Psalms 44:14-17

44:14 You made us an object of ridicule among the nations;

foreigners treat us with contempt.

44:15 All day long I feel humiliated

and am overwhelmed with shame,

44:16 before the vindictive enemy

who ridicules and insults me.

44:17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you

or violated your covenant with us.


tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

tn Heb “a proverb,” or “[the subject of] a mocking song.”

tn Heb “a shaking of the head among the peoples.” Shaking the head was a derisive gesture (see Jer 18:16; Lam 2:15).

tn Heb “all the day my humiliation [is] in front of me.”

tn Heb “and the shame of my face covers me.”

tn Heb “from the voice of one who ridicules and insults, from the face of an enemy and an avenger.” See Ps 8:2.

10 tn Heb “we have not forgotten you.” To “forget” God refers here to worshiping false gods and thereby refusing to recognize his sovereignty (see v. 20, as well as Deut 8:19; Judg 3:7; 1 Sam 12:9; Isa 17:10; Jer 3:21; Ps 9:17).Thus the translation “we have not rejected you” has been used.

11 tn Heb “and we did not deal falsely with your covenant.”