13:19 Babylon, the most admired 1 of kingdoms,
the Chaldeans’ source of honor and pride, 2
will be destroyed by God
just as Sodom and Gomorrah were. 3
73:19 How desolate they become in a mere moment!
Terrifying judgments make their demise complete! 4
Book 3
(Psalms 73-89)
A psalm by Asaph.
73:1 Certainly God is good to Israel, 6
and to those whose motives are pure! 7
5:3 Lord, in the morning 8 you will hear 9 me; 10
in the morning I will present my case to you 11 and then wait expectantly for an answer. 12
18:9 Then 17 the kings of the earth who committed immoral acts with her and lived in sensual luxury 18 with her will weep and wail for her when they see the smoke from the fire that burns her up. 19 18:10 They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment, and will say,
“Woe, woe, O great city,
Babylon the powerful city!
For in a single hour your doom 20 has come!”
1 tn Or “most beautiful” (NCV, TEV).
2 tn Heb “the beauty of the pride of the Chaldeans.”
3 tn Heb “and Babylon…will be like the overthrow by God of Sodom and Gomorrah.” On מַהְפֵּכַת (mahpekhat, “overthrow”) see the note on the word “destruction” in 1:7.
4 tn Heb “they come to an end, they are finished, from terrors.”
5 sn Psalm 73. In this wisdom psalm the psalmist offers a personal testimony of his struggle with the age-old problem of the prosperity of the wicked. As he observed evil men prosper, he wondered if a godly lifestyle really pays off. In the midst of his discouragement, he reflected upon spiritual truths and realities. He was reminded that the prosperity of the wicked is only temporary. God will eventually vindicate his people.
6 tn Since the psalm appears to focus on an individual’s concerns, not the situation of Israel, this introduction may be a later addition designed to apply the psalm’s message to the entire community. To provide a better parallel with the next line, some emend the Hebrew phrase לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אֱלֹהִים (lÿyisra’el ’elohim, “to Israel, God”) to אֱלֹהִים [or אֵל] לָיָּשָׁר (’elohim [or ’el] lÿyyashar, “God [is good] to the upright one”).
7 tn Heb “to the pure of heart.”
8 sn In the morning is here viewed as the time of prayer (Pss 59:16; 88:13) and/or of deliverance (Ps 30:5).
9 tn The imperfect is here understood in a specific future sense; the psalmist is expressing his confidence that God will be willing to hear his request. Another option is to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s wish or request. In this case one could translate, “
10 tn Heb “my voice.”
11 tn Heb “I will arrange for you.” Some understand a sacrifice or offering as the implied object (cf. NEB “I set out my morning sacrifice”). The present translation assumes that the implied object is the psalmist’s case/request. See Isa 44:7.
12 tn Heb “and I will watch.”
13 tn Grk “For this reason, her plagues will come.”
14 tn Grk “death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).
15 tn This is the same Greek word (πένθος, penqo") translated “grief” in vv. 7-8.
16 tn Here “burned down” was used to translate κατακαυθήσεται (katakauqhsetai) because a city is in view.
17 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
18 tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”
19 tn Grk “from the burning of her.” For the translation “the smoke from the fire that burns her up,” see L&N 14.63.
20 tn Or “judgment,” condemnation,” “punishment.” BDAG 569 s.v. κρίσις 1.a.β states, “The word oft. means judgment that goes against a person, condemnation, and the sentence that follows…ἡ κ. σου your judgment Rv 18:10.”