Psalm 34: why heh and vav share a verse

Question

Psalms Chapter 34 is written in an acrostic, where every letter of the alef beis starts a verse. However, verse 6 starts with a ה, and the second half starts with a ו. The next verse starts with a ז, resuming the pattern.

דָּרַ֣שְׁתִּי אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה וְעָנָ֑נִי וּמִכָּל־מְ֝גוּרוֹתַ֗י הִצִּילָֽנִי׃

הִבִּ֣יטוּ אֵלָ֣יו וְנָהָ֑רוּ וּ֝פְנֵיהֶ֗ם אַל־יֶחְפָּֽרוּ׃

זֶ֤ה עָנִ֣י קָ֭רָא וַיהוָ֣ה שָׁמֵ֑עַ וּמִכָּל־צָ֝רוֹתָ֗יו הוֹשִׁיעֽוֹ׃

Why is this verse different than the others, containing two letters from the acrostic?

Note that this answer brings the source of my assumption being the Radak ad. loc.. That question and answer however doesn't address my question, which is why are they in one verse. That question is asking where the ו went, which I already addressed.

Maybe it just skips Vav like Ashrei skips Nun? Why assume the second half is relevant? — Double AA, Oct 10 '19 at 02:41
Are you sure the ו in the second half is meant as part of the acrostic, and is not just a coincidence? There are, in fact, eleven other verses in the same psalm that begin the second half with a ו, so it seems likely that it would begin with a ו even if there was no acrostic. Also, Psalm 25 has no verse beginning with ו either. — Alex, Oct 10 '19 at 02:51
I'm coming from Artscroll, which bolded the vav in this verse. Plus it made sense to me — robev, Oct 10 '19 at 02:56
So perhaps a related question should be "Why did Artscroll bold a letter in the middle of a verse?" — Alex, Oct 10 '19 at 03:00
Related: https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/q/22824/22655 — רבות מחשבות, Oct 10 '19 at 03:21
@DonielF the answer posted there is the source for my question, but doesn't address my question (which is: why) — robev, Oct 10 '19 at 04:10
Funny that I totally forgot about that other question, being that I discussed this very issue — רבות מחשבות, Oct 10 '19 at 04:10
http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1402&st=&pgnum=329 סימן יב — Alex, Oct 10 '19 at 05:00
@Kazi-bácsi as I said, that question is addressing the assumption of my question but not my question itself — robev, Oct 10 '19 at 12:30
I always thought it’s because it’s easier to continue a sentence with a ״ו״ than to start one with a ״ו״ — Lo ani, Oct 10 '19 at 12:48
@robev perhaps they didn't like the question, or felt that the dupe answered it. — רבות מחשבות, Oct 10 '19 at 16:48

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 10 '19 at 12:59

There are a few answers given to this question.

@Alex noted the Rav Pealim (hebrewbooks, sefaria), who suggests that the vav-verse is missing, to show that it was not written on the 6 days of the week.
This paper (end of page 3) cites a number of earlier sources that note that when one letter from the beginning is removed, and a final line beginning with פ is added ('פודה ה), the first, middle, and final letters spell out אלף, which is not only the first letter of the Aleph Bet, but also means to teach. As this paper notes (section 4), teaching is a central theme of this Mizmor:

The theme of teaching picks up on the key words of Ps 25, למד or יורה in vv 4, 5, 8, 9, 12.

(If that was the case, the choice of combining two into one sentence makes sense, and this was likely the easiest based on the vav already being in a correct position.)
Many (secular scholars) would tell you that the Radak was incorrect, and this is missing a letter just like many other Mizmorim/prayers, as noted here. Others add that it would be conceivable that a scribe would skip over it having already started the previous phrase with a vav.

Does this answer the question? Seems more for the other question — robev, Oct 10 '19 at 16:18
@robev each of the three answers answers the question, although the second is the only one that explicitly agrees with the Radak — רבות מחשבות, Oct 10 '19 at 16:46

Psalm 34: why heh and vav share a verse

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