Psalms 60:2

60:2 You made the earth quake; you split it open. 1 

Repair its breaches, for it is ready to fall. 2 

Psalms 94:18

94:18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”

your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.

Psalms 105:16

105:16 He called down a famine upon the earth;

he cut off all the food supply. 3 

Psalms 110:2

110:2 The Lord 4  extends 5  your dominion 6  from Zion.

Rule in the midst of your enemies!

1 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.

2 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.

3 tn Heb “and every staff of food he broke.” The psalmist refers to the famine that occurred in Joseph’s time (see v. 17 and Gen 41:53-57).

5 tn Since the Lord is mentioned in the third person (note the use of the first person in v. 1), it is likely that these are the psalmist’s words to the king, not a continuation of the oracle per se.

6 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing, though it could be taken as future.

7 tn Heb “your strong scepter,” symbolic of the king’s royal authority and dominion.