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See the exact Psalms 23:1 form guide with morphology, clause role, and guardrails.
OpenForm Insight
How רֹ֝עִ֗י Works in Psalms 23:1
A focused form insight on Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular construct | first person common singular in Psalms 23:1.
Focused term רֹ֝עִ֗י rō·‘î H7462 Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Psalms 23:1 - BSB
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
The Question
How does רֹ֝עִ֗י function in Psalms 23:1?
Short Answer
רֹ֝עִ֗י is a Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular construct | first person common singular in Psalms 23:1. The form is interpretively weighty because it carries the personal confession that the Lord is the speaker's shepherd. The grammar supports the relationship; the psalm fills out the meaning of that care.
What the Form Is Doing
רֹ֝עִ֗י appears in Psalms 23:1 as a Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular construct | first person common singular. It presents the Lord in a shepherding relationship to the speaker, with the first-person suffix supplying "my."
The Qal participle in construct with a first-person suffix forms the confession that the Lord is "my shepherd." The suffix supplies the personal relation, while the psalm unfolds what the Lord's shepherding care means.
Why It Matters for Interpretation
The form is interpretively weighty because it carries the personal confession that the Lord is the speaker's shepherd. The grammar supports the relationship; the psalm fills out the meaning of that care.
The construct participle with first-person suffix carries the personal confession that the Lord is the speaker's shepherd.
Translation Effect
The construct participle and suffix directly support the rendering "is my shepherd."
The form guide should support the public Bible reading, not replace it with a private rendering.
What It Does Not Prove
Do not derive a full word study, grammar doctrine, or complete theology of shepherding from V-Qal-Prtcpl-msc | 1cs alone. The form identifies the occurrence-level predicate relationship.
Grammar should serve context, not override it.
Do not make the participle label prove more than the sentence supports.
Evidence from the Form Guide
The BSB+ row for Psalms 23:1 links the English rendering "is my shepherd" with רֹ֝עִ֗י, Strong's H7462, and the morphology tag V-Qal-Prtcpl-msc | 1cs.
When teaching Psalms 23:1, use the form to show how the grammar carries the personal confession "my shepherd," then let the rest of the psalm explain guidance, provision, presence, and comfort.
What It Does Not Prove
- Do not derive a full word study, grammar doctrine, or complete theology of shepherding from V-Qal-Prtcpl-msc | 1cs alone. The form identifies the occurrence-level predicate relationship.
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not make the participle label prove more than the sentence supports.
- Do not use the stem label by itself to settle a theological claim.