ‘the avenger of blood’ (9:13), and more specifically, as an explication of the metaphor of the lion lurking in ambush to sieze an innocent passer-by (10:9-10). Therefore, we need not endeavour on our part to ‘restore’ the presumed corrupted alphabetic acrostic. See also my Analysis of Psalm 34, where we find a comparable ingenious arrangement of the initial letters. For another example of a hidden acrostic, see Observation 2 in my Analysis of Psalm 119. In terms of the change in the direction of address, words directly addressed to God and words spoken about him, the 7 words of 10:1 are part of the words addressed to God, starting in 9:20-21 (the call on God to act) and ending in 10:1 (the question why he does not act). This means that there is no strong caesura between Psalm 9 and Psalm 10. The unity of Psalm 9-10 as a single literary entity is additionally underscored by the coherence in thought content: the deliverance of the oppressed is the leading idea in both sections. Moreover, there are numerous verbal repetitions in the composition as a whole, which cannot be dismissed as coincidence. To mention only a few key-words, such as Hôné', ‘human being’ (already preluded in Ps. 8:5a), reverberating here at the end of both sections (9:20a, 21b and 10:18b), Hrd, ‘seek’ (9:11b, 9:13a, 10:4a, 10:13b and 10:15b), ªaÐd, ‘the oppressed’ (9:10a and 10:18a), and vAHßr, ‘godless’, which runs as a unifying thread through the entire poem (9:6, 17, 18, 10:2, 3, 4, 13, 15). For other verbal repetitions within the composition as a whole, see the fourteen additional examples mentioned by Van der Lugt (CAS, § 10.4.4). As in many psalms with a bipartite structure, each of the two cantos of the psalm has its own meaningful centre on word level, in addition to the common meaningful centre in Ps. 10 :1. Therefore, this cannot be adduced as evidence for the existence of two poems. Strophic structure - Canto/Stanza boundary: || Sub-canto boundary | Van der Lugt: 9:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 | 8-9, 10-11, 12-13 | 14-15, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21 || 10:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 | 7-8b, 8c-9, 10-11 | 12-13, 14, 15-16, 17-18 (2 cantos (1 + 1) with 6 sub-cantos (3 + 3) and 20 2-verseline strophes (10 + 10), 40 verselines and 81 cola (taking only 10:5 as a tricolon and 10:8-9 as three bicolic verselines). Fokkelman: 9:2-3, 4-5 | 6-7 8-9 || 10-11, 12-13 || 14-15, 16-17 | 18-19, 20-21 || 10:1-2, 3-4 | 5-6, 7-8 || 9-11 || 12-13, 14 | 15-16, 17-18 (6 stanzas with 19 strophes, 39 verselines and 81 cola, taking 10:8 and 9 as tricola). Labuschagne: Like Van der Lugt, I find 2 cantos with 6 sub-cantos, 20 strophes, 40 verselines and 81 cola. Christensen includes the heading of Psalm 9 in the word-count and takes Psalm 10 as an independent composition - see his analysis on his website www.bibal.net. For an overview of other divisions of the text, see Van der Lugt, CAS, Psalm 10, § 6. Logotechnical analysis of Psalm 9-10 Columns a and b show the number of words before and after the atnach. Column c: words addressed to God; d: words spoken about God. The numbering of the verselines is shown in brown. Total a b c d 1 :dÇwßdül rômÌzim ¤EÐbal tûmülav ÞxEFcÂnümal Heading: 5 5 0 2 ^yiÐbil-lAküÐb hÃwhÌy hådô' ' 1 4 4 4 :§yetô'ülüpÇn-lAÐk hßrüKpasá' 3 3 3 Total, v. 2 7 = 4 + 3 = 7 + 0 3 ^ªAb hAcüleve'Ìw hAxümüWe' 2 3 3 3 ¤ôyülev occurs only here :¤ôyülev §ümiH hßrüGmÂzá' 3 3 3 and in Ps. 18:14 Total, v. 3 6 = 3 + 3 = 6 + 0 Strophe 1 Total, v. 2-3 13 = 7 + 6 = 13 + 0 4 ^rôxA' yabÌyô'-bûHüÐb b 3 3 3 3 :§yÆnAKpim ûdüb'×yÌw ûlüHAÐkÇy 3 3 3 Total, v. 4 6 = 3 + 3 = 6 + 0 5 ^yÇnyædÌw yiXAKpüHim AtyiWAv-yiÐk 4 4 4 4 :qådec XEpôH 'EÐsikül AGtübaHÃy 4 4 4 Total, v. 5 8 = 4 + 4 = 8 + 0 Strophe 2 Total, v. 4-5 14 = 7 + 7 = 14 + 0 6 ^vAHßr AGtèdaÐbi' £Çyôg AGtèravÃFg g 5 4 4 4 :devÃw £Alôvül AtyixAm £AmüH 4 4 4 Total, v. 6 8 = 4 + 4 = 8 + 0 7 xacÆnAl tôbßróx ûGmaGt bÅyô'Ah 6 4 4 4 :hAGmEh £ßrükÇz dabA' ^AGtüHatÃn £yærAvÌw 5 2 5 Total, v. 7 9 = 6 + 3 = 9 + 0 Strophe 3 Total, v. 6-7 17 = 10 + 7 = 17 + 0 Sub-canto I.1 Total, v. 2-7 44 = 24 + 20 = 44 + 0 8 ^bEHÅy £Alôvül hÃwhyÂw 7 3 3 3 :ô'üsiÐk XAKpüHiGmal ¤ÅnôÐk 3 3 3 Total, v. 8 6 = 3 + 3 = 0 + 6 9 ^qådecüÐb lEbEGt-XOKpüHÇy 'ûhÌw h 8 4 4 4 :£yærAHyEmüÐb £yiGmu'ül ¤yædÃy 3 3 3 Total, v. 9 7 = 4 + 3 = 0 + 7 Strophe 4 Total, v. 8-9 13 = 7 + 6 = 0 + 13 Total, v. 6-9 30 = 17 + 13 = 17 + 13  10 ^ªßÐdal bÃFgüWim hÃwhÌy yihyÇw w 9 4 4 4 :hßrAFcaÐb tôGtivül bÃFgüWim 3 3 3 Total, v. 10 7 = 4 + 3 = 0 + 7 11 ^§emüH yEvèdôy §üb ûxüXübÇyÌw 10 4 4 4 :hÃwhÌy §yeHèrOd AGtübÂzAv-'×l yiÐk 5 5 5 Total, v. 11 9 = 4 + 5 = 9 + 0 Strophe 5 Total, v. 10-11 16 = 8 + 8 = 9 + 7 Total, v. 8-11 29 = 15 + 14 = 9 + 20 Total, v. 6-11 46 = 25 + 21 = 26 + 20 Total, v. 5-11 54 = 29 + 25 = 34 + 20 12 ^¤ôCyic bEHOy hÃwhyal ûrüGmÂz z 11 4 4 4 Middle words :wyAtôlyiláv £yiGmavAb ûdyÇFgah 3 3 3 of Psalm 9: 156 = 77 + 2 + 77 Total, v. 12 7 = 4 + 3 = 0 + 7 Middle colon: 43 = 22 + 1 + 22 Total, v. 8-12 36 = 19 + 17 = 9 + 27 13 ^rAkÃz £Atô' £yimßÐd HãrOd-yiÐk 12 5 5 5 :£yÇwÃnáv tÑqávac xakAH-'×l 4 4 4 Total, v. 13 9 = 5 + 4 = 0 + 9 Strophe 6 Total, v. 12-13 16 = 9 + 7 = 0 + 16 Total, v. 10-13 32 = 17 + 15 = 9 + 23 Sub-canto I.2 Total, v. 8-13 45 = 24 + 21 = 9 + 36 Total, v. 6-13 62 = 34 + 28 = 26 + 36 14 ^yA'ÌnOKWim yÇyÌnAv hE'èr hÃwhÌy yÇnÅnÌnAx x 13 5 5 5 :tÆwAm yãrávaKHim yimümôrüm 3 3 3 Total, v. 14 8 = 5 + 3 = 8 + 0 15 §yetAGlihüGt-lAÐk hßrüKpasá' ¤avamül 14 4 4 4 :§etAvûHyiÐb hAlyÇgA' ^¤ôCyic-tab yãrávaHüÐb 2 3 5 Total, v. 15 9 = 7 + 2 = 9 + 0 Strophe 7 Total, v. 14-15 17 = 12 + 5 = 17 + 0 Total, v. 13-15 26 = 17 + 9 = 17 + 9 Total, v. 11-15 42 = 25 + 17 = 26 + 16 16 ^ûWAv taxaHüÐb £Çyôg ûvübAX X 15 4 4 4 :£AlÌgÞr hßdüÐkülÇn ûnAmAX ûz-teHårüÐb 5 5 5 Total, v. 16 9 = 4 + 5 = 0 + 9 17 hAWAv XAKpüHim hÃwhÌy vÞdôn 16 4 4 4 :hAles ¤ôyÃFgih ^vAHßr HÔqôn wyAKpaÐk lavOpüÐb 4 4 4 Total, v. 17 8 = 8 + 0 = 0 + 8 Strophe 8 Total, v. 16-17 17 = 12 + 5 = 0 + 17 Total, v. 14-17 34 = 24 + 10 = 17 + 17 Total, v. 8-17 79 = 48 + 31 = 26 + 53 Total, v. 2-17 123 = 72 + 51 = 70 + 53  18 ^hAlô'üHil £yivAHèr ûbûHÃy y 17 3 3 3 :£yihÈlé' yExEküH £ÇyôFg-lAÐk 4 4 4 Total, v. 18 7 = 3 + 4 = 0 + 7 19 ^¤ôyübe' xakAKHÇy xacÆnAl '×l yiÐk k 18 5 5 5 :davAl dab'×Gt £yÇCyÇnáv tÂwÙqiGt 4 4 4 Total, v. 19 9 = 5 + 4 = 0 + 9 Strophe 9 Total, v. 18-19 16 = 8 + 8 = 0 + 16 Total, v. 14-19 50 = 32 + 18 = 17 + 33 20 ^Hôné' zOvÃy-la' hÃwhÌy hAmûq 19 5 5 5 :§yÆnAKp-lav £Çyôg ûXüpAKHÇy 4 4 4 Total, v. 20 9 = 5 + 4 = 9 + 0 21 £ehAl hßrôm hÃwhÌy hAtyiH 20 4 4 4 :hAles hAGmEh Hôné' ^£Çyôg ûvèdÅy 4 2 4 Total, v. 21 8 = 6 + 2 = 8 + 0 Strophe 10 Total, v. 20-21 17 = 11 + 6 = 17 + 0 Sub-canto I.3 Total, v. 14-21 67 = 43 + 24 = 34 + 33 Total, v. 12-21 83 = 52 + 31 = 34 + 69 Canto I Total, v. 2-21 156 = 91 + 65 = 87 + 69 10: 1 Middle words: ^qôxßrüÐb dOmávaGt hÃwhÌy hAmAl l 21 4 4 4 319 = 156 + 7 + 156 :hßrAFcaÐb tôGtivül £yilüvaGt 3 3 3 Meaningful centre of the psalm Total, v. 1: 7 = 4 + 3 = 7 + 0 2 ^yÇnAv qalèdÇy vAHßr tÂwá'ÂgüÐb 22 4 4 4 :ûbAHAx ûz tôGmÇzümiÐb ûWüpAGtÇy 4 4 4 Total, v. 2: 8 = 4 + 4 = 0 + 8 3 ^ôHüpÂn tÂwá'aGt-lav vAHßr lEGlih-yiÐk 23 6 6 6 :hÃwhÌy ¦E'Çn ªãrEÐb ÞvEcObû 4 4 4 Total, v. 3: 10 = 6 + 4 = 0 + 10 4 ^HOrèdÇy-laÐb ôKpa' ÐhabOgüÐk vAHßr 24 5 5 5 :wyAtôGmÇzüm-lAÐk £yihÈlé' ¤yE' 4 4 4 Total, v. 4: 9 = 5 + 4 = 0 + 9 Total, v. 1-4: 34 = 19 + 15 = 7 + 27 5 tEv-lAküÐb wyAkßrèd ûlyixÃy 25 4 4 4 ^ôÐdÌgÆFnim §yeXAKpüHim £ôrAm 3 3 3 :£ehAÐb ÞxyipÃy wyßrèrôc-lAÐk 4 4 4 Total, v. 5: 11 = 7 + 4 = 3 + 8 6* ^XôGme'-laÐb ôÐbilüÐb ramA' 26 4 4 4 hAles* [hAleA'] :vßrüb-'×l reHá' rOdÃw rOdül 5 5 5 Total, v. 6: 9 = 4 + 5 = 0 + 9 Total, v. 5-6: 20 = 11 + 9 = 3 + 17 Total, v. 3-6: 39 = 22 + 17 = 3 + 36 Total, v. 2-6: 47 = 26 + 21 = 3 + 44 Sub-canto II.1 Total, v. 1-6: 54 = 30 + 24 = 10 + 44 7* ^ªOtÃw tômèrimû 'ElAm ûhyiKp p 27 5/4 5/4 5/4 :¤ÆwA'Ãw lAmAv ônôHül taxaGt 4 4 4 Total, v. 7: 9/8 = 5/4 + 4 = 0 + 9/8 8ab £yærEcáx bÞrü'amüÐb bEHÅy 28 3 3 3 :(^)yÖqÃn gOráhÂy £yærAGtüsiGmaÐb 3 3 3 8c-9a (:)ûnOKpücÇy hAkülExül wyÃnyEv 29 3 3 3 :hOÐkusüb hÅyèra'üÐk rAGtüsiGmaÐb bOré'Æy 4 4 4 9bc ^yÇnAv ¥ôXáxal bOré'Æy 30 3 3 3 Middle words of Ps. 10 :ôGtüHærüb ôküHAmüÐb yÇnAv ¥OXüxÂy 4 4 4 10* 163 = 78 + 7 + 78 ^ÞxOHÃy heÐkèdÇy dûcÃy* c 31 2/3 2/3 2/3 :£yi'AÐk lyEx* [£yi'AÐklEx] wyAmûcávaÐb lapÃnÌw 3/4 3/4 3/4 Total, v. 10: 5/7 = 3 + 4 = 0 + 5/7 11 ^lE' xakAH ôÐbilüÐb ramA' 32 4 4 4 :xacÆnAl hA'ßr-laÐb wyÃnAKp ryiGtüsih 5 5 5 Total, v. 11: 9 = 4 + 5 = 0 + 9 Sub-canto II.2 Total, v. 7-11: 43/44 = 24 + 19/20 = 0 + 43/44 12 ^§ådÃy 'AWÌn lE' hÃwhÌy hAmûq q 33 5 5 5 :£yÇwÃnáv xaÐküHiGt-la' 3 3 3 Total, v. 12: 8 = 5 + 3 = 8 + 0 13 ^£yihÈlé' vAHßr ¦E'Çn hem-lav 34 5 5 5 :HOrèdiGt '×l ôÐbilüÐb ramA' 4 4 4 Total, v. 13: 9 = 5 + 4 = 9 + 0 Total, v. 12-13: 17 = 10 + 7 = 17 + 0 14 savakÃw lAmAv hAGta'-yiÐk hAti'ßr r 35 5 5 5 §ådÃyüÐb tEtAl XyiÐbaGt 3 3 3 ^hAkelEx bOzávÂy §yelAv 36 3 3 3 :rÅzôv AtyÇyAh hAGta' £ôtÃy 4 4 4 Total, v. 14: 15 = 11 + 4 = 15 + 0 15 ^vAHßr ÞvôrÌz rObüH H 37 3 3 3 :'AcümiGt-lab ôvüHær-HôrèdiGt vßrÃw 5 5 5 Total, v. 15: 8 = 3 + 5 = 8 + 0 Total, v. 12-15: 40 = 24 + 16 = 40 + 0 16 ^devÃw £Alôv ªelem hÃwhÌy 38 4 4 4 :ôcèra'Em £Çyôg ûdübA' 3 3 3 Total, v. 16: 7 = 4 + 3 = 0 + 7 Total, v. 14-16: 30 = 18 + 12 = 23 + 7  17 ^hÃwhÌy AGtüvamAH £yÇwÃnáv tÂwá'aGt t 39 4 4 4 :§ÆnÌzA' byiHÙqaGt £AÐbil ¤yikAGt 4 4 4 Total, v. 17: 8 = 4 + 4 = 8 + 0 18 ªßdÃw £ôtÃy XOKpüHil 40 3 3 3 :¦årA'Ah-¤im Hôné' ¦Orával ^dôv ¥yisôy-laÐb 7 3 4 7 Total, v. 18: 10 = 6 + 4 = 10 + 0 Total, v. 16-18: 25 = 14 + 11 = 18 + 7 Sub-canto II.3 Total, v. 12-18: 65 = 38 + 27 = 58 + 7 Canto II Total, v. 2-18: 155/156 = 88 + 67/68 = 61 + 94/95 Total, v. 1-18: 162/163 = 92 + 70/71 = 68 + 94/95 With hAles (1x*): 163/164 = 92 + 71/72 = 68 + 95/96 Canto I-II Grand Total, 9:2 - 10:18: 318/319 = 183 + 135/136 = 155 + 163/164 With the heading, 9:1 – 10:18: 323/324 = 188 + 135/136 With hAles (3x*) and ¤ôyÃFgih (1x): 327/328 = 188 + 139/140 Textcritical remarks * The word-count of the corrected text is highlighted. In order to resolve the textcritical problems in 10:7 and 10:10, I venture to put forward the following suggestions: First, regarding the problematic hAleA', 'curse', in 10:7a, I follow Van der Lugt (CAS, § 10.1) in removing this word from v. 7, transferring it to the end of v. 6 and changing it to hAles, which was most probably the original reading. Second, in 10:10b I follow the Qere of the Masoretes, reading two words £yi'AÐk lyEx, 'host of dejected persons', (cf. LXX), instead of the one word in MT, £yi'AÐklEx, 'unfortunate persons' (see BHS). The effect on the word count can be seen in the chart. Finally, in 10:10a I follow the Qere reading heÐkèdÇy, 'he strikes'. More importantly, I also insert the obviously missing word beginning with a tsadeh, in v.10a, which in my opinion is dûcÃy, 'he hunts' (from the verb dûc). The tsadeh is not the initial letter, but in light of Ps. 9:9, where the heh-word is preceded by a waw: 'ûhÌw, this poses no problem (compare also Nah. 1:7b). Of all earlier suggestions, Brigg's proposal to insert the verb dûc - more correctly the imperfect form dûcÃy - makes the best sense in the context of the vivid description of the predatory onslaught by the godless on the poor: "He hunts (him), strikes (him), crouches (over him)", which is a perfect depiction of the hunting lion in vs. 8-9. Moreover, this verb occurs together with br', 'lurk, lie in wait' (vs. 9, 'like a lion') in a comparable context in Micah 7:2 and, more importantly, in Job 38: 39-40, where the lion is explicitly mentioned and where we find all three verbs occurring in Psalm 9: not only br', 'lurk', and dûc, 'hunt', but also xxH, 'crouch'. The proposed corrections do not only restore the letters of the alphabetic acrostic in vs. 7 and 10, but also the numerical structure which was negatively effected by the loss of the word hAleA' in vs. 7a. In this way, the 163 words of Psalm 10 are maintained, and its logotechnical structure, as well as that of the entire poem, is considerably improved. And what is more, the correction in 10:7a also restores the 7-word arithmetic centre of Psalm 10 (vs. 9b-10a)! In my judgement, the two corrections proposed above bring us closer than ever to what the final author/editor had in mind. Observations In terms of the 319 words of the psalm, the middle word is qôxßrüÐb, 'far off’, but the 7 words of 10:1 constitute the arithmetic centre. They are flanked by exactly 156 (6 x 26) words on either side (319 = 156 + 7 + 156). hßrAFcaÐb tôGtivül £yilüvaGt ^ qôxßrüÐb dOmávaGt hÃwhÌy hAmAl Why, YHWH, do you stand far off? // Why hide away in times of trouble? The pressing question why God does not act, constitutes a very meaningful centre for a prayer for deliverance of the oppressed. The problem of the presumed ‘aloofness’ of God is strongly reminiscent of Psalm 73, where the two notions ‘far from God’ and ‘near God’ function as a structuring device – see my Analysis of Psalm 73. It is important to note that the arithmetic centre of the poem coincides with the lamedh-verseline at the middle of the alphabetic acrostic, which normally falls between the letters kaph and lamed, so that the middle verseline is either the kaph- or the lamedh verseline – see the General Introduction, "The alphabetic acrostics". In terms of the 81 cola of the poem, the middle colon coincides exactly with the arithmetic centre (81 = 40 + 1 + 40), which highlights the meaningful centre on word level in yet another way. Each of the two sections of the psalm has its own meaningful centre. In Psalm 9, the two middle words are £yiGmavAb ûdyÇFgah, 'proclaim among the nations', in 12b (156 = 77 + 2 + 77). The meaningful centre of Psalm 10 is constituted by the 7 words (once again 7!) in vs. 9c-10a (163 = 78 + 7 + 78), which are flanked by 78 (3 x 26) words on either side. ÞxOHÃy heÐkèdÇy dûcÃy : ôGtüHærüb ôküHAmüÐb yÇnAv ¥OXüxÂy He seizes the poor, drags him away in his net // hunts, strikes, crouches (over him). The metaphor of the hunting lion, lying in ambush for a passer-by, is a most fitting meaningful centre for this part of the poem. The division of the text into words directly addressed to God and words spoken about him appears to have been employed to weave extra divine name numbers into the text:* * Van der Lugt counts 180 words adressed to God (CAS, § 10.5), while I find 155, because I do not reckon 10:2 as addressed to God, neither 10:5-6, but only 10:5b (see the chart, Column c). 9:6-7 17 words addressed to God 9:6-11 26 words addressed to God 9:14-15 17 words addressed to God 9:11-15 26 words addressed to God 9:14-17 17 words spoken about God 9:8-17 26 words addressed to God 9:20-21 17 words addressed to God 10:5-6 17 words spoken about God 10:4-6 26 words spoken about God 10:7-8 17 words spoken about God 10:12-13 17 words addressed to God 10:1-18 68 (4 x 17) words addressed to God. Additionally, there are a considerable number of occurrences of the divine name numbers woven into the text in terms of the division by atnach: 9:6-7 17 words in total 9:4-7 17 words before atnach 9:6-9 17 words before atnach 9:8-12 17 words after atnach 9:10-13 17 words before atnach 9:6-13 34 (2 x 17) words before atnach 9:13-15 26 words in total, with 17 before atnach 9:11-15 17 words after atnach 9:2-17 51 (3 x 17) words after atnach 9:12-21 52 (2 x 26) words before atnach 9:2-21 156 (6 x 26) words in total 10:1-4 34 (2 x 17) words in total 10:3-6 17 words after atnach 10:2-6 26 words before atnach 10:7-8 17 words in total 10:2-18 156 (6 x 26) words in total, with 68 (4 x 17) after atnach 9:2 – 10:18 136 (8 x 17) words after atnach. The word §ümiH, 'your name', occurs twice in Psalm 9 (vs. 3b and 11a) and seems to be used as a unifying key-word to link Psalm 9 with Psalms 7 and 8 – see Ps. 7:18 and Ps. 8:2,10. The same holds true for the designation ¤ôyülev, 'Most High', in 9:3b, with regard to Psalm 7, where it occurs in v. 18. See Observation 6 in my Analysis of Psalm 7. It is an important key-word, occurring 22 times in the Psalter: 17x in Books I-III (of which 7 instances are to be found in the Asaphite psalms, 73-83 – see Observations 1 and 2 in my Analysis of Psalm 78) and 5x in Books IV and V. The name hwhy occurs 9x in Psalm 9 (9:2, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 20 and 21) and 5x in Psalm 10 (10:1, 3, 10, 12 and 17), together 14 times. Significantly enough, there are 52 (2 x 26) occurrences altogether in Psalms 1-10, with 17 in Psalms 6-8 and 26 in Psalms 6-9. See Observation 7 in my Analysis of Psalm 7, and for particulars, see the General Introduction, "The name YHWH woven into the fabric of the text", and particularly Table I in the Introduction to Book I. The word £yihÈlé' occurs 3x (9:18, 10:4 and 13) and lE' 2x (10:11 and 12). The divine title ¤ôyülev, ‘Most High’, occurs 1x (v. 3b). The only other instance in this sub-group (Psalms 9-18) is to be found in Ps. 18:14b. The two occurrences function as a literary device for inclusion to delimit the psalms in this sub-group.