79:7 For they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his home.
79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! 1
Quickly send your compassion our way, 2
for we are in serious trouble! 3
106:40 So the Lord was angry with his people 4
and despised the people who belong to him. 5
106:41 He handed them over to 6 the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
נ (Nun)
3:40 Let us carefully examine our ways, 7
and let us return to the Lord.
1 tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.
2 tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.
3 tn Heb “for we are very low.”
4 tn Heb “the anger of the
5 tn Heb “his inheritance.”
6 tn Heb “gave them into the hand of.”
7 tn Heb “Let us test our ways and examine.” The two verbs וְנַחְקֹרָה…נַחְפְּשָׂה (nakhpÿsah…vÿnakhqorah, “Let us test and let us examine”) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal force: “Let us carefully examine our ways.”