Mazmur 106:16-21

106:16 In the camp they resented ¹  Moses,

and Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest. ² 

106:17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;

it engulfed ³  the group led by Abiram. ⁴ 

106:18 Fire burned their group;

the flames scorched the wicked. ⁵ 

106:19 They made an image of a calf at Horeb,

and worshiped a metal idol.

106:20 They traded their majestic God ⁶ 

for the image of an ox that eats grass.

106:21 They rejected ⁷  the God who delivered them,

the one who performed great deeds in Egypt,

Mazmur 106:28

106:28 They worshiped ⁸  Baal of Peor,

and ate sacrifices offered to the dead. ⁹ 

Mazmur 106:32-40

106:32 They made him angry by the waters of Meribah,

and Moses suffered ¹⁰  because of them,

106:33 for they aroused ¹¹  his temper, ¹² 

and he spoke rashly. ¹³ 

106:34 They did not destroy the nations, ¹⁴ 

as the Lord had commanded them to do.

106:35 They mixed in with the nations

and learned their ways. ¹⁵ 

106:36 They worshiped ¹⁶  their idols,

which became a snare to them. ¹⁷ 

106:37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. ¹⁸ 

106:38 They shed innocent blood –

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.

The land was polluted by bloodshed. ¹⁹ 

106:39 They were defiled by their deeds,

and unfaithful in their actions. ²⁰ 

106:40 So the Lord was angry with his people ²¹ 

and despised the people who belong to him. ²² 

[106:16]  ¹ tn Or “envied.”

[106:16]  ² tn Heb “the holy one of the Lord.”

[106:17]  ³ tn Or “covered.”

[106:17]  ⁴ tn Or “the assembly of Abiram.”

[106:18]  ⁵ sn Verses 16-18 describe the events of Num 16:1-40.

[106:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “their glory.” According to an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition, the text originally read “his glory” or “my glory.” In Jer 2:11 the Lord states that his people (Israel) exchanged “their glory” (a reference to the Lord) for worthless idols.

[106:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “forgot.”

[106:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “joined themselves to.”

[106:28]  sn They worshiped Baal of Peor. See Num 25:3, 5. Baal of Peor was a local manifestation of the Canaanite deity Baal located at Peor.

[106:28]  ⁹ tn Here “the dead” may refer to deceased ancestors (see Deut 26:14). Another option is to understand the term as a derogatory reference to the various deities which the Israelites worshiped at Peor along with Baal (see Num 25:2 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 49).

[106:32]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there was harm to Moses.”

[106:33]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text vocalizes the form as הִמְרוּ (himru), a Hiphil from מָרָה (marah, “to behave rebelliously”), but the verb fits better with the object (“his spirit”) if it is revocalized as הֵמֵרוּ (hemeru), a Hiphil from מָרַר (marar, “to be bitter”). The Israelites “embittered” Moses’ “spirit” in the sense that they aroused his temper with their complaints.

[106:33]  ¹² tn Heb “his spirit.”

[106:33]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text adds “with his lips,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[106:33]  sn Verses 32-33 allude to the events of Num 20:1-13.

[106:34]  ¹⁴ tn That is, the nations of Canaan.

[106:35]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “their deeds.”

[106:36]  ¹⁶ tn Or “served.”

[106:36]  ¹⁷ sn Became a snare. See Exod 23:33; Judg 2:3.

[106:37]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew term שֵׁדִים (shedim, “demons”) occurs only here and in Deut 32:17. Some type of lesser deity is probably in view.

[106:38]  ¹⁹ sn Num 35:33-34 explains that bloodshed defiles a land.

[106:39]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and they committed adultery in their actions.” This means that they were unfaithful to the Lord (see Ps 73:27).

[106:40]  ²¹ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord burned against his people.”

[106:40]  ²² tn Heb “his inheritance.”