Mazmur 65:5

65:5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,

O God, our savior. ¹ 

All the ends of the earth trust in you, ² 

as well as those living across the wide seas. ³ 

Mazmur 66:3

66:3 Say to God:

“How awesome are your deeds!

Because of your great power your enemies cower in fear ⁴  before you.

[65:5]  ¹ tn Heb “[with] awesome acts in deliverance you answer us, O God of our salvation.”

[65:5]  ² tn Heb “a source of confidence [for] all the ends of the earth.”

[65:5]  sn All the ends of the earth trust in you. This idealistic portrayal of universal worship is typical hymnic hyperbole, though it does anticipate eschatological reality.

[65:5]  ³ tc Heb “and [the] distant sea.” The plural adjective is problematic after the singular form “sea.” One could emend יָם (yam, “sea”) to יָמִים (yamim, “seas”), or emend the plural form רְחֹקִים (rÿkhoqim, “far”) to the singular רָחֹק (rakhoq). In this case the final mem (ם) could be treated as dittographic; note the mem on the beginning of the first word in v. 6.

[66:3]  ⁴ tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 81:15 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 “be weak, powerless” (see also Ps 109:24).