Book 2
(Psalms 42-72)
For the music director; a well-written song 2 by the Korahites.
42:1 As a deer 3 longs 4 for streams of water,
so I long 5 for you, O God!
42:2 I thirst 6 for God,
for the living God.
I say, 7 “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?” 8
A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. 10
63:1 O God, you are my God! I long for you! 11
My soul thirsts 12 for you,
my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and parched 13 land where there is no water.
12:3 Joyfully you will draw water
from the springs of deliverance. 14
4:10 Jesus answered 15 her, “If you had known 16 the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water 17 to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 18
1 sn Psalm 42. The psalmist recalls how he once worshiped in the Lord’s temple, but laments that he is now oppressed by enemies in a foreign land. Some medieval Hebrew
2 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
3 tn Since the accompanying verb is feminine in form, the noun אָיִּל (’ayyil, “male deer”) should be emended to אַיֶּלֶת (’ayyelet, “female deer”). Haplography of the letter tav has occurred; note that the following verb begins with tav.
4 tn Or “pants [with thirst].”
5 tn Or “my soul pants [with thirst].” 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).
6 tn Or “my soul thirsts.”
7 tn The words “I say” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.
8 tn Heb “When will I go and appear [to] the face of God?” Some emend the Niphal verbal form אֵרָאֶה (’era’eh, “I will appear”) to a Qal אֶרְאֶה (’er’eh, “I will see”; see Gen 33:10), but the Niphal can be retained if one understands ellipsis of אֶת (’et) before “face” (see Exod 34:24; Deut 31:11).
9 sn Psalm 63. The psalmist expresses his intense desire to be in God’s presence and confidently affirms that God will judge his enemies.
10 sn According to the psalm superscription David wrote the psalm while in the “wilderness of Judah.” Perhaps this refers to the period described in 1 Sam 23-24 or to the incident mentioned in 2 Sam 15:23.
11 tn Or “I will seek you.”
12 tn Or “I thirst.”
13 tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” This may picture the land as “faint” or “weary,” or it may allude to the effect this dry desert has on those who are forced to live in it.
14 tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions, e.g., KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); CEV “victory.”
15 tn Grk “answered and said to her.”
16 tn Or “if you knew.”
17 tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).
18 tn This is a second class conditional sentence in Greek.
19 tn Grk “will never be thirsty forever.” The possibility of a later thirst is emphatically denied.
20 tn Or “well.” “Fountain” is used as the translation for πηγή (phgh) here since the idea is that of an artesian well that flows freely, but the term “artesian well” is not common in contemporary English.
21 tn The verb ἁλλομένου (Jallomenou) is used of quick movement (like jumping) on the part of living beings. This is the only instance of its being applied to the action of water. However, in the LXX it is used to describe the “Spirit of God” as it falls on Samson and Saul. See Judg 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Kgdms 10:2, 10 LXX (= 1 Sam 10:6, 10 ET); and Isa 35:6 (note context).