Mazmur 81:1--83:18
KonteksFor the music director; according to the gittith style; 2 by Asaph.
81:1 Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!
Shout out to the God of Jacob!
81:2 Sing 3 a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument!
81:3 Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon, 4
and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins. 5
81:4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel; 6
it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.
81:5 He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph,
when he attacked the land of Egypt. 7
I heard a voice I did not recognize. 8
81:6 It said: 9 “I removed the burden from his shoulder;
his hands were released from holding the basket. 10
81:7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud. 11
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 12 (Selah)
81:8 I said, 13 ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn 14 you!
O Israel, if only you would obey me! 15
81:9 There must be 16 no other 17 god among you.
You must not worship a foreign god.
81:10 I am the Lord, your God,
the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it!’
81:11 But my people did not obey me; 18
Israel did not submit to me. 19
81:12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; 20
they did what seemed right to them. 21
81:13 If only my people would obey me! 22
If only Israel would keep my commands! 23
81:14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
and attack 24 their adversaries.”
81:15 (May those who hate the Lord 25 cower in fear 26 before him!
May they be permanently humiliated!) 27
81:16 “I would feed Israel the best wheat, 28
and would satisfy your appetite 29 with honey from the rocky cliffs.” 30
A psalm of Asaph.
82:1 God stands in 32 the assembly of El; 33
in the midst of the gods 34 he renders judgment. 35
82:2 He says, 36 “How long will you make unjust legal decisions
and show favoritism to the wicked? 37 (Selah)
82:3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! 38
Vindicate the oppressed and suffering!
82:4 Rescue the poor and needy!
Deliver them from the power 39 of the wicked!
82:5 They 40 neither know nor understand.
They stumble 41 around in the dark,
while all the foundations of the earth crumble. 42
82:6 I thought, 43 ‘You are gods;
all of you are sons of the Most High.’ 44
82:7 Yet you will die like mortals; 45
you will fall like all the other rulers.” 46
82:8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth!
For you own 47 all the nations.
A song, a psalm of Asaph.
83:1 O God, do not be silent!
Do not ignore us! 49 Do not be inactive, O God!
83:2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion;
those who hate you are hostile. 50
83:3 They carefully plot 51 against your people,
and make plans to harm 52 the ones you cherish. 53
83:4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! 54
Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
83:5 Yes, 55 they devise a unified strategy; 56
they form an alliance 57 against you.
83:6 It includes 58 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites, 59
83:7 Gebal, 60 Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre. 61
83:8 Even Assyria has allied with them,
lending its strength to the descendants of Lot. 62 (Selah)
83:9 Do to them as you did to Midian 63 –
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River! 64
83:10 They were destroyed at Endor; 65
their corpses were like manure 66 on the ground.
83:11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, 67
and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna, 68
83:12 who said, 69 “Let’s take over 70 the pastures of God!”
83:13 O my God, make them like dead thistles, 71
like dead weeds blown away by 72 the wind!
83:14 Like the fire that burns down the forest,
or the flames that consume the mountainsides, 73
83:15 chase them with your gale winds,
and terrify 74 them with your windstorm.
83:16 Cover 75 their faces with shame,
so they might seek 76 you, 77 O Lord.
83:17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified! 78
May they die in shame! 79
83:18 Then they will know 80 that you alone are the Lord, 81
the sovereign king 82 over all the earth.
[81:1] 1 sn Psalm 81. The psalmist calls God’s people to assemble for a festival and then proclaims God’s message to them. The divine speech (vv. 6-16) recalls how God delivered the people from Egypt, reminds Israel of their rebellious past, expresses God’s desire for his people to obey him, and promises divine protection in exchange for obedience.
[81:1] 2 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הַגִּתִּית (haggittit) is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or instrument. See the superscription to Ps 8.
[81:3] 4 tn Heb “at the new moon.”
[81:3] sn New moon festivals were a monthly ritual in Israel (see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 469-70). In this context the New Moon festival of the seventh month, when the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated (note the reference to a “festival” in the next line), may be in view.
[81:3] 5 tn Heb “at the full moon on the day of our festival.” The Hebrew word כֶּסֶה (keseh) is an alternate spelling of כֶּסֶא (kese’, “full moon”).
[81:3] sn The festival in view is probably the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths), which began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month when the moon was full. See Lev 23:34; Num 29:12.
[81:4] 6 tn Heb “because a statute for Israel [is] it.”
[81:5] 7 tn Heb “in his going out against the land of Egypt.” This apparently refers to the general time period of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The LXX reads, “from Egypt,” in which case “Joseph” (see the preceding line) would be the subject of the verb, “when he [Joseph = Israel] left Egypt.”
[81:5] 8 tn Heb “a lip I did not know, I heard.” Here the term “lip” probably stands for speech or a voice. Apparently the psalmist speaks here and refers to God’s voice, whose speech is recorded in the following verses.
[81:6] 9 tn The words “It said” are not included in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[81:6] 10 sn I removed the burden. The Lord speaks metaphorically of how he delivered his people from Egyptian bondage. The reference to a basket/burden probably alludes to the hard labor of the Israelites in Egypt, where they had to carry loads of bricks (see Exod 1:14).
[81:7] 11 tn Heb “I answered you in the hidden place of thunder.” This may allude to God’s self-revelation at Mount Sinai, where he appeared in a dark cloud accompanied by thunder (see Exod 19:16).
[81:7] 12 sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at the place called Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.
[81:8] 13 tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Verses 8-10 appear to recall what the
[81:8] 14 tn Or perhaps “command.”
[81:8] 15 tn The Hebrew particle אִם (“if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (GKC 321 §109.b). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.
[81:9] 16 tn The imperfect verbal forms in v. 9 have a modal function, expressing what is obligatory.
[81:9] 17 tn Heb “different”; “illicit.”
[81:11] 18 tn Heb “did not listen to my voice.”
[81:11] 19 tn The Hebrew expression אָבָה לִי (’avah liy) means “submit to me” (see Deut 13:8).
[81:12] 20 tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”
[81:12] 21 tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).
[81:13] 22 tn Heb “if only my people were listening to me.” The Hebrew particle לוּ (lu, “if not”) introduces a purely hypothetical or contrary to fact condition (see 2 Sam 18:12).
[81:13] 23 tn Heb “[and if only] Israel would walk in my ways.”
[81:14] 24 tn Heb “turn my hand against.” The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack” (see Isa 1:25; Ezek 38:12; Amos 1:8; Zech 13:7).
[81:15] 25 tn “Those who hate the
[81:15] 26 tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 66:3 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “to be weak; to be powerless” (see also Ps 109:24). The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, parallel to the jussive form in the next line.
[81:15] 27 tc Heb “and may their time be forever.” The Hebrew term עִתָּם (’ittam, “their time”) must refer here to the “time” of the demise and humiliation of those who hate the
[81:15] tn The verb form at the beginning of the line is jussive, indicating that this is a prayer. The translation assumes that v. 15 is a parenthetical “curse” offered by the psalmist. Having heard the reference to Israel’s enemies (v. 14), the psalmist inserts this prayer, reminding the Lord that they are God’s enemies as well.
[81:16] 28 tn Heb “and he fed him from the best of the wheat.” The Hebrew text has a third person form of the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive attached. However, it is preferable, in light of the use of the first person in v. 14 and in the next line, to emend the verb to a first person form and understand the vav as conjunctive, continuing the apodosis of the conditional sentence of vv. 13-14. The third masculine singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in v. 6.
[81:16] sn I would feed. After the parenthetical “curse” in v. 15, the Lord’s speech continues here.
[81:16] 29 tn Heb “you.” The second person singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in vv. 7-10.
[81:16] 30 sn The language in this verse, particularly the references to wheat and honey, is reminiscent of Deut 32:13-14.
[82:1] 31 sn Psalm 82. The psalmist pictures God standing in the “assembly of El” where he accuses the “gods” of failing to promote justice on earth. God pronounces sentence upon them, announcing that they will die like men. Having witnessed the scene, the psalmist then asks God to establish his just rule over the earth.
[82:1] 32 tn Or “presides over.”
[82:1] 33 tn The phrase עֲדַת אֵל (’adat ’el, “assembly of El”) appears only here in the OT. (1) Some understand “El” to refer to God himself. In this case he is pictured presiding over his own heavenly assembly. (2) Others take אֵל as a superlative here (“God stands in the great assembly”), as in Pss 36:6 and 80:10. (3) The present translation assumes this is a reference to the Canaanite high god El, who presided over the Canaanite divine assembly. (See Isa 14:13, where El’s assembly is called “the stars of El.”) In the Ugaritic myths the phrase ’dt ’ilm refers to the “assembly of the gods,” who congregate in King Kirtu’s house, where Baal asks El to bless Kirtu’s house (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 91). If the Canaanite divine assembly is referred to here in Ps 82:1, then the psalm must be understood as a bold polemic against Canaanite religion. Israel’s God invades El’s assembly, denounces its gods as failing to uphold justice, and announces their coming demise. For an interpretation of the psalm along these lines, see W. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” EBC 5:533-36.
[82:1] 34 sn The present translation assumes that the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “gods”) here refers to the pagan gods who supposedly comprise El’s assembly according to Canaanite religion. Those who reject the polemical view of the psalm prefer to see the referent as human judges or rulers (אֱלֹהִים sometimes refers to officials appointed by God, see Exod 21:6; 22:8-9; Ps 45:6) or as angelic beings (אֱלֹהִים sometimes refers to angelic beings, see Gen 3:5; Ps 8:5).
[82:1] 35 sn The picture of God rendering judgment among the gods clearly depicts his sovereign authority as universal king (see v. 8, where the psalmist boldly affirms this truth).
[82:2] 36 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to indicate that the following speech is God’s judicial decision (see v. 1).
[82:2] 37 tn Heb “and the face of the wicked lift up.”
[82:3] 38 tn The Hebrew noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9). Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 10:14; 68:5; 94:6; 146:9; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21).
[82:5] 40 sn Having addressed the defendants, God now speaks to those who are observing the trial, referring to the gods in the third person.
[82:5] 41 tn Heb “walk.” The Hitpael stem indicates iterative action, picturing these ignorant “judges” as stumbling around in the darkness.
[82:5] 42 sn These gods, though responsible for justice, neglect their duty. Their self-imposed ignorance (which the psalmist compares to stumbling around in the dark) results in widespread injustice, which threatens the social order of the world (the meaning of the phrase all the foundations of the earth crumble).
[82:6] 44 sn Normally in the OT the title Most High belongs to the God of Israel, but in this context, where the mythological overtones are so strong, it probably refers to the Canaanite high god El (see v. 1, as well as Isa 14:13).
[82:7] 45 tn Heb “men.” The point in the context is mortality, however, not maleness.
[82:7] sn You will die like mortals. For the concept of a god losing immortality and dying, see Isa 14:12-15, which alludes to a pagan myth in which the petty god “Shining One, son of the Dawn,” is hurled into Sheol for his hubris.
[82:7] 46 tn Heb “like one of the rulers.” The comparison does not necessarily imply that they are not rulers. The expression “like one of” can sometimes mean “as one of” (Gen 49:16; Obad 11) or “as any other of” (Judg 16:7, 11).
[82:8] 47 tn The translation assumes that the Qal of נָחַל (nakhal) here means “to own; to possess,” and that the imperfect emphasizes a general truth. Another option is to translate the verb as future, “for you will take possession of all the nations” (cf. NIV “all the nations are your inheritance”).
[83:1] 48 sn Psalm 83. The psalmist asks God to deliver Israel from the attacks of foreign nations. Recalling how God defeated Israel’s enemies in the days of Deborah and Gideon, he prays that the hostile nations would be humiliated.
[83:1] 49 tn Heb “do not be deaf.”
[83:2] 50 tn Heb “lift up [their] head[s].” The phrase “lift up [the] head” here means “to threaten; to be hostile,” as in Judg 8:28.
[83:3] 51 tn Heb “they make crafty a plot.”
[83:3] 52 tn Heb “and consult together against.”
[83:3] 53 tn The passive participle of the Hebrew verb צָפַן (tsafan, “to hide”) is used here in the sense of “treasured; cherished.”
[83:4] 54 tn Heb “we will cause them to disappear from [being] a nation.”
[83:5] 56 tn Heb “they consult [with] a heart together.”
[83:5] 57 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[83:6] 58 tn The words “it includes” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[83:6] 59 sn The Hagrites are also mentioned in 1 Chr 5:10, 19-20.
[83:7] 60 sn Some identify Gebal with the Phoenician coastal city of Byblos (see Ezek 27:9, where the name is spelled differently), though others locate this site south of the Dead Sea (see BDB 148 s.v. גְּבַל; HALOT 174 s.v. גְּבַל).
[83:7] 61 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[83:8] 62 tn Heb “they are an arm for the sons of Lot.” The “arm” is here a symbol of military might.
[83:8] sn The descendants of Lot were the Moabites and Ammonites.
[83:9] 63 tn Heb “do to them like Midian.”
[83:9] 64 sn The psalmist alludes here to Gideon’s victory over the Midianites (see Judg 7-8) and to Barak’s victory over Jabin’s army, which was led by his general Sisera (Judg 4-5).
[83:10] 65 sn Endor is not mentioned in the accounts of Gideon’s or Barak’s victories, but both battles took place in the general vicinity of the town. (See Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas, 46, 54.) Because Sisera and Jabin are mentioned in v. 9b, many understand them to be the subject of the verbs in v. 10, though they relate v. 10 to Gideon’s victory, which is referred to in v. 9a, 11. (See, for example, Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 263.)
[83:10] 66 tn Heb “they were manure.” In addition to this passage, corpses are compared to manure in 2 Kgs 9:37; Jer 8:2; 9:21; 16:4; 25:33.
[83:11] 67 sn Oreb and Zeeb were the generals of the Midianite army that was defeated by Gideon. The Ephraimites captured and executed both of them and sent their heads to Gideon (Judg 7:24-25).
[83:11] 68 sn Zebah and Zalmunna were the Midianite kings. Gideon captured them and executed them (Judg 8:1-21).
[83:12] 69 tn The translation assumes that “Zebah and Zalmunna” are the antecedents of the relative pronoun (“who [said]”). Another option is to take “their nobles…all their rulers” as the antecedent and to translate, “those who say.”
[83:12] 70 tn Heb “let’s take possession for ourselves.”
[83:13] 71 tn Or “tumbleweed.” The Hebrew noun גַּלְגַּל (galgal) refers to a “wheel” or, metaphorically, to a whirling wind (see Ps 77:18). If taken in the latter sense here, one could understand the term as a metonymical reference to dust blown by a whirlwind (cf. NRSV “like whirling dust”). However, HALOT 190 s.v. II גַּלְגַּל understands the noun as a homonym referring to a “dead thistle” here and in Isa 17:13. The parallel line, which refers to קַשׁ (qash, “chaff”), favors this interpretation.
[83:14] 73 sn The imagery of fire and flames suggests unrelenting, destructive judgment.
[83:15] 74 tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 15 express the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
[83:16] 76 tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose or result (“then they will seek”).
[83:16] 77 tn Heb “your name,” which stands here for God’s person.
[83:17] 78 tn Heb “and may they be terrified to perpetuity.” The Hebrew expression עֲדֵי־עַד (’adey-’ad, “to perpetuity”) can mean “forevermore” (see Pss 92:7; 132:12, 14), but here it may be used hyperbolically, for the psalmist asks that the experience of judgment might lead the nations to recognize (v. 18) and even to seek (v. 16) God.
[83:17] 79 tn Heb “may they be ashamed and perish.” The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling severe judgment down on his enemies. The strong language of the imprecation seems to run contrary to the positive outcome of divine judgment envisioned in v. 16b. Perhaps the language of v. 17 is overstated for effect. Another option is that v. 16b expresses an ideal, while the strong imprecation of vv. 17-18 anticipates reality. It would be nice if the defeated nations actually pursued a relationship with God, but if judgment does not bring them to that point, the psalmist asks that they be annihilated so that they might at least be forced to acknowledge God’s power.
[83:18] 80 tn After the preceding jussives (v. 17), the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose (“so that they may know”) or result.
[83:18] 81 tn Heb “that you, your name [is] the
