Mazmur 79:11--80:4
Konteks79:11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners! 1
Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die! 2
79:12 Pay back our neighbors in full! 3
May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord! 4
79:13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will continually thank you. 5
We will tell coming generations of your praiseworthy acts. 6
For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; 8 a psalm of Asaph.
80:1 O shepherd of Israel, pay attention,
you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep!
You who sit enthroned above the winged angels, 9 reveal your splendor! 10
80:2 In the sight of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh reveal 11 your power!
Come and deliver us! 12
80:3 O God, restore us!
Smile on us! 13 Then we will be delivered! 14
80:4 O Lord God, invincible warrior! 15
How long will you remain angry at your people while they pray to you? 16
[79:11] 1 tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”
[79:11] 2 tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
[79:12] 3 tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
[79:12] 4 tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”
[79:13] 5 tn Or (hyperbolically) “will thank you forever.”
[79:13] 6 tn Heb “to a generation and a generation we will report your praise.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.
[80:1] 7 sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.
[80:1] 8 tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.
[80:1] 9 sn Winged angels (Heb “cherubs”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.
[80:1] 10 tn Heb “shine forth.”
[80:1] sn Reveal your splendor. The psalmist may allude to Deut 33:2, where God “shines forth” from Sinai and comes to superintend Moses’ blessing of the tribes.
[80:2] 11 tn Heb “stir up”; “arouse.”
[80:2] 12 tn Heb “come for our deliverance.”
[80:3] 13 tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
[80:3] 14 tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
[80:4] 15 tn Heb “
[80:4] 16 tn Heb “How long will you remain angry during the prayer of your people.” Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) in an adversative sense here (“at/against the prayer of your people”), but the temporal sense is preferable. The psalmist expects persistent prayer to pacify God.
