Sunday, January 28, 2024

Psalm 115:5-7

Earlier this month, I read Psalm 115, and after looking up the original Hebrew, I discovered that it has the same sort of construction as Psalm 135, which I wrote about a couple months ago.  Here are verses 5-7 in the ESV:
5 They [the idols of the nations] have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.  6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.  7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat.
In the Hebrew, the repeated construction is "mouth to them," "eyes to them," and so on:
פֶּֽה־לָהֶם וְלֹא יְדַבֵּרוּ עֵינַיִם לָהֶם וְלֹא יִרְאֽוּ׃
אָזְנַיִם לָהֶם וְלֹא יִשְׁמָעוּ אַף לָהֶם וְלֹא יְרִיחֽוּן׃
Verse 7 is a bit different, though; here, there are pronominal suffixes on "hands" and "feet":
יְדֵיהֶם ׀ וְלֹא יְמִישׁוּן רַגְלֵיהֶם וְלֹא יְהַלֵּכוּ לֹֽא־יֶהְגּוּ בִּגְרוֹנָֽם׃
In both constructions, the idols' possession of these body parts is described without using any verbs, and consequently, the only verbs in these verses are the negated actions that the idols cannot perform.  They "do not speak," "do not see," and so on.  Like the lifeless idols themselves, there is only inactivity in these verses.