31:22 I jumped to conclusions and said, 1
“I am cut off from your presence!” 2
But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help.
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.
77:1 I will cry out to God 4 and call for help!
I will cry out to God and he will pay attention 5 to me.
77:2 In my time of trouble I sought 6 the Lord.
I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. 7
I 8 refused to be comforted.
77:3 I said, “I will remember God while I groan;
I will think about him while my strength leaves me.” 9 (Selah)
77:4 You held my eyelids open; 10
I was troubled and could not speak. 11
77:5 I thought about the days of old,
about ancient times. 12
77:6 I said, “During the night I will remember the song I once sang;
I will think very carefully.”
I tried to make sense of what was happening. 13
77:7 I asked, 14 “Will the Lord reject me forever?
Will he never again show me his favor?
38:10 “I thought, 15
‘In the middle of my life 16 I must walk through the gates of Sheol,
I am deprived 17 of the rest of my years.’
38:11 “I thought,
‘I will no longer see the Lord 18 in the land of the living,
I will no longer look on humankind with the inhabitants of the world. 19
38:12 My dwelling place 20 is removed and taken away 21 from me
like a shepherd’s tent.
I rolled up my life like a weaver rolls cloth; 22
from the loom he cuts me off. 23
You turn day into night and end my life. 24
38:13 I cry out 25 until morning;
like a lion he shatters all my bones;
you turn day into night and end my life. 26
38:14 Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp,
I coo 27 like a dove;
my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. 28
O sovereign master, 29 I am oppressed;
help me! 30
38:17 “Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit. 31
You delivered me 32 from the pit of oblivion. 33
For you removed all my sins from your sight. 34
49:14 “Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,
the sovereign master 35 has forgotten me.’
37:11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
1 tn Heb “and I, I said in my haste.”
2 tn Heb “from before your eyes.”
3 sn Psalm 77. The psalmist recalls how he suffered through a time of doubt, but tells how he found encouragement and hope as he recalled the way in which God delivered Israel at the Red Sea.
4 tn Heb “my voice to God.” The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call out; to cry out”) should probably be understood by ellipsis (see Ps 3:4) both here and in the following (parallel) line.
5 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive is best taken as future here (although some translations render this as a past tense; cf. NEB, NIV). The psalmist expresses his confidence that God will respond to his prayer. This mood of confidence seems premature (see vv. 3-4), but v. 1 probably reflects the psalmist’s attitude at the end of the prayer (see vv. 13-20). Having opened with an affirmation of confidence, he then retraces how he gained confidence during his trial (see vv. 2-12).
6 tn Here the psalmist refers back to the very recent past, when he began to pray for divine help.
7 tn Heb “my hand [at] night was extended and was not growing numb.” The verb נָגַר (nagar), which can mean “flow” in certain contexts, here has the nuance “be extended.” The imperfect form (תָפוּג, tafug, “to be numb”) is used here to describe continuous action in the past.
8 tn Or “my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
9 tn Heb “I will remember God and I will groan, I will reflect and my spirit will grow faint.” The first three verbs are cohortatives, the last a perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. The psalmist’s statement in v. 4 could be understood as concurrent with v. 1, or, more likely, as a quotation of what he had said earlier as he prayed to God (see v. 2). The words “I said” are supplied in the translation at the beginning of the verse to reflect this interpretation (see v. 10).
10 tn Heb “you held fast the guards of my eyes.” The “guards of the eyes” apparently refers to his eyelids. The psalmist seems to be saying that God would not bring him relief, which would have allowed him to shut his eyes and get some sleep (see v. 2).
11 tn The imperfect is used in the second clause to emphasize that this was an ongoing condition in the past.
12 tn Heb “the years of antiquity.”
13 tn Heb “I will remember my song in the night, with my heart I will reflect. And my spirit searched.” As in v. 4, the words of v. 6a are understood as what the psalmist said earlier. Consequently the words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 10). The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive at the beginning of the final line is taken as sequential to the perfect “I thought” in v. 6.
14 tn As in vv. 4 and 6a, the words of vv. 7-9 are understood as a quotation of what the psalmist said earlier. Therefore the words “I asked” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
15 tn Or “I said” (KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
16 tn The precise meaning of the phrase בִּדְמִי יָמַי (bidmi yamay, “in the [?] of my days”) is uncertain. According to HALOT 226 s.v. דְּמִי this word is a hapax legomenon meaning “half.” Others derive the form from דַּמִי (dami, “quiet, rest, peacefulness”).
17 tn The precise meaning of the verb is uncertain. The Pual of of פָּקַד (paqad) occurs only here and in Exod 38:21, where it appears to mean “passed in review” or “mustered.” Perhaps the idea is, “I have been called away for the remainder of my years.” To bring out the sense more clearly, one can translate, “I am deprived of the rest of my years.”
18 tn The Hebrew text has יָהּ יָהּ (yah yah, the abbreviated form of יְהוָה [yÿhvah] repeated), but this is probably a corruption of יְהוָה.
19 tc The Hebrew text has חָדֶל (khadel), which appears to be derived from a verbal root meaning “to cease, refrain.” But the form has probably suffered an error of transmission; the original form (attested in a few medieval Hebrew
20 tn According to HALOT 217 s.v. דּוֹר this noun is a hapax legomenon meaning “dwelling place,” derived from a verbal root meaning “live” (see Ps 84:10). For an interpretation that understands the form as the well-attested noun meaning “generation,” see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:679, n. 4.
21 tn The verb form appears to be a Niphal from גָּלָה (galah), which normally means “uncovered, revealed” in the Niphal. Because of the following reference to a shepherd’s tent, some prefer to emend the form to וְנָגַל, a Niphal from גָלָל (galal, “roll”) and translate “is rolled [or “folded”] up.”
22 tn Heb “I rolled up, like a weaver, my life” (so ASV).
23 sn For a discussion of the imagery employed here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:684.
24 tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”
25 tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Piel from שָׁוַה (shavah). There are two homonyms שָׁוַה, one meaning in the Piel “level, smooth out,” the other “set, place.” Neither fits in v. 13. It is likely that the original reading was שִׁוַּעְתִּי (shivva’ti, “I cry out”) from the verbal root שָׁוַע (shava’), which occurs exclusively in the Piel.
26 tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”
27 tn Or “moan” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); KJV, CEV “mourn.”
28 tn Heb “my eyes become weak, toward the height.”
29 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
30 tn Heb “stand surety for me.” Hezekiah seems to be picturing himself as a debtor who is being exploited; he asks that the Lord might relieve his debt and deliver him from the oppressive creditor.
31 tn Heb “Look, for peace bitterness was to me bitter”; NAB “thus is my bitterness transformed into peace.”
32 tc The Hebrew text reads, “you loved my soul,” but this does not fit syntactically with the following prepositional phrase. חָשַׁקְתָּ (khashaqta, “you loved”), may reflect an aural error; most emend the form to חָשַׂכְת, (khasakht, “you held back”).
33 tn בְּלִי (bÿli) most often appears as a negation, meaning “without,” suggesting the meaning “nothingness, oblivion,” here. Some translate “decay” or “destruction.”
34 tn Heb “for you threw behind your back all my sins.”
35 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).