Mazmur 43:2

43:2 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?

Mazmur 60:1

Psalm 60 ⁵ 

For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; ⁶  a prayer ⁷  of David written to instruct others. ⁸  It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram-Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down ⁹  12,000 Edomites ¹⁰  in the Valley of Salt. ¹¹ 

60:1 O God, you have rejected us. ¹² 

You suddenly turned on us in your anger. ¹³ 

Please restore us! ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 60:10

60:10 Have you not rejected us, O God?

O God, you do not go into battle with our armies.

Mazmur 74:1

Psalm 74 ¹⁵ 

A well-written song ¹⁶  by Asaph.

74:1 Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us? ¹⁷ 

Why does your anger burn ¹⁸  against the sheep of your pasture?

Mazmur 80:12-13

80:12 Why did you break down its walls, ¹⁹ 

so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? ²⁰ 

80:13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; ²¹ 

the insects ²²  of the field feed on it.

Mazmur 88:14

88:14 O Lord, why do you reject me,

and pay no attention to me? ²³ 

Mazmur 89:38-45

89:38 But you have spurned ²⁴  and rejected him;

you are angry with your chosen king. ²⁵ 

89:39 You have repudiated ²⁶  your covenant with your servant; ²⁷ 

you have thrown his crown to the ground. ²⁸ 

89:40 You have broken down all his ²⁹  walls;

you have made his strongholds a heap of ruins.

89:41 All who pass by ³⁰  have robbed him;

he has become an object of disdain to his neighbors.

89:42 You have allowed his adversaries to be victorious, ³¹ 

and all his enemies to rejoice.

89:43 You turn back ³²  his sword from the adversary, ³³ 

and have not sustained him in battle. ³⁴ 

89:44 You have brought to an end his splendor, ³⁵ 

and have knocked ³⁶  his throne to the ground.

89:45 You have cut short his youth, ³⁷ 

and have covered him with shame. (Selah)

Mazmur 108:11

108:11 Have you not rejected us, O God?

O God, you do not go into battle with our armies.

[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.

[60:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 60. The psalmist grieves over Israel’s humiliation, but in response to God’s assuring word, he asks for divine help in battle and expresses his confidence in victory.

[60:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew expression means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title.

[60:1]  ⁷ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-59, is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[60:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “to teach.”

[60:1]  ⁹ tn In Josh 8:21 and Judg 20:48 the two verbs “turn back” and “strike down” are also juxtaposed. There they refer to a military counter-attack.

[60:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “12,000 of Edom.” Perhaps one should read אֲרַם (’aram, “Aram”) here rather than אֱדוֹם (’edom, “Edom”).

[60:1]  ¹¹ sn The heading apparently refers to the military campaign recorded in 2 Sam 10 and 1 Chr 19.

[60:1]  ¹² sn You have rejected us. See Pss 43:2; 44:9, 23.

[60:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “you broke out upon us, you were angry.”

[60:1]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.

[74:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 74. The psalmist, who has just experienced the devastation of the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem in 586 b.c., asks God to consider Israel’s sufferings and intervene on behalf of his people. He describes the ruined temple, recalls God’s mighty deeds in the past, begs for mercy, and calls for judgment upon God’s enemies.

[74:1]  ¹⁶ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[74:1]  ¹⁷ sn The psalmist does not really believe God has permanently rejected his people or he would not pray as he does in this psalm. But this initial question reflects his emotional response to what he sees and is overstated for the sake of emphasis. The severity of divine judgment gives the appearance that God has permanently abandoned his people.

[74:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “smoke.” The picture is that of a fire that continues to smolder.

[80:12]  ¹⁹ sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).

[80:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “pluck it.”

[80:13]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.

[80:13]  ²² tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word translated “insects,” which occurs only here and in Ps 50:11, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic, and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.

[88:14]  ²³ tn Heb “[why] do you hide your face from me?”

[89:38]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew construction (conjunction + pronoun, followed by the verb) draws attention to the contrast between what follows and what precedes.

[89:38]  ²⁵ tn Heb “your anointed one.” The Hebrew phrase מְשִׁיחֶךָ (mÿshikhekha, “your anointed one”) refers here to the Davidic king (see Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 28:8; 84:9; 132:10, 17).

[89:39]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew verb appears only here and in Lam 2:7.

[89:39]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the covenant of your servant.”

[89:39]  ²⁸ tn Heb “you dishonor [or “desecrate”] on the ground his crown.”

[89:40]  ²⁹ tn The king here represents the land and cities over which he rules.

[89:41]  ³⁰ tn Heb “all the passersby on the road.”

[89:42]  ³¹ tn Heb “you have lifted up the right hand of his adversaries.” The idiom “the right hand is lifted up” refers to victorious military deeds (see Pss 89:13; 118:16).

[89:43]  ³² tn The perfect verbal form predominates in vv. 38-45. The use of the imperfect in this one instance may be for rhetorical effect. The psalmist briefly lapses into dramatic mode, describing the king’s military defeat as if it were happening before his very eyes.

[89:43]  ³³ tc Heb “you turn back, rocky summit, his sword.” The Hebrew term צוּר (tsur, “rocky summit”) makes no sense here, unless it is a divine title understood as vocative, “you turn back, O Rocky Summit, his sword.” Some emend the form to צֹר (tsor, “flint”) on the basis of Josh 5:2, which uses the phrase חַרְבוֹת צֻרִים (kharvot tsurim, “flint knives”). The noun צֹר (tsor, “flint”) can then be taken as “flint-like edge,” indicating the sharpness of the sword. Others emend the form to אָחוֹר (’akhor, “backward”) or to מִצַּר (mitsar, “from the adversary”). The present translation reflects the latter, assuming an original reading תָּשִׁיב מִצָּר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv mitsar kharbo), which was corrupted to תָּשִׁיב צָר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv tsar kharbo) by virtual haplography (confusion of bet/mem is well-attested) with צָר (tsar, “adversary”) then being misinterpreted as צוּר in the later tradition.

[89:43]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and you have not caused him to stand in the battle.”

[89:44]  ³⁵ tc The Hebrew text appears to read, “you have brought to an end from his splendor,” but the form מִטְּהָרוֹ (mittÿharo) should be slightly emended (the daghesh should be removed from the tet [ת]) and read simply “his splendor” (the initial mem [מ] is not the preposition, but a nominal prefix).

[89:44]  ³⁶ tn The Hebrew verb מָגַר (magar) occurs only here and perhaps in Ezek 21:17.

[89:45]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the days of his youth” (see as well Job 33:25).