120:6 For too long I have had to reside
with those who hate 1 peace.
123:4 We have had our fill 2
of the taunts of the self-assured,
of the contempt of the proud.
A song of ascents. 4
129:1 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,”
let Israel say.
129:2 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,
but they have not defeated me.
65:9 You visit the earth and give it rain; 5
you make it rich and fertile 6
with overflowing streams full of water. 7
You provide grain for them, 8
for you prepare the earth to yield its crops. 9
1 tn The singular participial form probably has a representative function here. The psalmist envisions the typical hater of peace who represents the entire category of such individuals.
2 tn Heb “greatly our soul is full to it.”
3 sn Psalm 129. Israel affirms God’s justice and asks him to destroy the enemies of Zion.
4 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
4 tn The verb form is a Polel from שׁוּק (shuq, “be abundant”), a verb which appears only here and in Joel 2:24 and 3:13, where it is used in the Hiphil stem and means “overflow.”
5 tn Heb “you greatly enrich it.”
6 tn Heb “[with] a channel of God full of water.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very deep stream (“a stream fit for God,” as it were).
7 tn The pronoun apparently refers to the people of the earth, mentioned in v. 8.
8 tn Heb “for thus [referring to the provision of rain described in the first half of the verse] you prepare it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix attached to the verb “prepare” refers back to the “earth,” which is a feminine noun with regard to grammatical form.