01_van Wieringen_481-497_481-497 10/12/15 10:10 Pagina 482 482 ARCHIBALD VAN WIERINGEN 482 separate personal pronoun yna 2. Semantically, this focus is present in the parallel expressions ymy ymdb (“halfway through my days”) in v. 10a and ytwnv rty (“the rest of my years”) in v. 10c, both con- structed by using the first person singular suffix. The use of yiqtol- forms in the first person singular within the embedded direct speech (vv. 10 and 11) suggests that the prepositional phrase of time ymdb functions as an indication of time for both direct speeches. In a sim- ilar way, the expression ytwnv rty in v. 10c functions as the back- ground for v. 11 as well. This brings into focus the years that the “I”-figure is going to miss. Step II is formed by vv. 12-13. The scene changes slightly: the Lord is present as an addressee in the text for the first time, but his presence remains unmarked, for it is expressed, almost as if by ac- cident, with an unidentified second person singular of the verbal form ynmylvt (“you bring me to an end”). The “I”-figure is fully alive, but the “he”-figure suddenly ends the “I”-figure’s life. This act of ending is brought about by a third person singular, first within the metaphor of weaving, properly expressed by the verbal form yn[cby (“he cuts me off”, v. 12e), and then within the metaphor of the lion, expressed by the verbal form rbvy (“he breaks”, v. 13b). On the other hand, this third person singular suddenly gives way to a second person singular in vv. 12f and 13c: ynmylvt hlyl-d[ ~wym (“from one day to the next night you bring me to an end”). The exact repetition in vv. 12f and 13c, however, suggests that these cola contain formulary language (instead of personal language), which can be compared to the idiomatic expression hlylw ~wy (“day and night”) 3. This means that, although a second person singular is used, full contact has not yet come about. Verse 14 contains step III in the developing relation between the “I”-figure and the Lord. This time, the Lord is addressed directly by using the vocative ynda. The context in which this vocative is used 2 Pace C. BROCKELMANN, Hebräische Syntax (Neukirchen 1956) 31 [§ 34b], who believes that the personal pronoun in Isa 38,10 is used without any emphasis. On the other hand see T. MURAOKA, Emphatic Words and Struc- tures in Biblical Hebrew (Jerusalem – Leiden 1985) 49. 3 See also Pss 1,2; 32,4; 42,4; 55,1; cf. also Isa 27,3: ~wyw hlyl (“night and day”); 28,19: hlylbw ~wyb (“by day and by night”); 62,6: hlylh-lkw ~wyh-lk (“the whole day and the whole night”). Pace F. DELITZSCH, Die Lese- und Schreibfehler im Alten Testament (Berlin 1920) 84 [§ 87b];163 [§ 87a*], who considers the repetition of ynmylvt hlyl-d[ ~wym as a kind of dittography.