More notes on Psalm 1:1

אַשְׁרֵי־הָאִישׁ* אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָלַךְ בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים וּבְדֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים לֹא עָמָד וּבְמֹושַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָׁב

A. Here are some figures of speech used in this first verse of Psalm 1.

1. I already made reference to the apparent degregation of the action in the first verse... it goes from walk to stand to sitting. An argument has also been made by some (EW Bullinger in his book "Figures of Speech used in the Bible" pg 429) that this form of Anabasis (aka. Gradual Ascent) is also used in the character of the evil people described. Here is what he wrote, "The first are impious, as to their mind. The second are sinners, who not only think, but carry out the workings of their evil minds. The third are scorners, glorying in their wickedness and scoffing at righteousness."

2. Enantiosis (aka. Contraries) Enantiosis is similiar to antithesis, where two thoughts are placed in contrast to each other in order to make the contrast more striking and to emphasize it. Enantiosis is used when negative and affirmations are used in contrast. In this case the negative in verse one is used in contrast to the affirmation in verse two.. to further instruct us how to live a righteous men and women.

B. I am taking the prefixed preposition בְ in the locative sense meaning in/on.

C. The nouns that are in construct do not have definite articles prefixed to them in any part of the construct chains. I listened to my friend Marty talk about this in the Hebrew class that he taught (second term class 2 part 1 located here for download). His discussion interested me so much I had to stop the class and look up the use of definite articles in construct chains in Waltke and Oconnor's book "Biblical Hebrew Syntax". They noted that in poetic writtings the definite article does not appear at times when it is expected... and grammatically should appear. I am guessing that is what is happening here.

Applications

1. I want the blessing of the Lord.

2. Bad company corrupts good morals. Be careful who and what I allow to be in the sphere of where I walk, stand and sit (both literally and figuratively). When I can't avoid being in the presence of evil men, scoffers, etc... make sure i am not allowing them to be my influence.

3. Moral degradation is a path.. a slippery slope. Once you start down it, it leads further down.

אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר׀ לֹ֥א הָלַךְ֮ בַּעֲצַ֪ת רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ חַ֭טָּאִים לֹ֥א עָמָ֑ד וּבְמוֹשַׁ֥ב לֵ֝צִ֗ים לֹ֣א יָשָֽׁב׃

test

Psalm 1:1b

וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ חַ֭טָּאִים לֹ֥א עָמָ֑ד וּבְמוֹשַׁ֥ב לֵ֝צִ֗ים לֹ֣א יָשָֽׁב׃

וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ- conjunction "and" - prefixed prep "in" - "way, path, route, road, highway", i.e., a thoroughfare to physically get from one place to another (Ge 16:7), note: context will provide the size of the pathway, ranging from a narrow path to a major thoroughfare

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

This word is in construct with the word that follows.. thus allowing it to have definiteness

חַ֭טָּאִים noun masc plural "sinner, wicked person", i.e., a class of persons that offend a standard, and so incur moral guilt (Ge 13:13; Nu 17:3[EB 16:38]; 1Sa 15:18; Ps 1:1, 5; 25:8; 26:9; 51:15[EB 13]; 104:35; Pr 1:10; 13:21; 23:17; Isa 1:28; 13:9; 33:14; Am 9:10+)

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

At my first glance of this form, I made a rookie mistake in my head... I mistook the חַ֭ for a הַ and didn't realize until I looked it up which guttural it really was. It was part of the root and not a prefixed definite article.

לֹ֥א - "no, not"

עָמָ֑ד - verb perfect 3MS "he (does not) stand"

וּבְמוֹשַׁ֥ב conj. "and' - Prefixed prep. in - noun masc singular..

"dwelling, settlement", i.e., a place to live (Ge 10:30); 2. LN 80.1–80.4 place, site, i.e., a location (1Sa 20:25; Eze 8:3); 3. LN 6.106–6.117 "seat", i.e., a place where one sits (1Sa 20:18, 25; 1Ki 10:5); 4. LN 6.106–6.117 throne, i.e., a chair of a king, as a representation of his power (Eze 28:2); 5. LN 67.142–67.162 time interval, i.e., an indefinite period of time (Ex 12:40); 6. LN 63.13–63.20 household members, i.e., those who dwell in residence, who are part of a larger whole (2Sa 9:12); 7. LN 11.12–11.54 unit: מֹושָׁב זָקֵן (mô∙šāḇ zā∙qēn)2 council member, i.e., a ruling socio-religious ruling group (Ps 107:32), note: for NIV text in Eze 37:23, see 5412; 8. LN 7.2–7.25 unit: בַּיִת מֹושָׁב (bǎ∙yiṯ mô∙šāḇ) house, formally, house of dwelling, i.e., a construction where one lives (Lev 25:29)

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

This noun is in construct with the participle that follows thus giving it definiteness.

לֵ֝צִ֗ים - verb qal participle masc plural "the ones who mock"

mock, scorn, formally, talk big, i.e., speak words which show no respect for the object, and make fun of the object, with a possible focus of speaking in the situation with confidence and authority (Pr 9:12+); (polel ptcp.) scorner (Hos 7:5+), note: for another parsing, see 4372.5; (hif) mock (Ps 119:51; Pr 3:34; 14:9; 19:28+),

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

לֹ֣א - "no, not"

יָשָֽׁב - Verb qal perf. 3MS "he (does not) sit.

I didn't really want to change the word order of the Hebrew verbs in my translation so I offer the translation in 2 forms. One has a few words adjusted (to make sense in English), the the verbs appear in the sequence they are in the Hebrew text... and the second is in smother English.

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked, and in the path of sinners he does not stand, and in the seat of mockers he does not sit." (verb order kept)

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked, and does not stand in the path of sinners, and does not sit in the seat of mockers" (a little bit smother, with verb order changed and the word he not repeated)

note-- I could not decide whether to translate the second phrase "in the path" or "on the path". On the path makes more sense in English, but in the path assists in capturing the Hebrew parallelism (plus the same prefixed preposition is used in all three phrases in Hebrew... so I thought that I would try to keep it consistent in my English translation

note-- a lot of translations use the word "scoffers" in this verse, but that's not a word I use much in real life, so I went with "mockers" ... Scoffers just didn't make the cut in the JCV- Joel Conley Version... hey it's my translation, so don't mock me :-)