Mazmur 77:2

77:2 In my time of trouble I sought ¹  the Lord.

I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. ² 

I ³  refused to be comforted.

Mazmur 119:158

119:158 I take note of the treacherous and despise them,

because they do not keep your instructions. ⁴ 

Mazmur 139:21

139:21 O Lord, do I not hate those who hate you,

and despise those who oppose you? ⁵ 

Mazmur 78:30

78:30 They were not yet filled up, ⁶ 

their food was still in their mouths,

Mazmur 107:18

107:18 They lost their appetite for all food, ⁷ 

and they drew near the gates of death.

Mazmur 95:10

95:10 For forty years I was continually disgusted ⁸  with that generation,

and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray; ⁹ 

they do not obey my commands.’ ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 106:40

106:40 So the Lord was angry with his people ¹¹ 

and despised the people who belong to him. ¹² 

Mazmur 119:163

119:163 I hate and despise deceit;

I love your law.

Mazmur 89:39

89:39 You have repudiated ¹³  your covenant with your servant; ¹⁴ 

you have thrown his crown to the ground. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 120:5

120:5 How miserable I am! ¹⁶ 

For I have lived temporarily ¹⁷  in Meshech;

I have resided among the tents of Kedar. ¹⁸ 

[77:2]  ¹ tn Here the psalmist refers back to the very recent past, when he began to pray for divine help.

[77:2]  ² tn Heb “my hand [at] night was extended and was not growing numb.” The verb נָגַר (nagar), which can mean “flow” in certain contexts, here has the nuance “be extended.” The imperfect form (תָפוּג, tafug, “to be numb”) is used here to describe continuous action in the past.

[77:2]  ³ tn Or “my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[119:158]  ⁴ tn Heb “your word.”

[139:21]  ⁵ tc Heb “who raise themselves up against you.” The form וּבִתְקוֹמְמֶיךָ (uvitqomÿmekha) should be emended to וּבְמִתְקוֹמְמֶיךָ (uvÿmitqomÿmekha), a Hitpolel participle (the prefixed mem [מ] of the participle is accidentally omitted in the MT, though a few medieval Hebrew mss have it).

[78:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “they were not separated from their desire.”

[107:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “all food their appetite loathed.”

[95:10]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite or an imperfect. If the latter, it emphasizes the ongoing nature of the condition in the past. The translation reflects this interpretation of the verbal form.

[95:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “a people, wanderers of heart [are] they.”

[95:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and they do not know my ways.” In this context the Lord’s “ways” are his commands, viewed as a pathway from which his people, likened to wayward sheep (see v. 7), wander.

[106:40]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord burned against his people.”

[106:40]  ¹² tn Heb “his inheritance.”

[89:39]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew verb appears only here and in Lam 2:7.

[89:39]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the covenant of your servant.”

[89:39]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you dishonor [or “desecrate”] on the ground his crown.”

[120:5]  ¹⁶ tn Or “woe to me.” The Hebrew term אוֹיָה (’oyah, “woe”) which occurs only here, is an alternate form of אוֹי (’oy).

[120:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I live as a resident alien.”

[120:5]  ¹⁸ sn Meshech was located in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). Kedar was located in the desert to east-southeast of Israel. Because of the reference to Kedar, it is possible that Ps 120:5 refers to a different Meshech, perhaps one associated with the individual mentioned as a descendant of Aram in 1 Chr 1:17. (However, the LXX in 1 Chr 1:17 follows the parallel text in Gen 10:23, which reads “Mash,” not Meshech.) It is, of course, impossible that the psalmist could have been living in both the far north and the east at the same time. For this reason one must assume that he is recalling his experience as a wanderer among the nations or that he is using the geographical terms metaphorically and sarcastically to suggest that the enemies who surround him are like the barbarians who live in these distant regions. For a discussion of the problem, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 146.