Psalms 43:4

Context

43:4 Then I will go¹ to the altar of God,

to the God who gives me ecstatic joy,²

so that I express my thanks to you,³ O God, my God, with a harp.

[43:4] ¹tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”

[43:4] ²tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[43:4] ³tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.