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Singers and Syntax

On the Balance of Grammar and Poetry in Psalm 8

Eep Talstra, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

1. Grammar and Poetry


In his exegesis of Psalm 81, N.A. van Uchelen addresses a number of questions
that are of vital importance for the analysis of poetic structure. Van Uchelen
discusses the observation of grammatical and rhetorical features of the text and
he shows in what way the combination of such observations could contribute to
the understanding of both the form and the theme of the Psalm.
First, he strongly supports a definition of textual structure in terms of the
linguistic material that can be registered by the reader: the ordering of words in
a text and the observation of their interaction. The positive effect of this approach
is clear: the text of a Psalm is analysed as a piece of art in itself, not primarily
according to the standards of a certain genre and its assumed cultic or social
background.
Second, in discussing in what way words contribute to the textual structure, Van
Uchelen explicitly wants to combine both lexical and grammatical features in his
argumentation. He not only refers to the repetition of the words
 earth and
in verse 2,
heaven in the Psalm and the repetition of the expressions with
5 and 10, as indicators of its larger structure, he also uses grammatical
observations to corroborate his division of the Psalm into four strophes of equal
length:  in verse 2, 
in verse 4, (introducing the only wayyiqtol of this
text) in verse 6 and the repetition of the indefinite noun in verse 7 and in
verse 8.
With this article I intend to pursue the question of the proper balance of
grammatical and lexical features observed and their possible role in the linguistic
and literary interpretation of Psalm 8.
For that reason I want to discuss the registration of its textual structure from some
additional observations and questions:
- A matter of continuing debate is the translation of the verbal forms in Psalm
8: qatal, yiqtol and the one wayyiqtol.
- What is the value of the repetition of the expressions with the interrogative

N.A. van Uchelen, Psalmen deel I (POT), Nijkerk, 1971, p. 55f.



Eep Talstra

? The expressions in verse 2 and 10 are clearly parallel, but the


construction in verse 5 is different:
does not modify an adjective, but it
is expressing a predication. So what stilistically might seem to be parallel,
grammatically certainly is not.
Is the poetic structure of a text preferably to be based on a division of the
text into strophes of equal length, as Van Uchelen proposes with Psalm 8?
What then about the contribution of the grammatical material to the poetic
structure?

In my opinion there is a more general theme behind these questions: how does
one analyse texts, poetic texts in particular? We seem to have two options: one
may describe a text in terms of design, as pattern, and one may describe a text
in terms of the interaction of text and reader, as a process. Much modern
stylistic research of the Hebrew Bible tends to present poetic texts in the first
place as pattern. It concentrates on the study of a text as a well designed form,
nicely balanced by lexical repetitions and phonological features. Grammatical
research or discourse analysis, however, concentrates on a text as a
communicative process, guided primarily by the texts grammatical features
and their relations.
The presence
of stylistic phenomena, such as the repetition of the exclamation

in verse 2 and 10, and the presence of grammatical phenomena, such

as the rather unexpected wayyiqtol in verse 6 and the asyndetic yiqtol in verse 7,
make clear that it is not our task to make choices here. Rather it is to find a proper
order in the registration of the phenomena of language both at the level of
grammar and at the level of stylistics and to consider their particular contribution
to poetic structure. Based on the assumption that a linguistic analysis referring to
language as a system comes prior to stylistic analysis referring to the phenomena
that mark the structure of a specific textual composition, it is my view that
observations on the level of grammar and lexicon should have priority over
observations in terms of semantics or stylistics2. However, especially with
poetry, the challenge remains: how much do we know about the classical Hebrew
as a langue, as a linguistic system?
In agreement with the order of analysis proposed here, I first want to address a
number of syntactic details of Psalm 8 and second to consider the interaction of
syntax and rhetorical or strophical structure.

See my article, Dialogue in Job 21. "Virtual Quotations" or text grammatical markers? in:
The Book of Job (BETL) 94 (1994) 329 - 348. The Appendix to that article also explains
more details of the computer programme Quest that has been used also for this article to
search for lexical and grammatical Hebrew data.

Singers and Syntax

2.

Some syntactic details: actors, clause types, verbal forms

Verse 2b-3.
After the 1th person plural and the vocative in verse 2a, section 2b-3 does not
continue the 1th person plural, but it introduces 3rd person plurals: children,
adversaries. In verse 4a another actor, a 1th person singular is introduced: I
see. These observations suggest that verse 2b and 3 can be taken together.
Observations of the internal structure of this segment of text can corroborate this.
The construction of verse 2b-3: an  clause, i.e. a subject clause in frontposition, continued by an asyndetic verbal clause, may not be very commonly
3
used, but it is a grammatical option also used
 in other prayers . For an
explanation of the unexpected verbal form
in verse 2, I refer to the
commentary of
Van
Uchelen.


Verse 3a. 
 .. 
 . In my view it is possible
 to assign meaning to the
Massoretic text as it stands, if one does not take 

as a verbal complement to

 (you have founded "by the mouth" (RSV) "aus der Kinder Mund"

(Buber), but as a more losely connected adjunct. In that role the phrase 

can
indicate the authority or the origin of a statement rather than the physical mouth
speaking or the
 words spoken: Jer. 23:16; 2Chr. 35:22; 36:12; Esr. 1:1 (cf. Sach.
8:9 where 

is on the first position of a halfverse). So the translation could be:
"for reason of the childrens voice you have established a stronghold", indicating
the reason why, rather than the material from which God founded it. In this way
the texts interpretation is that God forces his ennemies, the powers of chaos, into
silence in order to let the childrens voice be heard.
Verse 4-7.
Verse 4 is a temporal clause, introducing a new actor, by a 1st person singular
verb. In my view it is correct to combine verse 4 and 5, for if verse 4 is kept
separate4, the introduction of the new actor ("I") remains isolated. It is more
likely that this "I" continues in being the speaker of the wordsof verse 5.
clause of
Moreover, if one would like to isolate verse 4 in order to have the

H.J. Kraus, Psalmen (BKAT XV/1), Neukirchen-Vluyn, 19663, p. 65, refers to a number of
clause is the continuation of a hymnic expression. In my view it fits
texts where the
the text of Ps.8: 2f. better to refer to cases of an
clause that is the subject a following
main clause. See the translation by Buber and the text of Ps.71:20; Cf. 1Ki.8:24; Jer.32:20.

 "!

 !

Cf. Nic.H. Ridderbos, De Psalmen (KV), Kampen, 1962, p. 114, 121 and P. van der Lugt
Strofische Structuren in de Bijbels-Hebreeuwse Pozie (diss. TU Kampen), Kampen, 1980,
p. 473.

Eep Talstra

verse 5 in a special rhetorical position, as it seems to be the case in the analysis


by Ridderbos and Van der Lugt, yet no
 syntactic argument can be presented to
support this.
 As was stated above, this clause is grammatically different from
the two
exclamations in verse 2 and 10. Thus it is doubtful whether verse 5
could be read as a stylistic
 marker of similar weight in the composition of Psalm
8. The function of the
-NP clause in verse 5 can be explained better by its
connection to verse 4. As I will try to demonstrate below,
 together verse 4 and 5
express astonishment rather than the admiration of the
-adjective clauses in
verse 2 and verse 10.
With respect to verse 5 two syntactic questions need to be answered:

1. Does 
yiqtol after
+ NP have a modal function? Should one translate
"remember" or "should remember"?

2. What is the effect of the sequence of the clauses
+ NP / 
yiqtol /
wayyiqtol / yiqtol in verse 5 and 6? Is the wayyiqtol in verse 6 expressing a
contrast or a consecution? Should one translate "yet you made ... " or "that you
made him little less than #  "?
1. Modality
$

Waltke and OConnor5 speak of various rhetorical functions of
and 
questions. One function would be to express insult or abasement. Regarding the
verbal clauses following these questions the authors do not make a functional
distinction between clauses with qatal or with yiqtol. In my view this should be
done. In the grammar of Jouon-Muraoka6 Psalm 8,5 is listed as an example of
a consecutive clause and it is translated in an mood of irreality: "what is man
that you should remember him?". For further information a reference is made
there to BDB, p. 472.b, were (sub f.) the distinction of cases with Qatal and cases
with yiqtol is made, however, without suggesting a systematic difference of
meaning.
I agree with a statement made by Walter Gross7 that different syntactic forms
may indicate different syntactic funtions. The statement is made in the context of

B. Waltke - M. OConnor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, Winona Lake, 1991, 18.3, p. 322ff,
cf. p. 322 N15; p. 326.

P. Joon, T. Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (Subsidia Biblica 14/1-2), Rome,


1991, 169.e.

Walter Gross, Verbform und Funktion. Wayyiqtol fr die Gegenwart. Ein Beitrag zur Syntax
poetischer althebrischer Texte (ATSAT 1), St. Ottilien, 1976, p. 55: "Verschiedene
syntaktische Formen lassen jedoch verschiedene Funktionen vermuten".

Singers and Syntax

a comparison of clauses of the type used in Psalm 8:5 (


+ yiqtol) with clauses
of a different type in Psalm 144,3 and Is. 51:12 (wayyiqtol). Gross8 analyses
Psalm 8:5 % yiqtol in terms of consequence, Psalm 144:3 and Is. 51:12
wayyiqtol in terms of a contrast: "Dennoch". In agreement with his initial
statement Gross discusses a large number of formal clause patterns. However, his
study concentrates strongly on categories of time and general or individual
situation and does not systematically consider modality9. I think this should be
added. The results of a search for similar constructions, by the programme Quest,
suggested that the rather common translation of Psalm 8:5 
yiqtol in the
indicative is questionable10. My view is that one has to distinguish between
cases with Qatal (asking for an reason or an explanation) and cases with yiqtol
(indicating something not realistic or impossible). Examples of cases with Qatal:
Gen. 31:36 2Sam.7:18 9:8; of cases with yiqtol: Ex. 3:11 Nu.16:11 Ju.9:28,39
2Sam.19:35 2Ki.8,13 Job 6:11 21:15. The constructions with yiqtol express a
situation the speaker considers impossible or irrealistic. Also in the case of Psalm
8:5 a translation should emphasize the mood of irreality: Why should God
remember man? In view of Gods works, no real argument can be given why God
should pay attention to humans. Therefore, this verse should not be read too
philosophically. It does not yet express "das Geheimnis und Wunder der

op.cit., p. 66f.

op.cit. p. 57. In the cases of


yiqtol after nominal clauses (questions) Gross accepts both
present and future tenses. The subset with future tense "tragen meist eine modale Nuance".
What marks a present or a future "Sachverhalt" is not discussed.

10

&('

The following Query was used to search for verses, with in it at least four words specified:
% filename: MAKI.TOP
% START QUERY
definitions
topograph

domain bible
[verse

[word
lexeme { "MH" "MJ" }
]
[word
part_of_speech ~verb
]
[word <- 2
]
[word
]
[word
]

commands
;

]
mark( 2, word 1)
mark( 3, word 4)

(search Hebrew Bible)


(
or )

)+*

&,*

(no verb allowed)

lexeme "KJ"

(max 2 words in
between)
( )

part_of_speech verb

(a verb)

&('

Eep Talstra

menschlichen Existenz"11, but rather astonishment: "What is man, that you


should notice him?"
The positive turn in the argumentation is not before verse 7. The asyndetic main
clause used there, marks by its very form a new section in the discourse. It
registers the special position of man: "You make him rule the works of your
hands".

2. The sequence of verbal forms in verse 5 and 6.


It is difficult to establish the function of the wayyiqtol in verse 6, especially in
view of the continuation of this wayyiqtol by 0-yiqtol in verse 7. Translators
appear to be very flexible with grammar in the solutions they present. Buber, for
example, translates the wayyiqtol, X-yiqtol and 0-yiqtol in vs 6f. all in past tense:
"lieest-mangeln";"krntest";"hieest-walten". RSV shows a different and
unexplicable pattern of translation: wayyiqtol: "hast made little less"; X-yiqtol:
"dost crown"; 0-yiqtol: "hast given (!) him dominion".
Is it true that anything goes in the use of verbal forms in classical Hebrew
poetry?
A further complication originates from the fact that exegetes commonly refer to
the parallel text in Job 7,17f. merely for reason of the semantic contrast (gratitude
in Psalm 8 but bitterness in Job 7), rather than for the observation of the syntactic
parallel. Both Psalm 8:5f. and Job 7,17f. exhibit a shift of a yiqtol to wayyiqtol
and (w-)X-yiqtol. In spite of this syntactic parallel the translations usually are
quite different. For example, the translation by RSV12:

11

Kraus, op.cit. p. 69.

12

"Nieuwe Vertaling", Translation of the Netherlands Bible Society, Amsterdam, 1951


Ps. 8:5f. :
Wat is de mens, dat Gij zijner gedenkt,
NZ, KJ+yiqtol
en het mensenkind, dat Gij naar hem omziet?
W(..)KJ+yiqtol
Toch hebt Gij hem bijna goddelijk gemaakt,
wayyiqtol
en hem met heerlijkheid en luister gekroond.
W-X-yiqtol
Job 7:17f. :
Wat is de mens, dat Gij hem zo groot acht
NZ, KJ+yiqtol
en uw aandacht op hem vestigt,
W-KJ+yiqtol
dat Gij elke morgen hem bezoekt,
wayyiqtol
elk ogenblik hem beproeft?
..-X-yiqtol
Heb. 2:6
Wat is de mens, dat Gij zijner gedenkt, of des mensen zoon, dat Gij naar hem omziet?
Gij hebt hem voor een korte tijd beneden de engelen gesteld, met heerlijkheid en eer
hebt Gij hem gekroond.

Singers and Syntax

Psalm 8:5f.:
what is man that thou art mindful of him,
and the son of man that thou dost care for him?
Yet thou hast made him little less than God,
and dost crown him with glory and honour.
Job 7:17f.:
What is man, that thou dost make so much of him,
and that thou dost set thy mind upon him,
dost visit him every morning,
and test him every moment?

NZ, KJ+yiqtol
W(..)KJ+yiqtol
wayyiqtol
W-X-yiqtol
NZ, KJ+yiqtol
W-KJ+yiqtol
wayyiqtol
..-X-yiqtol

I assume it is the text of Heb. 2,6. that dominates the usual translation of the
Hebrew text of Psalm 8, 5f:
What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou carest
for him?
Thou didst make him for a little while lower than the angels, thou hast
crowned him with glory and honour, ...
the questionmark already is placed after the verb
- In
.0/21%the
3546- 78/6text
92:<; . ofTheHebrews,
next sentence is not a question but a statement, referring to
Jesus, son of man, and uses a tense form with complete action in Greek
:=.?>A@87B9C92D3"@E ), speaking of a specific and already past period in the existence of
(
the son of man. From this specific application of the Greek text of Psalm 8 it is
understandable that in translations of the Hebrew text a similar pattern has been
used: the same position of the questionmark, i.e. after verse 5 and the translation
of the wayyiqtol als complete tense. The comparison with the text of Job 7, 17f.,
however, demonstrates that from the perspective of Hebrew syntax this
translation pattern is less convincing.
Van Uchelen in his translation of the wayyiqtol in verse 6 uses the explanatory
"immers" ("for") and he states that by the transition of verse 5 to verse 6 it more
and more becomes clear what exactly is mans position granted to him by
God13. In a footnote14 Van Uchelen refers to Gesenius-Kautzsch 154.a,
where it is explained that clauses with can have various functions, such as
causal or final. This approach is helpful to avoid the usual translation in terms of
a constrast: "yet you made him .." Now in view of the text of Job 7, 17f. I would
prefer a consecutive function of the wayyiqtol more than an explanatory one.

13

op.cit. p. 55, 58f.

14

op.cit. p. 61 N16.

Eep Talstra

Compare Gesenius-Kautzsch 111.l. where it is stated that a wayyiqtol can


indicate a logical consequence, especially when following after questions (cf.
Is.51:12, Psalm 144:3. Thus the 
yiqtol of Psalm 8:5 is explained as similar to
this consecutive use of wayyiqtol. In my view the wayyiqtol of verse 6, with
identical person, number, gender and with identical pronominal suffix, has to be
read as a further expression of the consecutive clause. Ridderbos15 translates in
this way: ".. en dat gij hem bijna goddelijk doet zijn .."
The advantage of this analysis is that one is has a possibility to experiment with
a separate translation for each of the different verbal forms in the text and that
one can avoid the usual practice to treat syntactically similar texts differently.
Instead one can formulate that in poetry wayyiqtol after yiqtol clauses with an
identical pattern of actants, indicates consequence. Grammatically, Psalm 8,5 and
Job 7,17f. formulate the same question: Can you give any reason why ..?,
continued by yiqtol and wayyiqtol, rhetorically expressing astonishment in the
larger context of Psalm 8 and bitterness in Job 7.
My proposal is to translate Psalm 8:4f. as follows:
4
5
6
7

When I watch heaven, the work of your fingers,


the moon and the stars that you have established,
What is man, that you should notice him,
and a human, that you should pay attention to him?
That you even placed him little below gods
and with honor and splendor would crown him ?
Yet you make him rule the works of your hands.
All of it you have put under his feet.

This syntactic analysis and the translation imply that verses 4 - 9 constitute one
segment of text, that is divided into two sections. The first section is opened by

15

op.cit., p. 114. More complicated is the position of Walter Gross, op.cit. p. 155 n.76. He also
emphasizes that the two texts have an identical syntax (mah... ki yiqt. ol...ki yiqt. ol
wayyiqt. ol...w=x-yiqt. ol). However, Gross wants to keep the wayyiqtol in Psalm 8,5, but he
proposes to change the wayyiqtol of Job 7,18 into a weyiqtol. The reason is, that in his view
wayyiqtol expresses individual situations, which would apply in the text of Psalm 8, 5 (the
action is executed just once), whereas it would not apply in Job 7,18. I would suggest that
the distinction of wayyiqtol and yiqtol by individual and general situation may not be
decisive. Gross himself speaks of "Progress" being expressed by wayyiqtol in a context of
general experience. (p. 165). This is close to the statements in Gesenius-Kautzsch 111.l.m.
about consecution.

Singers and Syntax

the 
clause in 4a and mentions F  GHIJKI . The second section is

opened by the asyndetic yiqtol-clause in verse 7a and mentions FLMKI . In
my view the syntactic construction and the lexical material cooperate: in
comparison with heaven and earth, the work of Gods fingers, man does not seem
to be qualified at all to have Gods attention. Yet man is a ruler of the work of
Gods hands. The experience of mans real task is phrased in verse 7, not in verse
5 and 6.

3. Grammar and Strophes


Arguing in the way presented in the previous paragraph, one has a way to
reconstruct the text in the first place according to its a discourse structure.
Secondly it is important to consider wether this analysis is in agreement with a
more or less balanced rhetorical or strophical structure. Or, may be, wether the
strophical structure may run deliberately counter the syntactic structure.
To begin with, I will present some examples of textual divisions:
Van Uchelen:

2 /2a N

Ridderbos:

Van der Lugt: 2

Buber:
RSV:
NBG:

/4

/3a N
/3

2 /2b
2 /2b
2

/8 /10 (4 strophes)

/6
/5

/7

/4 /5

/7

/4
/4
/4

/6
/6



/10 (2 main parts (


in 2 and
5; repeated in 10)
/10 2 stanzas
 of three strophes
each (
in 2 and 5;
repeated in 10)
/10
/10 (verse numbers as in MT)
/10

Van der Lugt does not give a full argumentation, only a short formula for his
division of Psalm 816. The translators, of course, have no occasion to present
their arguments for the division of the text. Divisions they usually indicate by
starting a sentence with a capital letter in combinaton with a preceding blank line.
Buber indicates the textual structure of Psalm 8 by main clauses starting with a
capital letter.

16

op. cit. p. 473.

10

Eep Talstra

The main difference I experience with more common procedures of rhetorical


analysis is on the order in which arguments are used. Traditionally, exegetes
approach a text from a more "thematic" perspective. Grammatical arguments
generally are used mainly to support the thematic structure proposed, not to
produce an independent syntactic analysis. In the case of Psalm 8 this could result
in a division of the text according to two themes one may find there, i.e. the
statements about the work of God and, in relation to that, about the position of
man. An example of this approach is the analysis by Ridderbos and by Kraus. An
effect of the thematic approach of the text is a tendency to neglect grammatical
features and to produce, for example, equal translation for all different verbal
forms of verse 5-7: either in present tense (Ridderbos) or in past tense (Kraus).
Newer approaches of poetry experiment with a different balance of form and
content. Van Uchelens analysis of Psalm 8 is based on a more explicit search
for the interaction of lexical, rhetorical and grammatical arguments. Clearly the
rhetorical arguments are favorite, resulting in a "rhetorical analysis" of the text
in equal strophes. An important contribution in this new area is the method
developed by J.C. de Moor17, and his search for a proper combination of
grammatical and lexical indicators and poetic structure.
My proposal in this debate would be to reconsider the order of the observations
on form and the argumentation based upon them. As demonstrated by the
analysis presented here that order would be:
Syntactic
- Tenses, clause types and clause connections
- The (changing) pattern of actors in the text
Lexical
- newly introduced words or sets of words
- repetition of words
Rhetorical
- repetition of similar expressions
- refrains
- parallel colons
This particular order of the observations in the text of Psalm 8 results in the
following proposal of its structure.

17

Cf. Johannes C. de Moor, Micah 1. A structural Approach, in: W. van der Meer & J.C. de
Moor (ed.), The Structural Analysis of Biblical and Canaanite Poetry (JSOT Supplement
Series 74, Sheffield, 1988, p. 172 - 185.

11

Singers and Syntax

verse
syntactic:
actors
syntactic:
clauses

lexical

rhetorical

2a
--1pl
2sg

vocat.
-


O
M
refrain

2b-3 4-6 7-9


---- ---- ----

10
---

1sg
2sg
3sg

1pl
2sg

2sg
3pl

2sg
3sg



asyn
yqtl yqtl
 yqtl
-qtl
-qtl
yqtl
wyqtl
  

# 


 

# 
K

K

vocat.
-


O
M
refrain

Not all data fit into these columns. In addition to this schema more rhetorical
arguments have to be mentioned, such as: the use of words from the same
semantic field (the animals mentioned in verse 8 and 9) or the semantic
parallellism of clauses (verse 7a and 7b).
Of course, the reader may have serious doubts, whether a grammatician would
ever be capable of understanding the poet. These doubts may be justified. The
grammatical approach did not yield strophes of equal length in the psalm.
Nevertheless I have thought it worthwile to execute syntactic analysis in dialogue
with the approach advocated by Van Uchelen in his Commentary. The stimulance
coming from his work is his concentration on the cooperation of syntactical,
semantical and rhetorical observations in the readers reconstruction of the world
of the text. I consider this crucial for a further development of linguistic and
literary methods of reading biblical poetry.

12

Eep Talstra

LITTERATURE
F.I. Andersen,
The Sentence in Biblical Hebrew,
(Janua Linguarum, Series Practica, vol. 231), The Hague, 1974
F.I. Andersen,
The poetic properties of Prophetic Discourse in the Book of Michah, in: Robert D.
Bergen (ed.), Biblical Hebrew and Discourse Linguistics, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns,
1994, p. 520-528
B.L. Bandstra,
Word Order and Emphasis in Biblical Hebrew Narrative: Syntactic Observations
on Genesis 22 from a Discourse Perspective, in: Linguistics and Biblical Hebrew, W.
Bodine (ed.), Winona Lake, 1992, p. 109 - 124
W. Gesenius, E. Kautzsch,
Hebrische Grammatik, Leipzig, 1909-28
Walter Gross,
Verbform und Funktion. Wayyiqtol fr die Gegenwart. Ein Beitrag zur Syntax poetischer
althebrischer Texte (ATSAT 1), EOS Verlag: St. Ottilien, 1976
P. Joon, T. Muraoka,
A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (Subsidia Biblica 14/1-2), Rome, 1991
H.J. Kraus,
Psalmen (BKAT XV/1), Neukirchen-Vluyn, 19663
R.E. Longacre,
Discourse Perspective on the Hebrew Verb
in: W.R. Bodine (ed), Linguistics and Biblical Hebrew, Eisenbrauns: Winona Lake,
Indiana, 1992, p. 177-189
P. van der Lugt
Strofische Structuren in de Bijbels-Hebreeuwse Pozie (diss. TU Kampen), Kampen, 1980
W. van der Meer & J.C. de Moor (ed.),
The Structural Analysis of Biblical and Canaanite Poetry (JSOT Supplement Series 74,
Sheffield, 1988
Diethelm Michel,
Tempora und Satzstellung in den Psalmen, Bonn, 1960;
Grundlegung einer hebrischen Syntax. Teil 1. Sprachwissenschaftliche Methodik. Genus
und Numerus des Nomens, Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1977.Michel,
Christo H. J. van der Merwe,
Discourse Linguistics and Biblical Hebrew Grammar, in: Bergen, Robert D.(ed.),
Biblical Hebrew and Discourse Linguistics, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1994, p. 13 - 49
J.C. de Moor,
Micah 1. A structural Approach, in: W. van der Meer & J.C. de Moor (ed.), The
Structural Analysis of Biblical and Canaanite Poetry (JSOT Supplement Series 74,
Sheffield, 1988, p. 172 - 185
T. Muraoka,
Emphatic Words and Structures in Biblical Hebrew, Jerusalem/Leiden, 1985
Nic.H. Ridderbos,
De Psalmen (KV), Kampen, 1962

Singers and Syntax

13

W. Schneider,
Grammatik des Biblischen Hebrisch, Mnchen, 1982 -5
E. Talstra
"Text Grammar and Computer. The Balance of Interpretation and Calculation", in:
Actes du Troisime Colloque International Bible et Informatique: "Interprtation,
Hermneutique, Expertise", Tbingen 28-31 aout 1991 (Paris / Genve: Slatkine, 1992)
p.135-149
E. Talstra,
Dialogue in Job 21. "Virtual Quotations" or text grammatical markers? in: The Book
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Nicolai Winther-Nielsen,
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Nicolai Winther-Nielsen, Eep Talstra,
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Beat Zuber,

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