עָזִּ֣י וְזִמְרָ֣ת יָ֑הּ וַֽיְהִי־לִ֝֗י לִֽישׁוּעָֽה׃
Kekuatanku dan pujianku ialah Yang Mahakekal, dan Ia telah menjadi pertolonganku.
Rashi
for the strength and the praise of the Eternal the Lord The strength and the praise of the Holy One, blessed be He, that was my salvation. We cannot, however, explain עָזִּי, like עֻזִּי, my strength, for we do not find in Scripture עָזִּי vowelized with a short ‘kamatz,’ but with a ‘shuruk,’ reading עֻזִּי, with the exception of three places where it is accompanied by וְזִמְרָת. Also, וְזִמְרָת cannot be explained like וְזִמְרָתִי, my praise, but we are forced to say that וְזִמְרָת is connected to the word following it. Therefore, I say that the ‘yud’ of עָזִּי is merely like the ‘yud’ of (Deut. 33:16) שׁוֹכְנִי סְנֶה, “He Who dwells in the thornbush.”
Rashi
עזי וזמרת יה — Onkelos translated this by “my might and my praise”, taking עָזִּי the same as עֻזִּי, and וְזִמְרָת the same as וְזִמְרָתִי. But I wonder at the wording of the text if this translation is correct, for you will find no similar example of its punctuation (i. e. of עָזִּי) in the Scriptures except in three passages where it is, in each case, followed by וזמרת. In all other passages it is punctuated with שורק (i. e. our Kibbutz); e. g., (Jeremiah 16:19) ה' עֻזִּי ומעזי (Psalms 59:10) עֻזּו אליך אשמרה So, too, every word of two letters that is punctuated with a Melopum (our חולם) when it is lengthened by the addition of a third letter (i. e. when it has a pronominal suffix as in the examples given below), and the second has not a Sheva (חטף), the first is punctuated with a שורק (Kibbuts) — as, for instance, עֹז and עֻזִּי; רֹק and רֻקִי ; חֹק and חֻקִי ; עֹל and עֻלִי as in (Isaiah 14:25) “then shall his yoke (עֻלּוֹ, from עֹל) depart from him”; — כֹּל and כֻּלּוֹ, as in (Exodus 14:7) “and captains over each of them (כֻּלּוֹ) — from כֹּל. But these three examples of עָזִּי וְזִּמְרָת, viz., that occuring here and that in Isaiah (12:2) and that in Psalms (118:14), are punctuated with short Kametz, whereas the translation of Onkelos would require עֻזִּי and not עָזִּי. Then further, in not one of them (these three passages) is it written וזמרתי, as Onkelos translates, but וזמרת and remarkably enough all of them are immediately followed by ויהי לי לישועה. — Therefore I say in explanation of the wording of the text that עָזִּי is not the same as עֻזִּי and וְזִמְרָת is not the same as וְזִמְרָתִי, but עָזִּי is a noun without a suffix of any kind, as we find in (Psalms 123:1) “The one who sits (הַיֹּשְׁבִי) in heaven”; (Obadiah 3:3) “The one who dwells (שֹׁכְנִי) in the cleft of the rock”; (Deuteronomy 33:16) “He that dwelleth (שֹׁכְנִי) in the bush” (where the syllable at the end of the word is part of the noun and is not the pronominal suffix denoting “my”). The praise, therefore, proclaimed in these words is this: The עז and the זִמְרָת of God, this was to me as a help. The word וזמרת is a noun in the construct state to the word which expressess the Divine Name (יָהּ), in the same sense as (Judges 5:23) “to the help of (לעזרַת — const.) the Lord”; (Isaiah 9:18) “through the wrath of (בעברת — constr.) the Lord”; (Ecc. 3:18) “because of (דברַת — const.) the sons of man”. The expression וזמרת has the meaning of the root which we find in (Leviticus 25:4) “thou shalt not prune (תזמר)” and in (Isaiah 25:5) “the cutting down (זמיר) of the terrible ones”, both of which have the meaning “lopping off” and “cutting down”. Thus the verse signifies: “The strength and vengeance of our God has become to us a help”. Do not be puzzled by the expression ויהי — that it does not state היה — for we have other verses also that use this idiom, and the following is an example of such a construction: (1 Kings 6:5) “round about the wall of the house, both of the temple and the most holy place, he made (ויעש) a side structure”, and it should have said (instead of ויעש etc.) עשה לו צלעות סביב. Similarly in Chronicles, (2 10:17) “But as for the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned (וימלך) over them”, where it should have said מלך עליהם. Other examples are: (Numbers 14:16) “Because the Lord was unable etc…. He slaughtered them (וישחטם)”, where it should have said שחטם; (Numbers 14:36, 37) “And the men whom Moses sent … they died (וימתו)”, where it should have said מתו; (Exodus 9:21) “And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left (ויעזב) his cattle, etc.”, where it should have said עזב.
Rav Hirsch
V. 2. עזי, von עוז ,עזז: die Widerstandskraft, die Unüberwindlichkeit. Mein Unüberwundengebliebensein: — daß Pharao und das Weltmeer mich unberührt gelassen, und זמרת: das jetzige Singen, in dem ich begriffen bin, beides ist Gotteswirkung. Wir haben schon zu Bereschit 43, 10 das Verhältnis von זמרה, der Melodie, zu שיר, dem Liedeswort angedeutet. Wir meinten, es sei die Melodie das hörbare Emporringen des Gemüts zur ganzen Höhe der Begeisterung und Reife des in der Seele arbeitenden Gedankens ( — die Rebe zur Weinfrucht —). Diese höchste Arbeit des menschlichen Geistes, in welcher sich seine edelste Energie entfaltet, ist bei dem gottbegeisterten Sänger selbst ein Gotteswirken. Es ist, wie der Liederkönig Israels von sich ausspricht: Gottes Geist, der durch ihn spricht, und sein Wort schwebt auf seiner Zunge. — רוח ד׳ דבר בי ומלתו על לשוני,(Sam. II. 23, 2). Darum fehlt in allen diesen Sätzen (hier — Ps. 118, 14; Jes. 12, 2) die Personalbezeichnung: mein, nicht זמרתי, sondern זמרת. Der Sänger will ja eben sagen: es sei nicht זמרתו!
Rashi
by His name Yah By the name י-ה, which is an expression of fear, as we translate it דחילא, fear (below 118:14): “My might and my praise is the fear of the Lord (י-ה).” Likewise (Exod. 17:16): “For a hand is on the throne of the Lord (י-ה),” in the Targum: [And he said, “This is stated with an oath from below the fear of the Shechinah on the throne of His glory, etc.] Similarly (Isa. 26:4): “for in Yah the Lord,” is paraphrased by the Targum: for then You will be redeemed by the word of the fear of the Lord, the Strongest of the world.” The Psalmist says, “Praise Him, fear Him, and rejoice.” This resembles what is said elsewhere (above 2:11): “and rejoice with quaking.”