Mazmur 102:2

102:2 Do not ignore me in my time of trouble! ¹ 

Listen to me! ² 

When I call out to you, quickly answer me!

Mazmur 102:23-26

102:23 He has taken away my strength in the middle of life; ³ 

he has cut short my days.

102:24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life! ⁴ 

You endure through all generations. ⁵ 

102:25 In earlier times you established the earth;

the skies are your handiwork.

102:26 They will perish,

but you will endure. ⁶ 

They will wear out like a garment;

like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. ⁷ 

[102:2]  ¹ tn Heb “do not hide your face from me in the day of my trouble.” The idiom “to hide the face” can mean “to ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “to reject” (see Pss 29:7; 30:7; 88:14).

[102:2]  ² tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”

[102:23]  ³ tn Heb “he has afflicted my strength in the way.” The term “way” refers here to the course of the psalmist’s life, which appears to be ending prematurely (vv. 23b-24).

[102:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “do not lift me up in the middle of my days.”

[102:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “in a generation of generations [are] your years.”

[102:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “stand.”

[102:26]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb חָלַף (khalaf) occurs twice in this line, once in the Hiphil (“you will remove them”) and once in the Qal (“they will disappear”). The repetition draws attention to the statement.