Mazmur 30:5

30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,

and his good favor restores one’s life. ¹ 

One may experience sorrow during the night,

but joy arrives in the morning. ² 

Mazmur 126:6

126:6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag ³  of seed,

will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain. ⁴ 

[30:5]  ¹ tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).

[30:5]  ² tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.

[126:6]  ³ tn The noun occurs only here and in Job 28:18 in the OT. See HALOT 646 s.v. I מֶשֶׁךְ which gives “leather pouch” as the meaning.

[126:6]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew noun אֲלֻמָּה (’alummah, “sheaf”) occurs only here and in Gen 37:7 in the OT.

[126:6]  sn Verse 6 expands the image of v. 5. See the note on the word “harvest” there.