Page:04.BCOT.KD.PoeticalBooks.vol.4.Writings.djvu/238

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but Jahve, in Him he possesses all, his treasure is in Heaven.
Such is his confession to Jahve. But he also has those on earth to whom he makes confession. Transposing the w we read: ולקדושׁים אשׁר בּארץ המּה אדּירי כל־חפצי־בם׃
While Diestel's alteration: “to the saints, who are in his land, he makes himself glorious, and all his delight is in them,” is altogether strange to this verse: the above transfer of the Waw[1] suffices to remove its difficulties, and that in a way quite in accordance with the connection. Now it is clear, that לקדושׁים, as has been supposed by some, is the dative governed by אמרתּי, the influence of which is thus carried forward; it is clear what is meant by the addition אשׁר בארץ, which distinguishes the object of his affection here below from the One above, who is incomparably the highest; it is clear, as to what המּה defines, whereas otherwise this purely descriptive relative clause אשׁר בּארץ המּה (which von Ortenberg transposes into אשׁר ארצה בהמּה) appears to be useless and surprises one both on account of its redundancy (since המה is superfluous, cf. e.g., 2Sa 7:9; 2Sa 2:18) and on account of its arrangement of the words (an arrangement, which is usual in connection with a negative construction, Deu 20:15; 2Ch 8:7, cf. Gen 9:3; Eze 12:10); it is clear, in what sense אדירי alternates with קדושׁים, since it is not those who are accounted by the world as אדיריס on account of their worldly power and possessions (Psa 136:18, 2Ch 23:20), but the holy, prized by him as being also glorious, partakers of higher glory and worthy of higher honour; and moreover, this corrected arrangement of the verse harmonises with the Michtam character of the Psalm. The thought thus obtained, is the thought one expected (love to God and love to His saints), and the one which one is also obliged to wring from the text as we have it, either by translating with De Welte, Maurer, Dietrich and others: “

  1. Approved by Kamphausen and by the critic in the Liter. Blatt of the Allgem. Kirchen-Zeitung 1864 S. 107.