Mazmur 44:20

44:20 If we had rejected our God, ¹ 

and spread out our hands in prayer to another god, ² 

Mazmur 75:7

75:7 For God is the judge! ³ 

He brings one down and exalts another. ⁴ 

Mazmur 96:5

96:5 For all the gods of the nations are worthless, ⁵ 

but the Lord made the sky.

Mazmur 105:44

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

and they took possession of what other peoples had produced, ⁶ 

Mazmur 109:11

109:11 May the creditor seize ⁷  all he owns!

May strangers loot his property! ⁸ 

Mazmur 114:1

Psalm 114 ⁹ 

114:1 When Israel left Egypt,

when the family of Jacob left a foreign nation behind, ¹⁰ 

[44:20]  ¹ tn Heb “If we had forgotten the name of our God.” To “forget the name” here refers to rejecting the Lord’s authority (see Jer 23:27) and abandoning him as an object of prayer and worship (see the next line).

[44:20]  ² tn Heb “and spread out your hands to another god.” Spreading out the hands was a prayer gesture (see Exod 9:29, 33; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; 2 Chr 6:12-13, 29; Ezra 9:15; Job 11:13; Isa 1:15). In its most fundamental sense זר (“another; foreign; strange”) refers to something that is outside one’s circle, often making association with it inappropriate. A “strange” god is an alien deity, an “outside god” (see L. A. Snijders, TDOT 4:54-55).

[75:7]  ³ tn Or “judges.”

[75:7]  ⁴ tn The imperfects here emphasize the generalizing nature of the statement.

[96:5]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term אֱלִילִים (’elilim, “worthless”) sounds like אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “gods”). The sound play draws attention to the statement.

[105:44]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the [product of the] work of peoples they possessed.”

[109:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “lay snares for” (see Ps 38:12).

[109:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “the product of his labor.”

[114:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 114. The psalmist recalls the events of the exodus and conquest and celebrates God’s kingship over his covenant people.

[114:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the house of Jacob from a nation speaking a foreign language.” The Hebrew verb לָעַז (la’at, “to speak a foreign language”) occurs only here in the OT.