Psalms 3

One more early psalm from the beginning. Read - look for recurrence patterns - determine if the music supports the strophes.

Read

	thlim		Psalms
	g		3
a	mzmor ldvid, bborko mpni abwlom bno.	1	A psalm of David, when he ran away from the face of Absalom his son.
b	ihvh mh-rbu xrii! rbim qmim ylii.	2	Yahweh, how multiplied my straits! Many arise over me.
g	rbim aomrim lnpwi, ain iwuyth lo balohim slh.	3	Many say of me, There is no salvation for him in God. Selah.
d	vath ihvh mgn bydi, cbodi umrim rawi.	4	But you, Yahweh, a shield about me, my glory, and lifting high my head.
h	qoli al-ihvh aqra, viynni mhr qodwo slh.	5	My voice, to Yahweh I call, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah.
v	ani wcbti vaiwnh. hqixoti, ci ihvh ismcni.	6	I lie down and I sleep. I awake, for Yahweh supports me.
z	la-aira mrbbot ym, awr sbib wtu ylii.	7	I will not fear the multiplicity of people, that surround set over me.
k	qumh ihvh howiyni alohii ci-hcit at-cl-aoibii lki. wini rwyim wibrt.	8	Arise Yahweh. Save me my God for you strike all my enemies on the cheek. The teeth of the wicked you break.
't	lihvh hiwuyh. yl-ymç brctç slh.	9	Of Yahweh is the salvation. On your people your blessing. Selah.

To note right away the similarity to Psalms 2 - only one verse is a tricolon and it is verse 6. The middle colon is a single word, I awake. The singer should be aware of this.

Recurrence

Word / Gloss	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Vs	Stem
יהוה Yahweh	░							2	יהוה
רבו multiplied		░						2	רבב
רבים many			░					2	רב
קמים arise				░				2	קום
רבים many			░					3	רב
ישועתה salvation					░			3	ישע
סלה selah						░		3	סלה
יהוה Yahweh	░							4	יהוה
יהוה Yahweh	░							5	יהוה
סלה selah						░		5	סלה
יהוה Yahweh	░							6	יהוה
מרבבות the multiplicity of		░						7	רבב
עם people							░	7	עם
קומה arise				░				8	קום
יהוה Yahweh	░							8	יהוה
הושיעני save me					░			8	ישע
ליהוה of Yahweh	░							9	יהוה
הישועה is the salvation					░			9	ישע
עמך your people							░	9	עם
סלה selah						░		9	סלה

Yahweh and selah play roles in recurrence in this psalm. Verses 1-5 and 6-9 have a clear sequence of recurring roots. The focus of the psalm is people.

Music

Psalms 3, the melody based on the deciphering key of Suzanne-Haïk-Vantoura.

I have made the verses start for the most part on the left hand edge of the image. Does this music dictate a collecting of verses into strophes?

1-2 + possibly 3 together. Or is the opening g of verse 2 meant to be a continuation of Psalms 2? Note that verse 3 is a bi-colon separated by the ole-veyored, a cadence on the supertonic, the second note of the scale.

4-5 together. 6 standing alone? Verse 6 has two cadences. It is easy to miss the first one (the ole-veyored on the third word). The fourth word stands alone, I awake. (qvx). The fifth and sixth word follow the atenach.

Then 7-8 together (joined by the ornament)? 9 standing alone? The opening reciting note for verse 7 is the tonic, but it is ornamented. We could interpret this as emphasizing what is to come rather than joining it to the prior verse. So is 7 better taken as a response to the security of verse 6?

The music helps. It need not dictate.

What if we looked at syllable counts and the highest note in each phrase? I originally divided this in threes. But If I separate verse 1 (the inscription), I could divide the remainder in pairs of verses. This puts the te'amim into a frame for the 8 verses. You can see this in the Max column B-C ... C-B. This would be aurally evident in a performance.

		Min	Max	Syll
מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִ֑ד בְּ֝בָרְח֗וֹ מִפְּנֵ֤י ׀ אַבְשָׁל֬וֹם בְּנֽוֹ	1 A psalm of David, when he ran away from the face of Absalom his son.	3e	4C	5 10
יְ֭הוָה מָֽה־רַבּ֣וּ צָרָ֑י רַ֝בִּ֗ים קָמִ֥ים עָלָֽי	2 Yahweh, how multiplied my straits! Many arise over me.	3e	4B	7 6
רַבִּים֮ אֹמְרִ֪ים לְנַ֫פְשִׁ֥י אֵ֤ין יְֽשׁוּעָ֓תָה לּ֬וֹ בֵֽאלֹהִ֬ים סֶֽלָה	3 Many say of me, There is no salvation for him in God. Selah.	3d	4C	7 11
וְאַתָּ֣ה יְ֭הוָה מָגֵ֣ן בַּעֲדִ֑י כְּ֝בוֹדִ֗י וּמֵרִ֥ים רֹאשִֽׁי	4 But you, Yahweh, a shield about me, my glory, and lifting high my head.	3e	4B	10 8
ק֭וֹלִי אֶל־יְהוָ֣ה אֶקְרָ֑א וַיַּֽעֲנֵ֨נִי מֵהַ֖ר קָדְשׁ֣וֹ סֶֽלָה	5 My voice, to Yahweh I call, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah.	3e	4B	7 11
אֲנִ֥י שָׁכַ֗בְתִּי וָֽאִ֫ישָׁ֥נָה הֱקִיצ֑וֹתִי כִּ֖י יְהוָ֣ה יִסְמְכֵֽנִי	6 I lie down and I sleep. I awake, for Yahweh supports me.	3e	4B	9 4 7
לֹֽא־אִ֭ירָא מֵרִבְב֥וֹת עָ֑ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר סָ֝בִ֗יב שָׁ֣תוּ עָלָֽי	7 I will not fear the multiplicity of people, that surround set over me.	3e	4B	6 8
ק֘וּמָ֤ה יְהוָ֨ה ׀ הוֹשִׁ֘יעֵ֤נִי אֱלֹהַ֗י כִּֽי־הִכִּ֣יתָ אֶת־כָּל־אֹיְבַ֣י לֶ֑חִי שִׁנֵּ֖י רְשָׁעִ֣ים שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ	8 Arise Yahweh. Save me my God for you strike all my enemies on the cheek. The teeth of the wicked you break.	3e	4C	20 8
לַיהוָ֥ה הַיְשׁוּעָ֑ה עַֽל־עַמְּךָ֖ בִרְכָתֶ֣ךָ סֶּֽלָה	9 Of Yahweh is the salvation. On your people your blessing. Selah.	3e	4B	5 9