How Long, O Lord?

I was crying out to the Lord with my voice, and He answered me from His holy ^[b]mountain. Selah  Psalm 3:4  NASB

Crying out – There’s not much debate about the sense of this verse.  The psalmist feels his desperate situation and voices his concerns to God.  God answers.  Hallelujah!  We get it.  But there is a bit of grammatical mystery going on here for those of us who did not grow up with Hebrew as our mother tongue.  You see, scholars label the particular verb form of qārāʾ (cry out)
as yiqtol.  What does that mean?  Here’s a summary explanation:

In Hebrew grammar, yiqtol (יִקְטֹל) refers to a verb form that traditionally denotes the “imperfect” or “imperfective” aspect, but it’s more accurately understood as encompassing tense, aspect, and mood, with the specific meaning determined by context. It often translates to future actions, but can also indicate ongoing, habitual, or even modal actions in the past or present.[1]

Notice the phrase “traditionally denotes.”  There’s some question about the actual usage of this verbal form even though it has usually been considered an imperfect (an unfinished or continuing action).  As you can see in the NASB translation, the action is both past and complete despite the yiqtol form.  Otherwise we would have to translate the verse as: “I am crying out to the Lord.” Then the response, “He answered,” would also have to be modified.  In fact, the verb for “answered” is a vav-consecutive + imperfect of ʿānâ.  As you recall, this means that the verb conjugation is filled with all the temporal aspects (see Today’s Word, 16 October 2018[2]).  God answered, God answers, God will answer—the range of the vav-consecutive + imperfect tells us that God is, was, and always will be the “answering” God.  So, I might be calling out, or I might have called out, or I might at some future time call out, but no matter when my action occurs, God’s response is consistently the same.

Chabad translates this verse with a present tense first verb and a past tense second verb:

“With my voice, I call to the Lord, and He answered me from His holy mount to eternity.”

Jewish commentators recognize the disparity between these verb tenses, but rather than trying to make the Hebrew fit English grammar, they suggest an explanation.  They write that the psalmist is so confident that God will answer that he can treat God’s response as a foregone conclusion, that is, as if it had already happened, and therefore as a past tense.  Since the verb ʿānâ is actually a future tense which is converted into a past by the prefixed vav, they surmise that the future answers of God are certain and can therefore be considered as concluded actions.

The verse closes with selah.  Patterson notes: “[A term of unknown meaning, probably of musical significance, occurring 71 times in the Pss and also in Hab 3:3, 9, 13. Many are the conjectures as to its meaning, but nothing certain is known. Other terms also probably musical but of uncertain meaning are, ʿăāmôt šĕmînît gittît maḥălat lĕʿannôt nĕgînôt nĕḥîlôt hig-gāyôn šiggāyôn lammĕnaṣṣēaḥ maskîl miktām. Other enigmatic terms perhaps refer to tunes.”^[3]

But this is not the way rabbinic exegesis understands the term.  For them, selah is like underlining the thought.  It suggests that the idea is complete, nothing needs to be added.  It is “consecrated,” and always the case.  Under this interpretation, the verse becomes a timeless statement of God’s willingness to answer.  That creates a significant change.  Now we realize this verse is not about the psalmist (or about me).  It is a verse about the character of God.  The psalmist’s cry is only the preamble to an announcement of God’s faithfulness.

Rabbinic exegesis also understands “His holy mountain” is a veiled reference to the Temple, which had not been constructed when the psalm was written.  In rabbinic thought, this is further support that the verse is not autobiographical but rather a statement of future events as if they had already occurred.  The Temple will be built, but from the psalmist’s, rabbinic viewpoint, it is just as certain to be constructed as the certainty of God’s answers.  The past tense is used rather than the future because these things are divinely guaranteed.

We’re not quite finished.  Now notice the use of the verb qārāʾ (I) “call, call out, recite.”

The root qrʾ denotes primarily the enunciation of a specific vocable or message. In the case of the latter usage it is customarily addressed to a specific recipient and is intended to elicit a specific response (hence, it may be translated “proclaim, invite”).^[4]

Our verb also connotes calling one to a specific task (cf. miqrāʾ). The maidservant of Pharaoh’s daughter asked if she is to go and “summon” a nurse (Ex 2:7). The destruction of all the inhabitants of Canaan is to obviate all possibility of friendships leading to the acceptance of personal invitations to and involvement in idolatry (Ex 34:15). The most prominent usage here has to do with calling on the name of God. Usually, the context has to do with a critical (Ps 34:6, https://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/history-hebrew-yiqtol-hebrew-verb/81:7 [H 8]) or chronic need (e.g., after Cain killed Abel, man realized the full effects of the curse and began to call on God’s name–Gen 4:26).^[5]

But the qrʾ root has another semantic range: qārāʾ II  encounter, against, befall

קָרָא (qārāʾ) ll, encounter, against, befall. (ASV and RSV translate similarly, with the latter offering some improved renditions (Ex 5:20; I Sam 25:20.)

This root denotes a planned encounter wherein the subject intentionally confronts the object. It is a by-form of qārâ (q.v.). Compare the following synonyms: yāʿad “meet by appointment,” pāgaʿ “come or fall upon, reach to,” pāgaš “to meet, encounter” (of hostile or opposing subjects), māṣāʾ (a close cognate including reach, find), and nāgaš. Our word occurs 137 times (120 times as an infinitive with lamed).^[6]

It would be impossible to read the text in Hebrew and not think of both umbrellas.  This tells us that the psalmist is not randomly vocalizing his concern, casting pleas toward heaven in hopes that some god will hear him.  Not at all!  He is addressing a specific recipient (YHVH) in an intentional encounter as if he had a summons or an appointment.  He knows exactly who he speaks to and he knows precisely the purpose of his communication.  In other words, this is not a verse about hope.  It is a verse about fact!  God answers!  Always!

Topical Index: qārāʾ, cry out, encounter, selah, yiqtol, Psalm 3:4

[1] For additional information consult https://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/history-hebrew-yiqtol-hebrew-verb/

[2] https://darkturquoise-snake-123296.hostingersite.com/2018/10/the-future-past/

^[3] Patterson, R. D. (1999). 1506 סָלַל. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 627). Moody Press.

^[4] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 2063 קָרָא. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 810). Moody Press.

^[5] Ibid.

^[6] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 2064 קָרָא. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 811). Moody Press.