105 A CIRCUMSTANTIAL CLAUSE IN PSALM 99,4 or condition 24. Gen 38,25: […] hxlv ayhw tacwm awh “As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law”. Josh 2,8: hmhw htl[ ayhw !wbkvy ~rj“Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof”. Judg 3,24: wab wydb[w acy awhw “After he (Ehud) had gone, his (Eglon’s) servants came”. 1 Sam 9,11: […] wacm hmhw […] ~yl[ hmh “As they went up the ascent to the town, they met some girls”. 2 Sam 2,24: hma t[bg-d[ wab hmhw hab vmvhw “When the sun had gone down, they came to the hill of Ammah”. Isa 6,13: […] hbvw hyrf[ hb dw[w “If still a tenth part is in it, it will be burned again”. Isa 53,4b.5a: wnxnaw wn[vpm llxm awhw […] [wgn whnbvx “When we accounted him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted, he was wounded for our transgressions”. In the texts mentioned the following features are noteworthy as well. If a prefixed circumstantial clause has no noun indicating the subject, a finite verbal form in it is preceded by the relevant pronoun (Gen 50,20; Josh 2,8; Judg 3,24; Isa 53,4b; Hab 1,10; see also Isa 14,13; 49,4; Ps 31,23). In a main clause, after a circumstantial clause, a subject as indi- cated by a noun (Gen 50,20; Judg 3,24; 1 Kgs 14,17; Ps 40,18; Job 1,14) or a pronoun (Gen 38,25; Josh 2,8; 1 Sam 9,11; 2 Sam 2,24; Isa 53,5a; Ezek 2,4; Hab 1,10; Ps 68,10b) is put before the verbal form to which it relates 25. If a prefixed circumstantial clause is concessive (Gen 50,20) or causal (Josh 22,25; Ezek 2,4; 18,19; Hab 1,10; Ps 40,18), the construction of the sentence is asyndetic. In the first line of Ps 99,4 the introductory w, the asyndesis, the position of both subjects, and the use of the pronoun indicate a syntax of the type here discussed: see esp. Gen 50,20; Ezek 2,4a; Hab 1,10; Ps 40,18. So Ps 99,4a can be understood as a circumstantial clause expressing causality 26 relative to the statement in the second stich. Verse 4 as a whole makes a logical transition between the preceding verses and those following. I un- derstand the content of the verse in the following way: It is essential to kingship that its power be used in the service of righteousness (cf. Judg 17,6; Prov 8,15; 14,35; 16,10.13; 20,8; 22,11, also Ps 101); accordingly YHWH, king of the earth, has established justice and righteousness in Israel, his heritage. As a translation of the verse I propose the following: Asyndesis, however, is found in poetical texts: see Ps 17,3; Job 8,12; 24 29,24. If in the circumstantial clause and the main clause the subject is the 25 same, it is not always indicated in the main clause: see Isa 6,13; Ezek 18,19b; also Job 8,12. E. PODECHARD, too, takes v. 4a as an expression of causality. See above, 26 section 1. © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati