3:9 Your bow is ready for action; 1
you commission your arrows. 2 Selah.
You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface. 3
143:6 I spread my hands out to you in prayer; 4
my soul thirsts for you in a parched 5 land. 6
1 tn Heb “[into] nakedness your bow is laid bare.”
2 tn Heb “sworn in are the arrow-shafts with a word.” The passive participle of שָׁבַע (shava’), “swear an oath,” also occurs in Ezek 21:23 ET (21:28 HT) referencing those who have sworn allegiance. Here the
3 tn Heb “[with] rivers you split open the earth.” A literal rendering like “You split the earth with rivers” (so NIV, NRSV) suggests geological activity to the modern reader, but in the present context of a violent thunderstorm, the idea of streams swollen to torrents by downpours better fits the imagery.
4 tn The words “in prayer” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the psalmist is referring to a posture of prayer.
5 tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” See Ps 63:1.
6 tc Heb “my soul like a faint land for you.” A verb (perhaps “thirsts”) is implied (see Ps 63:1). The translation assumes an emendation of the preposition -כְּ (kÿ, “like”) to -בְּ (bÿ, “in,” see Ps 63:1; cf. NEB “athirst for thee in a thirsty land”). If the MT is retained, one might translate, “my soul thirsts for you, as a parched land does for water/rain” (cf. NIV, NRSV).