Stichometry and Destiny in Psalm 23,4

Author(s): Mitchell Dahood

Source: Biblica , 1979, Vol. 60, No. 3 (1979), pp. 417-419
Published by: Peeters Publishers

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/42706819

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 417

Stichometry and Destiny in Psalm 23,4

In his recent long study of Psalm 23, D. N. Freedman has written

that "this most popular and best loved Psalm continues to puzzle
scholars", but the problems posed by this brief poem do not concern
textual corruption or linguistic obscurity, according to Freedman, but
rather the cohesion of the parts, or the interpretation of the poem as a
whole i1). In vs. 4, however, critics still wrestle with the stichometry
and with the reading and meaning of MT yenahamüní. The identification
of two instances of double-duty modifiers or two-way middles and the
division of consonantal ynhmny into two words seem to improve the
stichometry and the transition from vs. 4 to vs. 5.
gam kî-ëlèk Even though I walk
begê' salmãwet in the valley of the shadow of
Death
W - ira3 rã f I will not fear the Evil One;
ki ' ãtãh (MT * attãh ) Hmmãdí for with me come
šibteka ûmié'antekâ your club and your staff
hêmmãh yanhü menï (MT yenahamüni) behold, they guide my de

Scanned thus, the verse divides into six cola with the foll
pattern: 3 words - 4 syllables / 2 words - 5 syllables / 3 word
lables; 3 words - 6 syllables / 2 words - 8 syllables / 3 words - 6
In both parts of the verse the two-way middles read naturally
cally with what precedes and with what follows.
My proposal to render rã' by the "Evil One" (2), an epithet of
who is contrasted with vs. 1 rô'î, "my shepherd", counsels the
of the MT pointing salmãwet, "shadow of Death" (3), against i

(x) In L. Iy. Origin, ed., Michigan Oriental Studies in honor of

C. Cameron (The University of Michigan; Ann Arbor 1976) 139-166,
esp. 139.
(2) In Psalms III (AB 17a; 1970) pp. xi,viii-xijx, a revision of
the version given in Psalms I, 145.
(3) The retention of mãwet in salmãwet also brings out the contrast
with v. 6 hayyãy, "my life", as pointed out to me by John Kselman.
It may be noted here that ge' "valley", heretofore not clearly witnessed
outside Hebrew, is a component in several geographical names from Ebla,
such as gi-maš-maš ki, "Bog Valley", gi-ku-la-ba 4kl "Dog Valley", gi-
zi-mu-ru kl, "Valley of Song / Pruning", gi-da-nu ki, "Valley of the

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 418 M. Dahood

by some modem critics t

with 'ëlëk, "I walk", prom
sometimes deleted, becaus
word pair hlk // ytw , see
of death, which may be cit
of our verse (5). Singular *
usage, as comparison with Pss 55,12; 73,26; Isa 16,10; L,am 4,12, etc.
shows. For example, Ps 73,26, kãlah Še*ěrí ûl'bâbî. The translation of
hèmmãh as the interjection "behold!" (6) recovers the emphatic particle
balancing emphatic gam at the beginning of the verse, though "these"
also fits the context.
That nhm, "to console", is not appropriate with the subjects "your
club and your staff" has long been noted and has prompted the emen
dation of yenahamüní to yanhûnî (cf. Ps 43,3), or the extension of th
semantic range of nhm to include the idea of vindication, as recently
proposed by Freedman (7). The worship of the Canannite god Mani,
"Destiny", underscored by the Kbla tablets, provides the key for in-
terpreting several Ugaritic personal names (8) and now raises the question
of to what extent the idea of "destiny" permeated Hebrew life and lit
erature (9). The reading yanhü menï, "they guide my destiny", restore
a third verb of motion in this verse balancing ' ëlëk and 'ãtãh, as well a
recovering the breakup of the composite phrase *meni kôsî (see vs. 5,
kôsí rewãyãh, "my cup overflows") that semantically equals Ps 11,6,
menat kôsãm and Ps 16,5, yahweh menât-helqî wekôsî. With vs. 1, yahweh
rô'î, "Yahweh is my shepherd", yanhü, "they guide", forms an inclusio
binding the beginning and end of the first stanza. Cf. Ps 78,72, wayyir'ëm
kHõm lebãbô / ûbitebûnôt kappãyw yanhëm, "He tended them with blame
less heart / and with skillful hands he guided them". Just as in Ps 43,3
where God's messengers Light and Truth guide the psalmist, so here
it is Yahweh's club and staff that perform this function.

Judge", etc. All these place names occur in TM.75.G.2231, published

by G. Pettinato, Or 47 (1978) 50-73. The significance of this Eblaite-
Hebrew isogloss for the history of these languages should not be slighted
in upcoming discussions about the linguistic classification of Eblaite.
(4) Most recently by Freedman, Cameron Festschrift 142.
(5) As well as I,. R. Fisher, ed., Ras Shamra Parallels, I, Idi. lne
massoretes seem not to have had a firm purchase on the poetic verb
* ãtãh, "to come". In Cant 4,8, for instance, they read 9 itti, "with me",
where versional >eti, "Come!" (// tãbô*i) yields better sense and paral-
lelism.
(6) See also Freedman, op. cit., 157-158. Parallelism with hmnèh
suggests its presence in the second colon of Isa 17,1, hãyetã hemmã H
mappãlãh (MT hãyHãh me'î mappãlãh) , "It shall become, indeed, a heap
of ruins".
(7) Cameron Festschrift, 158-159.
(8) Such as pmn, "the decree of Mani", 'rmn, "the donkey of Mani ,
brdmn, "the mule of Mani", mny, "my destiny is Ya".
(9) For instance, the personal name yimnãh in Gen 46,17 and Num
26,44, which M. NoTh, Die israelitischen Personennamen, 224, derives
from ymn, is more convincingly ascribed to mãnãh, "to destine", and
explained as hypocoristic for yimnãh- èl or yimnãh-yãh.

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 Stichometry and Destiny in Psalm 23,4 419

More importantly, the reading meni eases the transition to vs. 5,

ta%aYõk lepãnay êulhãn, "You prepare my table before me", which in the
context has been considered a difficult phrase in jarring contrast to th
pastoral imagery of the preceding verses. Isa 65,11 denounces those
Israelites who, having abandoned Yahweh, are now those ha*õrekím
laggad lulhãn / wehamemale'îm lameni mimsãk, "who prepare a table
for Fortune / and who fill the vat for Destiny". These worshippers pre-
pare the table for the Canaanite gods Fortune and Destiny, whereas
in Ps 23 Yahweh the Shepherd readies a banquet for the psalmist (10) .
This is not the only theological reversal in our poem. When the psalmist
avers lo* 'ira* vã' "I will not fear the Evil One", he contrasts himself
with the craven Canaanite Baal depicted in UT, 67:11:6-7, yraun aliyn
b'l I tť nn rkb *rpt, "Mighty Baal feared him [i.e. Mot] /the Rider of the
Clouds dreaded him".
Here menî, "destiny", parses as a common noun derived from
name of a deity, a linguistic development briefly discussed by W.
Albright (n). But there are biblical instances of meni employed as
divine appellative as well; e.g., Ps 61,8, yešěb 'ôlãm lipnê 'elõhím / h
we'emet menï (MT man) yinserûhû, "May he sit enthroned before G
forever/may the kindness and fidelity of Destiny safeguard him".
explained MT man (mn could be either defective spelling for mny o
sharing the yod of the next word) now becomes the second compon
of a composite divine name (12). This composite divine name recur
vss. 2-3 of Ps 61: Hm*ah ' elõhím rinnãtí ... besûr-yârûm mimenî (MT
mimmennï) tanhënî, "Hear, O God, my cry ... to the L,ofty Mountain,
O Destiny, guide me!" In this analysis both 'elõhím and menî balance
as vocatives, the latter presumably preceded by the vocative particle
mi (13).

Pont. Biblical Institute Mitchell Dahood

Via della Pilotta, 25
1-00187 Roma

(10) The motifs of "shepherd" and "banquet" are not as dis

as some scholars claim, and in fact are collocated in Ugaritica V,
(p. 551), lines 1-3, [aph]n yšt rpu mlk *lm / wyšt [il] gtr w yqr / il ytb b
il tpt b hd r*y / dyšr w ydmr, "Then the Healer, King of Eternity,
yea, El, strong and majestic, drinks. / El is seated next to Ashtart /
El the judge next to Hadd the Shepherd / who sings and chants".
(u) Archaeology and the Religion of Israel (Baltimore 1946) 162-
163, 220, n. 115. He cites dãgãn , "grain", from the name of the god
Dagan and perhaps tíróš, "wine", which he related to a Mesopotamian
deity, but which is now attested as the Canaanite goddess trt at Ugarit
and as te-ri-iš-tú at Ebla; see Chapter IX of G. Pettina'to's forth-
coming book, Ebla That Lives (Doubleday 1979).
(12) The motif of personified kindness and fidelity sent by Destiny
to safeguard the king neatly accords with the motif in Ps 23,4 and 6,
a resemblance that would support the position of those who classify
Ps 23 as a royal psalm.
(13) Cf. M. Dahood, Or 46 (1977) 330.

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