PsALM 73 As rInG COMPOsITIOn 33 ters: the psalmist through the finite verbs awba (“I enter”) and hnyba (“I understand”), God through the genitive la-yvdqm (“the sanctuary of God”), and the wicked through the pronominal suffix in ~tyrxa (“their end”). In this respect, v. 17 shows significant correspondence with the introductory and concluding sections of the psalm, a feature required of turning points in ring compositions 56. Assuming that v. 17 indeed marks the middle turning point, it is also necessary to determine the precise boundaries of this turning point. That v. 18 begins with $a and commences a section in which second and third person forms dominate (as opposed to the first person forms in vv. 13-16) makes it obvious that the closing boundary of this turning point is at v. 17. But what about its opening boundary, since there is no $a or yk to mark further section openings between v. 13 and v. 18? here, the placement of the structural marker hnh in v. 15 seems to provide some clarity. The particle hnh is found three times within the psalm in vv. 12, 15, and 27. Its occurrences in v. 12 and v. 27 have been noted by those who consider the particle a significant structural marker signalling the end of a rhetorical unit 57. But curiously, in most of these discussions, little mention is made of the hnh in v. 15, nor is any explanation given for that omission 58. One suspects that this is largely due to the fact that, unlike the hnh in v. 12 and v. 27, the one in v. 15 does not occur at a verse-initial position 59. But one should not overlook a significant parallel between the hnh in v. 12 and v. 15. Just as hnh in v. 12 is preceded by a direct quote (that of the wicked), which is introduced in v. 11 by wrmaw (“they 56 For a presentation of the distribution of the three main characters within the psalm in diagram form, see IrsIGLer, Psalm 73, 308, 337. 57 see BAuMAnn, “struktur-untersuchungen”, 127; A. sChMITT, Entrückung – Aufnahme – Himmelfahrt. untersuchungen zu einem verstellungbereich im AT (stuttgart 1973) 261-263; renAuD, “Le Psaume 73”, 543-544; TATe, Psalms 51– 100, 232; COLe, Shape and Message, 20, among others. In addition, KrAšOveC, Antithetic Structure, 42, also notes the antithetical association that exists between the two occurrences of hnh in v. 12 and v. 27. 58 One exception is GIrArD, Les Psaumes, 287, who not only notes the oc- currence of hnh in all three major sections of the psalm according to his division, but also points out that the appearance of hnh in vv. 13-17 is at the centre of the section, whereas in vv. 1-12 and vv. 18-28 it appears towards the end. unfortu- nately, Girard has not further fleshed out the significance of this variation. 59 This seems to find confirmation in IrsIGLer, Psalm 73, 170, who discusses hnh in v. 12 and v. 27 under the heading “satzeinleitende Funktionswörter”, thus making it natural to leave out the hnh in v. 15 since it occurs in mid-verse.