Mazmur 16:5

16:5 Lord, you give me stability and prosperity; ¹ 

you make my future secure. ² 

Mazmur 68:23

68:23 so that your feet may stomp ³  in their blood,

and your dogs may eat their portion of the enemies’ corpses.” ⁴ 

Mazmur 78:62

78:62 He delivered his people over to the sword,

and was angry with his chosen nation. ⁵ 

Mazmur 83:14

83:14 Like the fire that burns down the forest,

or the flames that consume the mountainsides, ⁶ 

Mazmur 105:44

105:44 He handed the territory of nations over to them,

and they took possession of what other peoples had produced, ⁷ 

Mazmur 106:14

106:14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving ⁸  for meat; ⁹ 

they challenged God ¹⁰  in the desert.

Mazmur 106:19

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

and worshiped a metal idol.

[16:5]  ¹ tn Heb “O Lord, the portion of my possession and my cup”; or “the Lord [is] the portion of my possession and my cup.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel, and to a cup of wine, which may symbolize a reward (in Ps 11:6 it symbolizes the judgment one deserves) or divine blessing (see Ps 23:5). The metaphor highlights the fact that God is the psalmist’s source of security and prosperity.

[16:5]  ² tc Heb “you take hold of my lot.” The form תּוֹמִיךְ (tomikh) should be emended to a participle, תוֹמֵךְ (tomekh). The psalmist pictures the Lord as casting his lot (a method used to allot landed property) for him, thus assuring that he will receive a fertile piece of land (see v. 6). As in the previous line, land represents security and economic stability, thus “you make my future secure.”

[68:23]  ³ tc Some (e.g. NRSV) prefer to emend מָחַץ (makhats, “smash; stomp”; see v. 21) to רָחַץ (rakhats, “bathe”; see Ps 58:10).

[68:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “[and] the tongue of your dogs from [the] enemies [may eat] its portion.”

[78:62]  ⁵ tn Heb “his inheritance.”

[83:14]  ⁶ sn The imagery of fire and flames suggests unrelenting, destructive judgment.

[105:44]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the [product of the] work of peoples they possessed.”

[106:14]  ⁸ sn They had an insatiable craving. This is described in Num 11:4-35.

[106:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “they craved [with] a craving.”

[106:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they tested God.”