Text -- Psalms 75:5-10 (NET)

75:5 Do not be so certain you have won! Do not speak with your head held so high! 75:6 For victory does not come from the east or west, or from the wilderness. 75:7 For God is the judge! He brings one down and exalts another. 75:8 For the Lord holds in his hand a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices, and pours it out. Surely all the wicked of the earth will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop.” 75:9 As for me, I will continually tell what you have done; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob! 75:10 God says, “I will bring down all the power of the wicked; the godly will be victorious.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 75:5

¹ tn Heb “do not lift up on high your horn.”

² tn Heb “[do not] speak with unrestrained neck.” The negative particle is understood in this line by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

sn The image behind the language of vv. 4-5 is that of a powerful wild ox that confidently raises its head before its enemies.

NET Notes: Psa 75:6

¹ tn Heb “for not from the east or from the west, and not from the wilderness of the mountains.” If one follows this reading the sentence is elliptical. One must supply “does help come,” or some comparable statement. However, it is possible to take הָרִים (harim) as a Hiphil infinitive from רוּם (rum), the same verb used in vv. 4-5 of “lifting up” a horn. In this case one may translate the form as “victory.” In this case the point is that victory does not come from alliances with other nations.

NET Notes: Psa 75:7

¹ tn Or “judges.”

² tn The imperfects here emphasize the generalizing nature of the statement.

NET Notes: Psa 75:8

¹ tn Heb “for a cup [is] in the hand of the Lord, and wine foams, it is full of a spiced drink.” The noun מֶסֶךְ (mesekh) refers to a “mixture” of wine and spices.

² tn Heb “and he pours out from this.”

³ tn Heb “surely its dregs they slurp up and drink, all the wicked of the earth.”

sn The psalmist pictures God as forcing the wicked to gulp down an intoxicating drink that will leave them stunned and vulnerable. Divine judgment is also depicted this way in Ps 60:3; Isa 51:17-23; and Hab 2:16.

NET Notes: Psa 75:9

¹ tn Heb “I will declare forever.” The object needs to be supplied; God’s just judgment is in view.

NET Notes: Psa 75:10

¹ tn The words “God says” are not in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation to clarify that God speaks in v. 10.

² tn Heb “and all the horns of the wicked I will cut off, the horns of the godly will be lifted up.” The imagery of the wild ox’s horn is once more utilized (see vv. 4-5).