Text -- Psalms 94:1-8 (NET)

Psalm 94

94:1 O Lord, the God who avenges! O God who avenges, reveal your splendor! 94:2 Rise up, O judge of the earth! Pay back the proud! 94:3 O Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked celebrate? 94:4 They spew out threats and speak defiantly; all the evildoers boast. 94:5 O Lord, they crush your people; they oppress the nation that belongs to you. 94:6 They kill the widow and the one residing outside his native land, and they murder the fatherless. 94:7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this; the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” 94:8 Take notice of this, you ignorant people! You fools, when will you ever understand?

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 94:1

¹ sn Psalm 94. The psalmist asks God to judge the wicked and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.

² tn Heb “shine forth” (see Pss 50:2; 80:1).

NET Notes: Psa 94:3

¹ tn Or “exult.”

NET Notes: Psa 94:4

¹ tn Heb “they gush forth [words].”

² tn The Hitpael of אָמַר (’amar) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6).

NET Notes: Psa 94:5

¹ tn Or “your inheritance.”

NET Notes: Psa 94:6

¹ tn The Hebrew noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9). Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 10:14; 68:5; 82:3; 146:9; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21).

NET Notes: Psa 94:7

¹ tn Heb “does not understand.”

NET Notes: Psa 94:8

¹ tn Heb “understand.” The verb used in v. 7 is repeated here for rhetorical effect. The people referred to here claim God is ignorant of their actions, but the psalmist corrects their faulty viewpoint.

² tn Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”