Mazmur 43:2-5
Konteks43:2 For you are the God who shelters me. 1
Why do you reject me? 2
Why must I walk around 3 mourning 4
because my enemies oppress me?
43:3 Reveal 5 your light 6 and your faithfulness!
They will lead me, 7
they will escort 8 me back to your holy hill, 9
and to the place where you live. 10
43:4 Then I will go 11 to the altar of God,
to the God who gives me ecstatic joy, 12
so that I express my thanks to you, 13 O God, my God, with a harp.
43:5 Why are you depressed, 14 O my soul? 15
Why are you upset? 16
Wait for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention. 17
Mazmur 61:2
Konteks61:2 From the most remote place on earth 18
I call out to you in my despair. 19
Lead me 20 up to an inaccessible rocky summit! 21
Mazmur 63:5-6
Konteks63:5 As if with choice meat 22 you satisfy my soul. 23
My mouth joyfully praises you, 24
63:6 whenever 25 I remember you on my bed,
and think about you during the nighttime hours.
Mazmur 73:12-16
Konteks73:12 Take a good look! This is what the wicked are like, 26
those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer. 27
73:13 I concluded, 28 “Surely in vain I have kept my motives 29 pure
and maintained a pure lifestyle. 30
73:14 I suffer all day long,
and am punished every morning.”
73:15 If I had publicized these thoughts, 31
I would have betrayed your loyal followers. 32
73:16 When I tried to make sense of this,
it was troubling to me. 33
Mazmur 77:2-10
Konteks77:2 In my time of trouble I sought 34 the Lord.
I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. 35
I 36 refused to be comforted.
77:3 I said, “I will remember God while I groan;
I will think about him while my strength leaves me.” 37 (Selah)
77:4 You held my eyelids open; 38
I was troubled and could not speak. 39
77:5 I thought about the days of old,
about ancient times. 40
77:6 I said, “During the night I will remember the song I once sang;
I will think very carefully.”
I tried to make sense of what was happening. 41
77:7 I asked, 42 “Will the Lord reject me forever?
Will he never again show me his favor?
77:8 Has his loyal love disappeared forever?
Has his promise 43 failed forever?
77:9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has his anger stifled his compassion?”
77:10 Then I said, “I am sickened by the thought
[43:2] 1 tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.
[43:2] 2 tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).
[43:2] 3 tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.
[43:2] 4 sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.
[43:3] 6 sn God’s deliverance is compared here to a light which will lead the psalmist back home to the Lord’s temple. Divine deliverance will in turn demonstrate the Lord’s faithfulness to his people.
[43:3] 7 tn Or “may they lead me.” The prefixed verbal forms here and in the next line may be taken as jussives.
[43:3] 9 sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill is Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 15:1; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.
[43:3] 10 tn Or “to your dwelling place[s].” The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; this is the
[43:4] 11 tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”
[43:4] 12 tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
[43:4] 13 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.
[43:5] 14 tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”
[43:5] 15 sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.
[43:5] 16 tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”
[43:5] 17 tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is identical to the one in Ps 42:11. See also 42:5, which differs only slightly.
[61:2] 18 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.” This may indicate (1) the psalmist is exiled in a distant land, or (2) it may be hyperbolic (the psalmist feels alienated from God’s presence, as if he were in a distant land).
[61:2] 19 tn Heb “while my heart faints.”
[61:2] 20 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
[61:2] 21 tn Heb “on to a rocky summit [that] is higher than I.”
[63:5] 22 tn Heb “like fat and fatness.”
[63:5] 24 tn Heb “and [with] lips of joy my mouth praises.”
[63:6] 25 tn The Hebrew term אִם (’im) is used here in the sense of “when; whenever,” as in Ps 78:34.
[73:12] 26 tn Heb “Look, these [are] the wicked.”
[73:12] 27 tn Heb “the ones who are always at ease [who] increase wealth.”
[73:13] 28 tn The words “I concluded” are supplied in the translation. It is apparent that vv. 13-14 reflect the psalmist’s thoughts at an earlier time (see vv. 2-3), prior to the spiritual awakening he describes in vv. 17-28.
[73:13] 29 tn Heb “heart,” viewed here as the seat of one’s thoughts and motives.
[73:13] 30 tn Heb “and washed my hands in innocence.” The psalmist uses an image from cultic ritual to picture his moral lifestyle. The reference to “hands” suggests actions.
[73:15] 31 tn Heb “If I had said, ‘I will speak out like this.’”
[73:15] 32 tn Heb “look, the generation of your sons I would have betrayed.” The phrase “generation of your [i.e., God’s] sons” occurs only here in the OT. Some equate the phrase with “generation of the godly” (Ps 14:5), “generation of the ones seeking him” (Ps 24:6), and “generation of the upright” (Ps 112:2). In Deut 14:1 the Israelites are referred to as God’s “sons.” Perhaps the psalmist refers here to those who are “Israelites” in the true sense because of their loyalty to God (note the juxtaposition of “Israel” with “the pure in heart” in v. 1).
[73:16] 33 tn Heb “and [when] I pondered to understand this, troubling it [was] in my eyes.”
[77:2] 34 tn Here the psalmist refers back to the very recent past, when he began to pray for divine help.
[77:2] 35 tn Heb “my hand [at] night was extended and was not growing numb.” The verb נָגַר (nagar), which can mean “flow” in certain contexts, here has the nuance “be extended.” The imperfect form (תָפוּג, tafug, “to be numb”) is used here to describe continuous action in the past.
[77:2] 36 tn Or “my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
[77:3] 37 tn Heb “I will remember God and I will groan, I will reflect and my spirit will grow faint.” The first three verbs are cohortatives, the last a perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. The psalmist’s statement in v. 4 could be understood as concurrent with v. 1, or, more likely, as a quotation of what he had said earlier as he prayed to God (see v. 2). The words “I said” are supplied in the translation at the beginning of the verse to reflect this interpretation (see v. 10).
[77:4] 38 tn Heb “you held fast the guards of my eyes.” The “guards of the eyes” apparently refers to his eyelids. The psalmist seems to be saying that God would not bring him relief, which would have allowed him to shut his eyes and get some sleep (see v. 2).
[77:4] 39 tn The imperfect is used in the second clause to emphasize that this was an ongoing condition in the past.
[77:5] 40 tn Heb “the years of antiquity.”
[77:6] 41 tn Heb “I will remember my song in the night, with my heart I will reflect. And my spirit searched.” As in v. 4, the words of v. 6a are understood as what the psalmist said earlier. Consequently the words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 10). The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive at the beginning of the final line is taken as sequential to the perfect “I thought” in v. 6.
[77:7] 42 tn As in vv. 4 and 6a, the words of vv. 7-9 are understood as a quotation of what the psalmist said earlier. Therefore the words “I asked” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[77:8] 43 tn Heb “word,” which may refer here to God’s word of promise (note the reference to “loyal love” in the preceding line).
[77:10] 44 tn Heb “Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.
[77:10] 45 tc Heb “And I said, ‘This is my wounding, the changing of the right hand of the Most High.’” The form חַלּוֹתִי (khallotiy) appears to be a Qal infinitive construct (with a first person singular pronominal suffix) from the verbal root חָלַל (khalal, “to pierce; to wound”). The present translation assumes an emendation to חֲלוֹתִי (khalotiy), a Qal infinitive construct (with a first person singular pronominal suffix) from the verbal root חָלָה (khalah, “be sick, weak”). The form שְׁנוֹת (shÿnot) is understood as a Qal infinitive construct from שָׁנָה (shanah, “to change”) rather than a plural noun form, “years” (see v. 5). “Right hand” here symbolizes by metonymy God’s power and activity. The psalmist observes that his real problem is theological in nature. His experience suggests that the sovereign Lord has abandoned him and become inactive. However, this goes against the grain of his most cherished beliefs.
