02_Booij_351_351_374 30/10/15 13:01 Pagina 359 359 PSALM 118 AND FORM CRITICISM 359 convincingly 35. To what “acting”, and at what time, does v. 24a refer? In line with the traditional interpretation, those reading ~wyh as “the day when” take the perfect hf[ as denoting an action in the past, namely a divine act of salvation; the event referred to could have been a military victory 36. However, from a statement beginning with “This is the day”, the day on which the statement is made cannot possibly be excluded, not even if “day” is taken in the broader sense of “time” 37. Therefore, in this supposed reference to the past, the perfect would imply that YHWH’s saving act and the cultic celebration of this act took place, at least in part, on the same day — which is not very plausible, the less so since the statement in v. 24a must have been made on a fixed festal day. Could hf[ refer to a distant past? I think that people, celebrating the day of the exodus as a “(day of) remembrance” (Exod 12,14), could say, “This is the day on which YHWH brought us out of Egypt”. Ps 118,24a, however, can hardly have a comparable meaning since Succoth is never related to a comparable event. However, the perfect (qāṭal) serves not only to indicate situations in a recent or distant past; it is also used, for example, to express certainty 38. In Judg 4,14, $dyb arsys-ta hwhy !tn rva ~wyh hz may be rendered as: “This is the day on which YHWH gives Sisera into your hand.” In 1 Sam 24,5 David’s men say: …hwhy rma-rva ~wyh hnh, “Here is the day on which YHWH says to you, Behold, I give your enemy into your hand” 39. In Jer 31,6 it is said: …~yrcn warq ~wy-vy yk, “For 35 J. BECKER, “Zur Deutung von Ps 118,24”, BN 94 (1998) 44-51. See 44, n. 1, for authors and Bible editions representing this reading. See also L.C. ALLEN, Psalms 101–50, revised (WBC 21; Nashville, TN 2002) 161, 162; GOLDINGAY, Psalms III, 354. Becker points out that in Mal 3,21, too, hf[ can be taken as “act”. 36 See BECKER, “Deutung”, 48 (sub 4); M. DAHOOD, Psalms. Introduction, Translation, and Notes (AB 17A, Garden City, NY 1965-1970) III (101–150), 155; ALLEN, Psalms 101–150, 164. 37 Contra BECKER, “Deutung”, 48, who argues that v. 24a means to say, “Da hat nun Jahwe gehandelt”. ALLEN’s translation, “This was the day on which Yahweh acted” (Psalms 101–150, 161), has the drawback that before v. 24 there was no talk of a “day”. For ~wy as, practically, “time” see e.g. Gen 2,4b; Ps 56,4; Prov 25,13; E. JENNI, THAT I, 711-714. 38 A.B. DAVIDSON, Hebrew Syntax (Edinburgh 31901) § 41 (a). 39 Not “the day of which” since the “quoted” words are not about a day. The quotation form serves to signal the opportunity as given by YHWH himself. Cf. BECKER, “Deutung”, 47, referring to 1 Sam 26,8.