Psalms 74:2

74:2 Remember your people ¹  whom you acquired in ancient times,

whom you rescued ²  so they could be your very own nation, ³ 

as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell!

Psalms 74:18-20

74:18 Remember how ⁴  the enemy hurls insults, O Lord, ⁵ 

and how a foolish nation blasphemes your name!

74:19 Do not hand the life of your dove ⁶  over to a wild animal!

Do not continue to disregard ⁷  the lives of your oppressed people!

74:20 Remember your covenant promises, ⁸ 

for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules. ⁹ 

[74:2]  ¹ tn Heb “your assembly,” which pictures God’s people as an assembled community.

[74:2]  ² tn Heb “redeemed.” The verb “redeem” casts God in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).

[74:2]  ³ tn Heb “the tribe of your inheritance” (see Jer 10:16; 51:19).

[74:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “remember this.”

[74:18]  ⁵ tn Or “[how] the enemy insults the Lord.”

[74:19]  ⁶ sn Your dove. The psalmist compares weak and vulnerable Israel to a helpless dove.

[74:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not forget forever.”

[74:20]  ⁸ tc Heb “look at the covenant.” The LXX reads “your covenant,” which seems to assume a second person pronominal suffix. The suffix may have been accidentally omitted by haplography. Note that the following word (כִּי) begins with kaf (כ).

[74:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “for the dark places of the earth are full of dwelling places of violence.” The “dark regions” are probably the lands where the people have been exiled (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:157). In some contexts “dark regions” refers to Sheol (Ps 88:6) or to hiding places likened to Sheol (Ps 143:3; Lam 3:6).