Text -- Psalms 60:1-2 (NET)

Psalm 60

60:1 For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; a prayer of David written to instruct others. It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram-Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. O God, you have rejected us. You suddenly turned on us in your anger. Please restore us! 60:2 You made the earth quake; you split it open. Repair its breaches, for it is ready to fall.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 60:1

¹ sn Psalm 60. The psalmist grieves over Israel’s humiliation, but in response to God’s assuring word, he asks for divine help in battle and expresses his confidence in victory.

² tn The Hebrew expression means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title.

³ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-59, is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

⁴ tn Heb “to teach.”

⁵ tn In Josh 8:21 and Judg 20:48 the two verbs “turn back” and “strike down” are also juxtaposed. There they refer to a military counter-attack.

⁶ tn Heb “12,000 of Edom.” Perhaps one should read אֲרַם (’aram, “Aram”) here rather than אֱדוֹם (’edom, “Edom”).

⁷ sn The heading apparently refers to the military campaign recorded in 2 Sam 10 and 1 Chr 19.

⁸ sn You have rejected us. See Pss 43:2; 44:9, 23.

⁹ tn Heb “you broke out upon us, you were angry.”

¹⁰ tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.

NET Notes: Psa 60:2

¹ tn The verb פָּצַם (patsam, “split open”) occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “crack,” and an Aramaic cognate is used in Tg. Jer 22:14 with the meaning “break open, frame.” See BDB 822 s.v. and Jastrow 1205 s.v. פְּצַם.

sn You made the earth quake; you split it open. The psalmist uses the imagery of an earthquake to describe the nation’s defeat.

² sn It is ready to fall. The earth is compared to a wall that has been broken by the force of the earthquake (note the preceding line) and is ready to collapse.