PSALM 80

TEHILLIM 80

1 (To the chief Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph.)

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth.

In this passage is a remarkable combination of titles and pronouns in the singular and plural numbers. Yahweh is singular; Elohim, plural; athta-hu, two pronouns in the singular joined to hah-EIohim in the plural: athtah signifies thou, and hu, he in the third person, which in the original text are connected by a hyphen, thus Thou -He.

The common version has it "thou art he" in many places, but in the text before us they have omitted the "he" altogether, and instead of the literal rendering, "Thou-He, the Mighty Ones," they have substituted what was not written, namely, "Thou art the God."

The words of Hezekiah literally translated into English are:

"O who shall-be hosts, Mighty Ones of Israel, inhabiting the cherubs, Thou-He, the Mighty Ones, Thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth: Thou didst make the heavens and the earth."

This affirms that the Eternal Spirit is the sole creator of all that exists. He is one, and that unity is expressed by the singular verbal noun, Yahweh, "He who Shall-be," and the pronouns, athtah, "thou," and hu, "he."

Phanerosis - Yahweh Manifested in Cherubim