Mazmur 78:3-6

78:3 What we have heard and learned ¹  –

that which our ancestors ²  have told us –

78:4 we will not hide from their ³  descendants.

We will tell the next generation

about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, ⁴ 

about his strength and the amazing things he has done.

78:5 He established a rule ⁵  in Jacob;

he set up a law in Israel.

He commanded our ancestors

to make his deeds known to their descendants, ⁶ 

78:6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born,

might know about them.

They will grow up and tell their descendants about them. ⁷ 

[78:3]  ¹ tn Or “known.”

[78:3]  ² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 5, 8, 12, 57).

[78:4]  ³ tn The pronominal suffix refers back to the “fathers” (“our ancestors,” v. 3).

[78:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “to a following generation telling the praises of the Lord.” “Praises” stand by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.

[78:5]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to God’s command that the older generation teach their children about God’s mighty deeds in the nation’s history (see Exod 10:2; Deut 4:9; 6:20-25).

[78:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “which he commanded our fathers to make them known to their sons.” The plural suffix “them” probably refers back to the Lord’s mighty deeds (see vv. 3-4).

[78:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “in order that they might know, a following generation, sons [who] will be born, they will arise and will tell to their sons.”