Mazmur 90:9

90:9 Yes, ¹  throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; ² 

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. ³ 

Mazmur 90:11

90:11 Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger? ⁴ 

Your raging fury causes people to fear you. ⁵ 

[90:9]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[90:9]  ² tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

[90:9]  ³ tn Heb “we finish our years like a sigh.” In Ezek 2:10 the word הֶגֶה (hegeh) elsewhere refers to a grumbling or moaning sound. Here a brief sigh or moan is probably in view. If so, the simile pictures one’s lifetime as transient. Another option is that the simile alludes to the weakness that characteristically overtakes a person at the end of one’s lifetime. In this case the phrase could be translated, “we end our lives with a painful moan.”

[90:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “Who knows the strength of your anger?”

[90:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “and like your fear [is] your raging fury.” Perhaps one should emend וּכְיִרְאָתְךְ (ukhyir’otekh, “and like your fear”) to יִרְאָתְךְ (yir’otkh, “your fear”), understanding a virtual dittography (אַפֶּךָ וּכְיִרְאָתְךְ, ’apekha ukhyir’otekh) to have occurred. In this case the psalmist asserts “your fear [is] your raging fury,” that is, your raging fury is what causes others to fear you. The suffix on “fear” is understood as objective.