| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the verb-initial cohortative ashirah {אָשִׁירָה | ʾā-šî-rāh} ‘I will sing,’ emphasizing the psalmist’s resolve to praise. The following prepositional phrase laYHWH {לַיהוָה | la-Yə-hō-wāh} ‘to the LORD’ identifies the recipient of this vow. The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} ‘because’ introduces the causal clause that follows. In that clause, the perfect gamal {גָמַל | gā-mal} ‘has dealt bountifully’ denotes a completed divine act of generosity, and the prepositional phrase alai {עָלָי | ʿā-lāy} ‘with me’ specifies the psalmist as beneficiary. The Hebrew verb-initial order is rendered in English with subject–verb order for natural flow, and the perfect is translated into a present perfect to convey an action completed in the past with present relevance. |