Mazmur 78:8

78:8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,

who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation that was not committed

and faithful to God. ¹ 

Mazmur 78:40

78:40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness,

and insulted him ²  in the desert!

Mazmur 78:49

78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them, ³ 

He sent fury, rage, and trouble

as messengers who bring disaster. ⁴ 

Mazmur 78:56

78:56 Yet they challenged and defied ⁵  the sovereign God, ⁶ 

and did not obey ⁷  his commands. ⁸ 

Mazmur 95:9-11

95:9 where your ancestors challenged my authority, ⁹ 

and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.

95:10 For forty years I was continually disgusted ¹⁰  with that generation,

and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray; ¹¹ 

they do not obey my commands.’ ¹² 

95:11 So I made a vow in my anger,

‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’” ¹³ 

[78:8]  ¹ tn Heb “a generation that did not make firm its heart and whose spirit was not faithful with God.” The expression “make firm the heart” means “to be committed, devoted” (see 1 Sam 7:3).

[78:40]  ² tn Or “caused him pain.”

[78:49]  ³ tn Heb “he sent against them the rage of his anger.” The phrase “rage of his anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. 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.

[78:49]  ⁴ tn Heb “fury and indignation and trouble, a sending of messengers of disaster.”

[78:56]  ⁵ tn Or “tested and rebelled against.”

[78:56]  ⁶ tn Heb “God, the Most High.”

[78:56]  ⁷ tn Or “keep.”

[78:56]  ⁸ tn Heb “his testimonies” (see Ps 25:10).

[95:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “where your fathers tested me.”

[95:10]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite or an imperfect. If the latter, it emphasizes the ongoing nature of the condition in the past. The translation reflects this interpretation of the verbal form.

[95:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a people, wanderers of heart [are] they.”

[95:10]  ¹² tn Heb “and they do not know my ways.” In this context the Lord’s “ways” are his commands, viewed as a pathway from which his people, likened to wayward sheep (see v. 7), wander.

[95:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “my resting place.” The promised land of Canaan is here viewed metaphorically as a place of rest for God’s people, who are compared to sheep (see v. 7).