Psalm 12:6–7 and Gender Discordance: the anti-KJV and anti-preservation argument debunked (again)

Psalm 12:6–7 states:

The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

Opponents of the perfect preservation of Scripture often claim that Psalm 12:6–7 cannot refer to the preservation of the words of God because the two pronouns "them" in verse seven are masculine in Hebrew, while in verse six "words" is feminine. Therefore, opponents of preservation argue that verse seven is not about the preservation of words, but refers to the persons mentioned in verse five.

However, such an argument does not take into account the facts of Hebrew grammar and syntax. In the words of the standard reference work A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Jouon & Muraoka, page 516:

The suffixed pronoun quite often takes the masculine instead of the feminine, especially in the second person plural and (mainly) in the third person plural. . . .

Examples include nominal suffixes (with noun and preposition): Gn 31.9 MRkyIbSa but vss. 5, 6 NRkyIbSa; Ru 1.9a MRkDl, but 9b NRhDl; 1.8 MRkD;mIo; Ex 2.17 MÎnOax, but 16 NRhyIbSa; even in a single verse (Nu 27.7), Nhl Nhyba .. Mhyba .. Mhl; likewise when talking about animals Gn 32.16

MRhy´n◊;b; 1Sm 6.7 MRhyElSo; or about things Gn 41.23 MRhyérSjAa. Examples of the sg.: Ex 11.6 ..

x◊oDqDh g◊dOlDh aCr k;DmOhw… la nhyth a great cry .. the like of which has never been; Jdg 11.34 …wZ…nR;mIm wøl Nya .. h∂dyIj◊y ayh she was an only child .. he had none except for her.

Verbal suffixes: the suffix of the 2nd pers. fem. pl. is wanting in all the verbal forms; and the suffix of the 3rd pers. fem. pl. is wanting in most (cf. Paradigm 3): Jdg 16.3 MEoD;sˆ¥yÅw (referring to the doors twøtDl√;d); Pr 6.21 Mér◊vDq; 1Sm 6.10 M…wr◊sAaÅ¥yÅw.

Note that the Hebrew reference grammar indicates that the third person feminine plural suffix is not even found in most verbal forms – yet this is the form that opponents of preservation allege must be present if Psalm 12:7 is to refer to the preservation of the words of verse six.

The statements of the grammar are confirmed by the evidence. In fact, a comprehensive search of the Old Testament reveals that the type of verb found in Psalm 12:7 for “keep” and “preserve”—a qal imperfect second masculine singular—never, I repeat, never even once has a third person feminine plural suffix in the entire Old Testament. By way of contrast, qal imperfect second masculine singular verbs have third person masculine plural suffixes in numerous passages, such as, in the Psalter, Psa 2:9; 12:8; 21:10, 13; 31:21; 45:17; 59:12; 83:16; 144:6. For that matter, there are only 19 examples in the entire Old Testament of third person feminine plural suffixes on verbs of any kind (Gen 30:38; Ex 2:17; 2 Sam 20:3; 2 Kings 19:26; Is 34:16; 37:27; 48:7; Jer 8:7; Ezek 1:9, 12, 17; 42:12; Hab 2:17; Zech 11:5; Job 39:2; Ruth 1:19), while there are 1,403 masculine plural suffixes. Note that not even a single solitary third person feminine plural suffix is found in the entire book of Psalms.

It is very clear that the argument that Psalm 12:7 cannot refer to the words of God because of gender discordance, as argued by many opponents of perfect preservation, is an exceedingly poor argument which should be abandoned once and for all. Those who reproduce it evidence either a lack of solid understanding of the Hebrew language or a lack of careful study.

Note the article here for more on Psalm 12:6-7 and preservation.

TDR