Text -- Psalms 124:1-4 (NET)

Psalm 124

124:1 A song of ascents, by David. “If the Lord had not been on our side”– let Israel say this!– 124:2 if the Lord had not been on our side, when men attacked us, 124:3 they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger raged against us. 124:4 The water would have overpowered us; the current would have overwhelmed us.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 124:1

¹ sn Psalm 124. Israel acknowledges that the Lord delivered them from certain disaster.

² sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

NET Notes: Psa 124:2

¹ tn Heb “rose up against us.”

NET Notes: Psa 124:4

¹ tn Or “stream.”

² tn Heb “would have passed over.”

³ tn Heb “our being.” 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).