Mazmur 120:1--121:8
KonteksA song of ascents. 2
120:1 In my distress I cried out
to the Lord and he answered me.
120:2 I said, 3 “O Lord, rescue me 4
from those who lie with their lips 5
and those who deceive with their tongue. 6
120:3 How will he severely punish you,
you deceptive talker? 7
120:4 Here’s how! 8 With the sharp arrows of warriors,
with arrowheads forged over the hot coals. 9
For I have lived temporarily 11 in Meshech;
I have resided among the tents of Kedar. 12
120:6 For too long I have had to reside
with those who hate 13 peace.
120:7 I am committed to peace, 14
but when I speak, they want to make war. 15
A song of ascents. 17
121:1 I look up 18 toward the hills.
From where 19 does my help come?
121:2 My help comes from the Lord, 20
the Creator 21 of heaven and earth!
121:3 May he not allow your foot to slip!
May your protector 22 not sleep! 23
121:4 Look! Israel’s protector 24
does not sleep or slumber!
121:5 The Lord is your protector;
the Lord is the shade at your right hand.
121:6 The sun will not harm you by day,
or the moon by night. 25
121:7 The Lord will protect you from all harm;
he will protect your life.
121:8 The Lord will protect you in all you do, 26
now and forevermore.
[120:1] 1 sn Psalm 120. The genre and structure of this psalm are uncertain. It begins like a thanksgiving psalm, with a brief notice that God has heard the psalmist’s prayer for help and has intervened. But v. 2 is a petition for help, followed by a taunt directed toward enemies (vv. 3-4) and a lament (vv. 5-7). Perhaps vv. 2-7 recall the psalmist’s prayer when he cried out to the Lord.
[120:1] 2 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
[120:2] 3 tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the introductory note for this psalm.
[120:2] 5 tn Heb “from a lip of falsehood.”
[120:2] 6 tn Heb “from a tongue of deception.”
[120:3] 7 tn Heb “What will he give to you, and what will he add to you, O tongue of deception?” The psalmist addresses his deceptive enemies. The
[120:4] 8 tn The words “here’s how” are supplied in the translation as a clarification. In v. 4 the psalmist answers the question he raises in v. 3.
[120:4] 9 tn Heb “with coals of the wood of the broom plant.” The wood of the broom plant was used to make charcoal, which in turn was used to fuel the fire used to forge the arrowheads.
[120:5] 10 tn Or “woe to me.” The Hebrew term אוֹיָה (’oyah, “woe”) which occurs only here, is an alternate form of אוֹי (’oy).
[120:5] 11 tn Heb “I live as a resident alien.”
[120:5] 12 sn Meshech was located in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). Kedar was located in the desert to east-southeast of Israel. Because of the reference to Kedar, it is possible that Ps 120:5 refers to a different Meshech, perhaps one associated with the individual mentioned as a descendant of Aram in 1 Chr 1:17. (However, the LXX in 1 Chr 1:17 follows the parallel text in Gen 10:23, which reads “Mash,” not Meshech.) It is, of course, impossible that the psalmist could have been living in both the far north and the east at the same time. For this reason one must assume that he is recalling his experience as a wanderer among the nations or that he is using the geographical terms metaphorically and sarcastically to suggest that the enemies who surround him are like the barbarians who live in these distant regions. For a discussion of the problem, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 146.
[120:6] 13 tn The singular participial form probably has a representative function here. The psalmist envisions the typical hater of peace who represents the entire category of such individuals.
[120:7] 15 tn Heb “they [are] for war.”
[121:1] 16 sn Psalm 121. The psalm affirms that the Lord protects his people Israel. Unless the psalmist addresses an observer (note the second person singular forms in vv. 3-8), it appears there are two or three speakers represented in the psalm, depending on how one takes v. 3. The translation assumes that speaker one talks in vv. 1-2, that speaker two responds to him with a prayer in v. 3 (this assumes the verbs are true jussives of prayer), and that speaker three responds with words of assurance in vv. 4-8. If the verbs in v. 3 are taken as a rhetorical use of the jussive, then there are two speakers. Verses 3-8 are speaker two’s response to the words of speaker one. See the note on the word “sleep” at the end of v. 3.
[121:1] 17 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
[121:1] 18 tn Heb “I lift my eyes.”
[121:1] 19 tn The Hebrew term מֵאַיִן (me’ayin) is interrogative, not relative, in function. Rather than directly stating that his source of help descends from the hills, the psalmist is asking, “From where does my help come?” Nevertheless, the first line does indicate that he is looking toward the hills for help, probably indicating that he is looking up toward the sky in anticipation of supernatural intervention. The psalmist assumes the dramatic role of one needing help. He answers his own question in v. 2.
[121:2] 20 tn Heb “my help [is] from with the
[121:3] 22 tn Heb “the one who guards you.”
[121:3] 23 tn The prefixed verbal forms following the negative particle אל appear to be jussives. As noted above, if they are taken as true jussives of prayer, then the speaker in v. 3 would appear to be distinct from both the speaker in vv. 1-2 and the speaker in vv. 4-8. However, according to GKC 322 §109.e), the jussives are used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one should probably translate, “he will not allow your foot to slip, your protector will not sleep,” and understand just one speaker in vv. 4-8.
[121:4] 24 tn Heb “the one who guards Israel.”
[121:6] 25 sn One hardly thinks of the moon’s rays as being physically harmful, like those of the sun. The reference to the moon may simply lend poetic balance to the verse, but it is likely that the verse reflects an ancient, primitive belief that the moon could have an adverse effect on the mind (note the English expression “moonstruck,” which reflects such a belief). Another possibility is that the sun and moon stand by metonymy for harmful forces characteristic of the day and night, respectively.
