Mazmur 89:30-32

89:30 If his sons reject my law

and disobey my regulations,

89:31 if they break ¹  my rules

and do not keep my commandments,

89:32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club, ² 

their sin by inflicting them with bruises. ³ 

Mazmur 90:7-9

90:7 Yes, ⁴  we are consumed by your anger;

we are terrified by your wrath.

90:8 You are aware of our sins; ⁵ 

you even know about our hidden sins. ⁶ 

90:9 Yes, ⁷  throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; ⁸ 

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. ⁹ 

Mazmur 99:8

99:8 O Lord our God, you answered them.

They found you to be a forgiving God,

but also one who punished their sinful deeds. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 102:10-11

102:10 because of your anger and raging fury.

Indeed, ¹¹  you pick me up and throw me away.

102:11 My days are coming to an end, ¹² 

and I am withered like grass.

[89:31]  ¹ tn Or “desecrate.”

[89:32]  ² tn Heb “I will punish with a club their rebellion.”

[89:32]  sn Despite the harsh image of beating…with a club, the language reflects a father-son relationship (see v. 30; 2 Sam 7:14). According to Proverbs, a שֵׁבֶט (shevet, “club”) was sometimes utilized to administer corporal punishment to rebellious children (see Prov 13:24; 22:15; 23:13-14; 29:15).

[89:32]  ³ tn Heb “with blows their sin.”

[90:7]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

[90:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”

[90:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “what we have hidden to the light of your face.” God’s face is compared to a light or lamp that exposes the darkness around it.

[90:9]  ⁷ tn Or “for.”

[90:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

[90:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “we finish our years like a sigh.” In Ezek 2:10 the word הֶגֶה (hegeh) elsewhere refers to a grumbling or moaning sound. Here a brief sigh or moan is probably in view. If so, the simile pictures one’s lifetime as transient. Another option is that the simile alludes to the weakness that characteristically overtakes a person at the end of one’s lifetime. In this case the phrase could be translated, “we end our lives with a painful moan.”

[99:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a God of lifting up [i.e., forgiveness] you were to them, and an avenger concerning their deeds.” The present translation reflects the traditional interpretation, which understands the last line as qualifying the preceding one. God forgave Moses and Aaron, but he also disciplined them when they sinned (cf. NIV, NRSV). Another option is to take “their deeds” as referring to harmful deeds directed against Moses and Aaron. In this case the verse may be translated, “and one who avenged attacks against them.” Still another option is to emend the participial form נֹקֵם (noqem, “an avenger”) to נֹקָם (noqam), a rare Qal participial form of נָקַה (naqah, “purify”) with a suffixed pronoun. In this case one could translate, “and one who purified them from their [sinful] deeds” (cf. NEB “and held them innocent”).

[102:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “for.”

[102:11]  ¹² tn Heb “my days [are] like an extended [or “lengthening”] shadow,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness.