"Sleep" or 'in their sleep' in Psalm 127:2

Question

My question is: In the original Hebrew of Psalm 127:2, what is the syntactial function of the word translated as "sleep"? Is sleep the time (or metaphorically the mode) of giving, or is it the gift itself?

It seems that all major bible translations in my native language (German) render the part referring to 'sleep' as more or less: "because he gives to his (chosen) in their sleep." AFAIK, these translations are supposed to be based on the original Hebrew, but they might be just following Luther in this.

The older Vulgata however renders it as (with my emphasis):

vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere surgere postquam sederitis qui manducatis panem doloris cum dederit dilectis suis somnum.

("... because he has given to his selected sleep").

The difference in meaning is that in the first case "sleep" is the time, or rather the mode of giving: 'his chosen' receive without doing anything; that which is given is that which is lacking if the builders work in vain or if the guard watches in vain.

In the second case, sleep itself is the gift. The meaning of 127:2 could then be paraphrased as: "It is vain for you to be busy and worry about success beyond what needs to be done and what is humanly possible. Sleep is a gift from god not to be cast away."

I find that this sense works better for the architecture of the poem. If it is "in their sleep", then it's not clear at all why the poem suddenly starts to talk about having children. However, if sleep is the gift, then the continuation to 127:3 works by means of a structural equation: "sleep : work :: having children : the future". Sleep is a gift (that we cannot control) that provides the rest necessary to continue work. Likewise, children are a gift (that we cannot control) that provides what's necessary to face the future.

In preparation for writing this question, I looked up the King James version. Except for the present tense of "to give" rather than perfect as in the Vulgata, the translation is as in latin, that is, "sleep" is the gift not the mode of giving:

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

Does this correspond to the Hebrew? Or is the King James bible based on the vulgata? What's the tense of "giving" in the original?

Answer 1

OP asks:

What is the syntacti[c]al function of the word translated as "sleep"? Is sleep the time (or metaphorically the mode) of giving, or is it the gift itself?

I think this is an excellent question. Unfortunately (as expected given the variety of translations), I think there is ambiguity in the original which will preclude drawing a certain conclusion, but I can at least explain the problem. The text:

שָׁ֤וְא לָכֶ֨ם
It is vain for you
מַשְׁכִּ֪ימֵי ק֡וּם
to rise early
מְאַֽחֲרֵי־שֶׁ֗בֶת
to sit up late
אֹ֭כְלֵי לֶ֣חֶם הָעֲצָבִ֑ים
eating of the bread of sorrows
כֵּ֤ן יִתֵּ֖ן לִֽידִיד֣וֹ שֵׁנָֽא
for he gives (/will give) to his beloved sleep.

The problem with this literal translation is that in English, the word "sleep" unambiguously the object of the verb נתן = to give. In Hebrew, like in English, objects often follow verbs, and an English direct object may be the most straightforward translation. However, there is another possibility in the Hebrew that is not represented by this English.

The ambiguity arises due to the existence of the "adverbial accusative" in Hebrew. That is, a noun in the accusative (i.e. object) position can function as an adverb.¹ Walke & O'Connor² tell us that such constructions

detail features of the verbal action (and the like), including time, place, condition, manner, and specification.

"Sleep" then could mean "as they sleep" or "during sleep" or some such thing. So the (OP's English translation of the) German rendering

because he gives to his (chosen) in their sleep

is also plausible from the Hebrew.

Incidentally, another answer pointed out that the word "ὕπνον" ("sleep") is in the accusative in the Greek text. While this is true, Greek also does know of an adverbial accusative, more prevalent in older forms of Greek compared to Koine, but not infrequent in Septuagint Koine, as one might expect from the source language.³ The Greek Psalms also follow the Hebrew syntax rather slavishly, so I'm not sure how much we can draw from the Greek accusative.⁴

The OP also asked about the tense of "giving" in Hebrew -- this is "imperfective". Hebrew is largely an aspectual rather than a tense-based language, a topic which I am not competent to expound on further, but the basic idea is "incompleteness", whether past, present, or future; most often it is translated as present or future.

_Notes

_{1. Such phrases generally seem to me (a native English speaker) to be missing a preposition. When there's no apparent alternative, my brain just fills these in. When there is a sensible alternative, as here, my brain favors the option that has all the needed words in place. But of course, my sense of what is "needed" is biased by English.}

_{2. Bruce K. Waltke and Michael P. O’Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Eisenbrauns, 1990), p. 169ff.}

_{3. See, e.g., Conybeare's discussion of Gen 41:21 τὴν ἀρχήν, meaning "at the beginning".}

_{4. See Pietersma, "To the reader", NETS Psalms: "the linguistic relationship of the Greek text to the Hebrew text is one of dependence and subservience."}

Answer 2

The King James Version translates from the medieval Masoretic Hebrew Text, wherein the phrase is rendered For so he giveth his beloved sleep.

The Oxford Jewish Study Bible translates the phrase as He provides as much for His loved ones while they sleep, but a footnote implies that the Masoretic Text may be corrupt ("Meaning of Heb. uncertain").

The Greek Septuagint translation of this passage is:

It is vain for you to rise early: ye rise up after resting, ye that eat the bread of grief; while he gives sleep to his beloved [ὅταν δῷ τοῖς ἀγαπητοῖς αὐτοῦ ὕπνον].

The syntax of the Greek translation indicates that "sleep" is the direct object of "give" and that "his beloved" (ἀγαπητός - agaptos) is the indirect object (those who receive).

If the Masoretic Text is unclear, as the JPS editors seem to imply, then the Septuagint is probably the more reliable representation of what the original Hebrew said. If I am not mistaken, the Vulgate takes the Septuagint and not the Hebrew as the basis for the Psalms. In any case, it seems to agree with what is written in the Septuagint.

Answer 3

The correct translation should be: [in] sleep. As it relates to the words of Our Lord in Mark 4:26-27, "26.And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27.And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how."