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Grammar Analysis: Psalm 116:12-13

Text

Hebrew (v. 12): מָֽה־אָשִׁ֥יב לַיהוָ֑ה כָּֽל־תַּגְמוּלֹ֥והִי עָלָֽי׃ Hebrew (v. 13): כֹּוס־יְשׁוּעֹ֥ות אֶשָּׂ֑א וּבְשֵׁ֖ם יְהוָ֣ה אֶקְרָֽא׃

KJV (v. 12): What shall I render unto the LORD [for] all his benefits toward me? KJV (v. 13): I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

Context: Psalm 116 is part of the Egyptian Hallel (Psalms 113-118), the psalm-group sung at Passover. Verse 13 is the liturgical response of the delivered worshiper: what he "renders" (v. 12) for YHWH's benefits is to lift the cup of salvations and proclaim the divine name. Jewish tradition ties this cup directly to the four Passover cups — the very setting where Christ instituted His blessing cup (Matt 26:26-29; 1 Cor 10:16).

Word-by-Word Parsing

Psalm 116:12

# Word Lemma Parsing Gloss
1 מָֽה מה IntPron what
2 אָשִׁ֥יב שׁוב Verb.Hiphil.Impf.1s I shall return / render
3 לַ ל Prep to
4 יהוָ֑ה יהוה PropN.ms.Abs YHWH
5 כָּֽל כל Noun.ms.Cst whole / all
6 תַּגְמוּלֹ֥והִי תגמול Noun.mp.Abs.+3ms his benefits
7 עָלָֽי על Prep.+1cs upon me

Psalm 116:13

# Word Lemma Parsing Gloss
1 כֹּוס כוס Noun.fs.Cst cup (of)
2 יְשׁוּעֹ֥ות ישׁועה Noun.fp.Abs salvations
3 אֶשָּׂ֑א נשׂא Verb.Qal.Impf.1s I will lift / take up
4 וּ ו Conj and
5 בְ ב Prep in
6 שֵׁ֖ם שׁם Noun.ms.Cst name (of)
7 יְהוָ֣ה יהוה PropN.ms.Abs YHWH
8 אֶקְרָֽא קרא Verb.Qal.Impf.1s I will call

Key Grammatical Features

1. אָשִׁ֥יב — Hiphil imperfect 1cs of שׁוב ("to return")

  • Form: Hiphil imperfect, first common singular ("I shall cause to return / render / repay").
  • Significance: The Qal of שׁוב means "to return, turn back"; the Hiphil is causative — "cause to return," i.e., "give back, repay, requite." With לַיהוָה and an object of "benefits" (תַּגְמוּלִים), it forms the classic idiom for recompense or answering God's kindness. The rhetorical question ("what shall I return to YHWH?") implies that no commodity is adequate; the answer in v. 13 is not a thing given but an act of worship — lifting the cup and calling on the Name.
  • Grammar reference: hebrew/hiphil-imperfect.md; hebrew/stem-hiphil.md

2. כֹּוס־יְשׁוּעֹ֥ות — Construct chain with plural of abstraction

  • Form: Feminine singular noun in construct (כֹּוס, "cup of") bound to a feminine plural absolute (יְשׁוּעֹות, lit. "salvations").
  • Significance: Two things are happening simultaneously:
  • The construct relation ("cup of salvations") links the cup to salvation as its content or character — the cup belongs to / consists of deliverance. It is not a cup the worshiper brings to obtain salvation; it is the cup YHWH's salvation fills.
  • The plural יְשׁוּעֹות is a plural of abstraction / intensive plural — a common Hebrew pattern where an abstract noun takes plural form to express fullness, totality, or comprehensive manifestation (cf. חַיִּים "life/lives," רַחֲמִים "compassion," יְשׁוּעֹות in 2 Sam 22:51; Isa 26:18; 33:6). The idea is not "multiple separate rescues" but "deliverance in all its fullness."
  • Lexical link: word-studies/H3563-kowc.md (cup — including the "cup of wrath" / "cup of blessing" polarity)
  • Grammar reference: hebrew/construct-state.md; hebrew/construct-chain-suffix.md

3. אֶשָּׂ֑א — Qal imperfect 1cs of נשׂא ("to lift, bear, take up")

  • Form: Qal imperfect, first common singular. Root נשׂא has a wide semantic range: lift, carry, bear (sins, burden), take up, exalt.
  • Significance: The verb is deliberately chosen. The worshiper does not merely "drink" (שׁתה) the cup — he lifts it up, a public, liturgical act of elevation and proclamation. In priestly contexts נשׂא is used for lifting up the hands in blessing (Lev 9:22) and lifting up offerings. The 1cs imperfect here functions modally — not a bare future ("I will happen to lift") but a volitional/declarative "I will lift," parallel in force to the following אֶקְרָא ("I will call"). Both verbs together form a vow-like declaration: the lifting and the calling constitute what the worshiper "renders" to YHWH in v. 12.
  • Lexical link: word-studies/H5375-nasa.md; word-studies/TR-nasa-airo.md (Hebrew/Greek translation pair)
  • Grammar reference: hebrew/qal-imperfect.md

4. בְשֵׁ֖ם יְהוָ֣ה אֶקְרָֽא — "In the name of YHWH I will call"

  • Form: Prepositional phrase (בְ + construct שֵׁם + absolute יהוה) fronted as Adjunct (Adju), followed by the Qal imperfect 1cs אֶקְרָא of קרא. The clause type is WxY0 (waw + fronted constituent + yiqtol), with the prepositional phrase placed before the verb for focus.
  • Significance: Fronting the שֵׁם־יְהוָה phrase ahead of the verb marks it as the emphasized element — it is specifically the divine Name that is invoked, not any name. The idiom קרא בשׁם יהוה ("call on / proclaim the name of YHWH") runs from Gen 4:26 (first instance of public worship) through the patriarchs (Gen 12:8; 13:4; 21:33) to the prophetic salvation oracles (Joel 2:32; cf. Acts 2:21; Rom 10:13). The worshiper's response to deliverance is proclamation of the Name — the same Name that delivered him.
  • Lexical link: word-studies/H8034-shem.md; word-studies/TR-shem-onoma.md
  • Grammar reference: hebrew/construct-state.md

5. Parallel Qal imperfect 1cs verbs — Volitional declaration

  • Form: Two first-person singular imperfects in sequence: אֶשָּׂא ("I will lift") and אֶקְרָא ("I will call"). Both are Qal imperfect, yiqtol.
  • Significance: The yiqtol form in a thanksgiving psalm often carries modal/volitional force — "I will…" as commitment, vow, or resolve, not bare prediction. The two verbs form a matched pair: the first is a physical/ritual act (lifting), the second a vocal/verbal act (calling). Together they constitute the concrete answer to v. 12's question "what shall I render?" The answer is public, embodied worship — not compensation.
  • Grammar reference: hebrew/qal-imperfect.md

Clause Structure

Psalm 116:12

  • Clause 1 (type xYq0, question domain):
  • [Ques] מָֽה — "what"
  • [Pred] אָשִׁ֥יב — "I shall render"
  • [Cmpl] לַיהוָ֑ה — "to YHWH"
  • [Objc] כָּֽל־תַּגְמוּלֹ֥והִי עָלָֽי — "all his benefits upon me"

A single interrogative clause with fronted question word, causative verb, indirect object (to YHWH), and direct object (all-benefits-of-him) modified by עָלָי ("upon me"). The ellipsis of a preposition like "for" before "all his benefits" is typical in Hebrew poetry; the object phrase functions as the accusative of specification — "what shall I render to YHWH [regarding] all his benefits?"

Psalm 116:13

  • Clause 1 (type xYq0, question/direct-speech domain):
  • [Objc] כֹּוס־יְשׁוּעֹ֥ות — "the cup of salvations"
  • [Pred] אֶשָּׂ֑א — "I will lift"

The object is fronted before the verb. Fronting of the object in Hebrew marks contrastive focus or thematic emphasis. Here the emphasis falls on the cup as the specific answer to "what shall I render?" It is the cup, not a sacrifice, not a payment — that the worshiper lifts.

  • Clause 2 (type WxY0, question/direct-speech domain):
  • [Conj] וּ — "and"
  • [Adju] בְשֵׁ֖ם יְהוָ֣ה — "in the name of YHWH"
  • [Pred] אֶקְרָֽא — "I will call"

Parallel to Clause 1 in structure (fronted constituent + yiqtol), now with the prepositional phrase בְשֵׁם יְהוָה fronted. Object-fronting in clause 1 and Adjunct-fronting in clause 2 creates a tight poetic parallelism:

  [Object ]   [ Verb ]
  cup-of-salvations   I-will-lift
  [ Adjunct  ]   [ Verb ]
  in-the-name-of-YHWH   I-will-call

Both clauses place the semantically weighty element first, then the volitional verb. The result is two declarations of response, one physical-ritual, one verbal-proclamatory — the whole act of thanksgiving worship compressed into eight Hebrew words.

Construct Chains in Psalm 116:13

Construct Absolute Rendering
כֹּוס (cup) יְשׁוּעֹות (salvations) cup of salvations
שֵׁם (name) יְהוָה (YHWH) name of YHWH

Two parallel construct chains form the backbone of the verse. Both pair a common noun in construct with a theologically loaded absolute — "salvations" and "YHWH." The cup belongs to salvation; the name belongs to YHWH. The worshiper handles what is God's (His salvation-cup) and speaks what is God's (His name).

Cross-References

Grammar library

Word studies

Gap (not yet in library)

  • H3444 יְשׁוּעָה yeshu'ah — no canonical word study yet. The plural form יְשׁוּעֹות ("salvations," plural of abstraction) occurs here and in 2 Sam 22:51; Isa 26:18; 33:6 — worth a dedicated study, especially given the lexical link to the proper name יֵשׁוּעַ / Ἰησοῦς (Jesus = "YHWH is salvation"). The worshiper in Psa 116:13 lifts "the cup of yeshu'ot" — a cup whose very name embeds the later Messiah's name.

New Testament Trajectory

The passage sits inside the Hallel (Psalms 113-118), sung antiphonally at Passover. When Matthew records that after the Last Supper "they had sung an hymn" (Matt 26:30; Mark 14:26), this is the Hallel — which climaxes in Psalm 118. Psalm 116:13 is therefore almost certainly on Jesus' lips, or in His immediate hearing, the very night He institutes the blessing cup: "This cup is the new testament in my blood" (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25).

Paul calls the communion cup τὸ ποτήριον τῆς εὐλογίας ("the cup of blessing," 1 Cor 10:16) — a phrase drawn from the third Passover cup, which in Jewish liturgy is tied to Psa 116:13. The grammar of the OT verse therefore matters: it is a construct chain (cup-of-salvations), and Jesus takes that grammar and says, in effect, "this one — this cup — is that cup." The plural of abstraction (יְשׁוּעֹות, full/comprehensive salvation) is filled to overflowing in the one cup of the new covenant: not many deliverances any longer, but the one once-for-all deliverance whose fullness the Hebrew plural had only ever gestured toward.