For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; 2 a prayer 3 of David written to instruct others. 4 It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram-Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down 5 12,000 Edomites 6 in the Valley of Salt. 7
60:1 O God, you have rejected us. 8
You suddenly turned on us in your anger. 9
Please restore us! 10
60:2 You made the earth quake; you split it open. 11
Repair its breaches, for it is ready to fall. 12
60:3 You have made your people experience hard times; 13
you have made us drink intoxicating wine. 14
78:60 He abandoned 15 the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; 16
he gave the symbol of his splendor 17 into the hand of the enemy. 18
78:62 He delivered his people over to the sword,
and was angry with his chosen nation. 19
78:63 Fire consumed their 20 young men,
and their 21 virgins remained unmarried. 22
78:64 Their 23 priests fell by the sword,
but their 24 widows did not weep. 25
78:65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep; 26
he was like a warrior in a drunken rage. 27
78:66 He drove his enemies back;
he made them a permanent target for insults. 28
78:67 He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
78:69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above; 29
as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. 30
78:70 He chose David, his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds.
78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, 31
and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and of Israel, his chosen nation. 32
78:72 David 33 cared for them with pure motives; 34
he led them with skill. 35
A well-written song 37 by Asaph.
78:1 Pay attention, my people, to my instruction!
Listen to the words I speak! 38
For the music director; a psalm of David.
31:1 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter!
Never let me be humiliated!
Vindicate me by rescuing me! 40
31:2 Listen to me! 41
Quickly deliver me!
Be my protector and refuge, 42
a stronghold where I can be safe! 43
31:3 For you are my high ridge 44 and my stronghold;
for the sake of your own reputation 45 you lead me and guide me. 46
31:4 You will free me 47 from the net they hid for me,
for you are my place of refuge.
31:5 Into your hand I entrust my life; 48
you will rescue 49 me, O Lord, the faithful God.
31:6 I hate those who serve worthless idols, 50
but I trust in the Lord.
31:7 I will be happy and rejoice in your faithfulness,
because you notice my pain
and you are aware of how distressed I am. 51
24:1 Look, the Lord is ready to devastate the earth
and leave it in ruins;
he will mar its surface
and scatter its inhabitants.
24:2 Everyone will suffer – the priest as well as the people, 52
the master as well as the servant, 53
the elegant lady as well as the female attendant, 54
the seller as well as the buyer, 55
the borrower as well as the lender, 56
the creditor as well as the debtor. 57
24:3 The earth will be completely devastated
and thoroughly ransacked.
For the Lord has decreed this judgment. 58
24:4 The earth 59 dries up 60 and withers,
the world shrivels up and withers;
the prominent people of the earth 61 fade away.
24:5 The earth is defiled by 62 its inhabitants, 63
for they have violated laws,
disregarded the regulation, 64
and broken the permanent treaty. 65
24:6 So a treaty curse 66 devours the earth;
its inhabitants pay for their guilt. 67
This is why the inhabitants of the earth disappear, 68
and are reduced to just a handful of people. 69
24:7 The new wine dries up,
the vines shrivel up,
all those who like to celebrate 70 groan.
24:8 The happy sound 71 of the tambourines stops,
the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt,
the happy sound of the harp ceases.
24:9 They no longer sing and drink wine; 72
the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.
24:10 The ruined town 73 is shattered;
all of the houses are shut up tight. 74
24:11 They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; 75
all joy turns to sorrow; 76
celebrations disappear from the earth. 77
24:12 The city is left in ruins; 78
the gate is reduced to rubble. 79
1 sn Psalm 60. The psalmist grieves over Israel’s humiliation, but in response to God’s assuring word, he asks for divine help in battle and expresses his confidence in victory.
2 tn The Hebrew expression means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title.
3 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-59, is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
4 tn Heb “to teach.”
5 tn In Josh 8:21 and Judg 20:48 the two verbs “turn back” and “strike down” are also juxtaposed. There they refer to a military counter-attack.
6 tn Heb “12,000 of Edom.” Perhaps one should read אֲרַם (’aram, “Aram”) here rather than אֱדוֹם (’edom, “Edom”).
7 sn The heading apparently refers to the military campaign recorded in 2 Sam 10 and 1 Chr 19.
8 sn You have rejected us. See Pss 43:2; 44:9, 23.
9 tn Heb “you broke out upon us, you were angry.”
10 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
11 tn The verb פָּצַם (patsam, “split open”) occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “crack,” and an Aramaic cognate is used in Tg. Jer 22:14 with the meaning “break open, frame.” See BDB 822 s.v. and Jastrow 1205 s.v. פְּצַם.
12 sn It is ready to fall. The earth is compared to a wall that has been broken by the force of the earthquake (note the preceding line) and is ready to collapse.
13 tn Heb “you have caused your people to see [what is] hard.”
14 tn Heb “wine of staggering,” that is, intoxicating wine that makes one stagger in drunkenness. Intoxicating wine is here an image of divine judgment that makes its victims stagger like drunkards. See Isa 51:17-23.
15 tn Or “rejected.”
16 tn Heb “and he gave to captivity his strength.” The expression “his strength” refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant, which was housed in the tabernacle at Shiloh.
17 tn Heb “and his splendor into the hand of an enemy.” The expression “his splendor” also refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant.
18 sn Verses 60-61 refer to the Philistines’ capture of the ark in the days of Eli (1 Sam 4:1-11).
19 tn Heb “his inheritance.”
20 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
21 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
22 tn Heb “were not praised,” that is, in wedding songs. The young men died in masses, leaving no husbands for the young women.
23 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
24 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
25 sn Because of the invading army and the ensuing panic, the priests’ widows had no time to carry out the normal mourning rites.
26 tn Heb “and the master awoke like one sleeping.” The
27 tn Heb “like a warrior overcome with wine.” The Hebrew verb רוּן (run, “overcome”) occurs only here in the OT. The phrase “overcome with wine” could picture a drunken warrior controlled by his emotions and passions (as in the present translation), or it could refer to a warrior who awakes from a drunken stupor.
28 tn Heb “a permanent reproach he made them.”
29 tc Heb “and he built like the exalting [ones] his sanctuary.” The phrase כְּמוֹ־רָמִים (kÿmo-ramim, “like the exalting [ones]”) is a poetic form of the comparative preposition followed by a participial form of the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”). The text should be emended to כִּמְרֹמִים (kimromim, “like the [heavenly] heights”). See Ps 148:1, where “heights” refers to the heavens above.
30 tn Heb “like the earth, [which] he established permanently.” The feminine singular suffix on the Hebrew verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish”) refers to the grammatically feminine noun “earth.”
31 tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”
32 tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”
33 tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
34 tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”
35 tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”
36 sn Psalm 78. The author of this lengthy didactic psalm rehearses Israel’s history. He praises God for his power, goodness and patience, but also reminds his audience that sin angers God and prompts his judgment. In the conclusion to the psalm the author elevates Jerusalem as God’s chosen city and David as his chosen king.
37 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 74.
38 tn Heb “Turn your ear to the words of my mouth.”
39 sn Psalm 31. The psalmist confidently asks the Lord to protect him. Enemies threaten him and even his friends have abandoned him, but he looks to the Lord for vindication. In vv. 19-24, which were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18, the psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him.
40 tn Heb “in your vindication rescue me.”
41 tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”
42 tn Heb “become for me a rocky summit of refuge.”
43 tn Heb “a house of strongholds to deliver me.”
44 sn The metaphor of the high ridge pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.
45 tn Heb “name.” The Hebrew term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) refers here to the
46 tn The present translation assumes that the imperfect verbal forms are generalizing, “you lead me and guide me.” Other options are to take them as an expression of confidence about the future, “you will lead me and guide me” (cf. NASB), or as expressing a prayer, “lead me and guide me” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).
47 tn Heb “bring me out.” The translation assumes that the imperfect verbal form expresses the psalmist’s confidence about the future. Another option is to take the form as expressing a prayer, “free me.”
48 tn Heb “my spirit.” The noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) here refers to the animating spirit that gives the psalmist life.
49 tn Or “redeem.” The perfect verbal form is understood here as anticipatory, indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer that he can describe his deliverance as if it had already happened. Another option is to take the perfect as precative, expressing a wish or request (“rescue me”; cf. NIV). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.
50 tn Heb “the ones who observe vain things of falsehood.” See Jonah 2:9.
51 tn Heb “you know the distresses of my life.”
52 tn Heb “and it will be like the people, like the priest.”
53 tn Heb “like the servant, like his master.”
54 tn Heb “like the female servant, like her mistress.”
55 tn Heb “like the buyer, like the seller.”
56 tn Heb “like the lender, like the borrower.”
57 tn Heb “like the creditor, just as the one to whom he lends.”
58 tn Heb “for the Lord has spoken this word.”
59 tn Some prefer to read “land” here, but the word pair אֶרֶץ/תֵּבֵל (erets/tevel [see the corresponding term in the parallel line]) elsewhere clearly designates the earth/world (see 1 Sam 2:8; 1 Chr 16:30; Job 37;12; Pss 19:4; 24:1; 33:8; 89:11; 90:2; 96:13; 98:9; Prov 8:26, 31; Isa 14:16-17; 34:1; Jer 10:12; 51:15; Lam 4:12). According to L. Stadelmann, תבל designates “the habitable part of the world” (The Hebrew Conception of the World [AnBib], 130).
60 tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists the homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism.
61 tn Heb “the height of the people of the earth.” The translation assumes an emendation of the singular form מְרוֹם (mÿrom, “height of”) to the plural construct מְרֹמֵי (mÿrome, “high ones of”; note the plural verb at the beginning of the line), and understands the latter as referring to the prominent people of human society.
62 tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”
63 sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.
64 tn Heb “moved past [the?] regulation.”
65 tn Or “everlasting covenant” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the ancient covenant”; CEV “their agreement that was to last forever.”
66 sn Ancient Near Eastern treaties often had “curses,” or threatened judgments, attached to them. (See Deut 28 for a biblical example of such curses.) The party or parties taking an oath of allegiance acknowledged that disobedience would activate these curses, which typically threatened loss of agricultural fertility as depicted in the following verses.
67 tn The verb אָשַׁם (’asham, “be guilty”) is here used metonymically to mean “pay, suffer for one’s guilt” (see HALOT 95 s.v. אשׁם).
68 tn BDB 359 s.v. חָרַר derives the verb חָרוּ (kharu) from חָרַר (kharar, “burn”), but HALOT 351 s.v. II חרה understands a hapax legomenon חָרָה (kharah, “to diminish in number,” a homonym of חָרָה) here, relating it to an alleged Arabic cognate meaning “to decrease.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has חורו, perhaps understanding the root as חָוַר (khavar, “grow pale”; see Isa 29:22 and HALOT 299 s.v. I חור).
69 tn Heb “and mankind is left small [in number].”
70 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “all the joyful in heart,” but the context specifies the context as parties and drinking bouts.
71 tn Heb “the joy” (again later in this verse).
72 tn Heb “with a song they do not drink wine.”
73 tn Heb “the city of chaos” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Isaiah uses the term תֹּהוּ (tohu) rather frequently of things (like idols) that are empty and worthless (see BDB 1062 s.v.), so the word might characterize the city as rebellious or morally worthless. However, in this context, which focuses on the effects of divine judgment, it probably refers to the ruined or worthless condition in which the city is left (note the use of the word in Isa 34:11). For a discussion of the identity of this city, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24,” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In the context of universal judgment depicted in Isa 24, this city represents all the nations and cities of the world which, like Babylon of old and the powers/cities mentioned in chapters 13-23, rebel against God’s authority. Behind the stereotypical language one can detect various specific manifestations of this symbolic and paradigmatic city, including Babylon, Moab, and Jerusalem, all of which are alluded or referred to in chapters 24-27.
74 tn Heb “every house is closed up from entering.”
75 tn Heb “[there is] an outcry over the wine in the streets.”
76 tn Heb “all joy turns to evening,” the darkness of evening symbolizing distress and sorrow.
77 tn Heb “the joy of the earth disappears.”
78 tn Heb “and there is left in the city desolation.”
79 tn Heb “and [into] rubble the gate is crushed.”