Mazmur 42:6

42:6 I am depressed, ¹ 

so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, ² 

from Hermon, ³  from Mount Mizar. ⁴ 

Mazmur 139:9-10

139:9 If I were to fly away ⁵  on the wings of the dawn, ⁶ 

and settle down on the other side ⁷  of the sea,

139:10 even there your hand would guide me,

your right hand would grab hold of me.

[42:6]  ¹ tn Heb “my God, upon me my soul bows down.” As noted earlier, “my God” belongs with the end of v. 6.

[42:6]  ² tn Heb “therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan.” “Remember” is here used metonymically for prayer (see vv. 8-9). As the next line indicates, the region of the upper Jordan, where the river originates, is in view.

[42:6]  ³ tc Heb “Hermons.” The plural form of the name occurs only here in the OT. Some suggest the plural refers to multiple mountain peaks (cf. NASB) or simply retain the plural in the translation (cf. NEB), but the final mem (ם) is probably dittographic (note that the next form in the text begins with the letter mem) or enclitic. At a later time it was misinterpreted as a plural marker and vocalized accordingly.

[42:6]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term מִצְעָר (mits’ar) is probably a proper name (“Mizar”), designating a particular mountain in the Hermon region. The name appears only here in the OT.

[139:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “rise up.”

[139:9]  ⁶ sn On the wings of the dawn. This personification of the “dawn” may find its roots in mythological traditions about the god Shachar, whose birth is described in an Ugaritic myth (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 126) and who is mentioned in Isa 14:12 as the father of Helel.

[139:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “at the end.”