Text -- Psalms 78:54-72 (NET)

78:54 He brought them to the border of his holy land, to this mountainous land which his right hand acquired. 78:55 He drove the nations out from before them; he assigned them their tribal allotments and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. 78:56 Yet they challenged and defied the sovereign God, and did not obey his commands. 78:57 They were unfaithful and acted as treacherously as their ancestors; they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. 78:58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines, and made him jealous with their idols. 78:59 God heard and was angry; he completely rejected Israel. 78:60 He abandoned the sanctuary at Shiloh, the tent where he lived among men. 78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; he gave the symbol of his splendor into the hand of the enemy. 78:62 He delivered his people over to the sword, and was angry with his chosen nation. 78:63 Fire consumed their young men, and their virgins remained unmarried. 78:64 Their priests fell by the sword, but their widows did not weep. 78:65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep; he was like a warrior in a drunken rage. 78:66 He drove his enemies back; he made them a permanent target for insults. 78:67 He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim. 78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah, and Mount Zion, which he loves. 78:69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above; as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. 78:70 He chose David, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds. 78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and of Israel, his chosen nation. 78:72 David cared for them with pure motives; he led them with skill.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 78:54

¹ tn Heb “this mountain.” The whole land of Canaan seems to be referred to here. In Exod 15:17 the promised land is called the “mountain of your [i.e., God’s] inheritance.”

² tn The “right hand” here symbolizes God’s military strength (see v. 55).

NET Notes: Psa 78:55

¹ tn Heb “he caused to fall [to] them with a measuring line an inheritance.”

² tn Heb “and caused the tribes of Israel to settle down in their tents.”

NET Notes: Psa 78:56

¹ tn Or “tested and rebelled against.”

² tn Heb “God, the Most High.”

³ tn Or “keep.”

⁴ tn Heb “his testimonies” (see Ps 25:10).

NET Notes: Psa 78:57

¹ tn Heb “they turned back.”

² tn Or “acted treacherously like.”

³ tn Heb “they turned aside like a deceitful bow.”

NET Notes: Psa 78:58

¹ tn Traditionally, “high places.”

NET Notes: Psa 78:60

¹ tn Or “rejected.”

NET Notes: Psa 78:61

¹ tn Heb “and he gave to captivity his strength.” The expression “his strength” refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant, which was housed in the tabernacle at Shiloh.

² tn Heb “and his splendor into the hand of an enemy.” The expression “his splendor” also refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant.

³ sn Verses 60-61 refer to the Philistines’ capture of the ark in the days of Eli (1 Sam 4:1-11).

NET Notes: Psa 78:62

¹ tn Heb “his inheritance.”

NET Notes: Psa 78:63

¹ tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

² tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

³ tn Heb “were not praised,” that is, in wedding songs. The young men died in masses, leaving no husbands for the young women.

NET Notes: Psa 78:64

¹ tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

² tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

³ sn Because of the invading army and the ensuing panic, the priests’ widows had no time to carry out the normal mourning rites.

NET Notes: Psa 78:65

¹ tn Heb “and the master awoke like one sleeping.” The Lord’s apparent inactivity during the time of judgment is compared to sleep.

² tn Heb “like a warrior overcome with wine.” The Hebrew verb רוּן (run, “overcome”) occurs only here in the OT. The phrase “overcome with wine” could picture a drunken warrior controlled by his emotions and passions (as in the present translation), or it could refer to a warrior who awakes from a drunken stupor.

NET Notes: Psa 78:66

¹ tn Heb “a permanent reproach he made them.”

NET Notes: Psa 78:69

¹ tc Heb “and he built like the exalting [ones] his sanctuary.” The phrase כְּמוֹ־רָמִים (kÿmo-ramim, “like the exalting [ones]”) is a poetic form of the comparative preposition followed by a participial form of the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”). The text should be emended to כִּמְרֹמִים (kimromim, “like the [heavenly] heights”). See Ps 148:1, where “heights” refers to the heavens above.

² tn Heb “like the earth, [which] he established permanently.” The feminine singular suffix on the Hebrew verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish”) refers to the grammatically feminine noun “earth.”

NET Notes: Psa 78:71

¹ tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”

² tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”

NET Notes: Psa 78:72

¹ tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”

³ tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”