62:11 God has declared one principle;
two principles I have heard: 1
God is strong, 2
For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; 4 a prayer 5 of David written to instruct others. 6 It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram-Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down 7 12,000 Edomites 8 in the Valley of Salt. 9
60:1 O God, you have rejected us. 10
You suddenly turned on us in your anger. 11
Please restore us! 12
1 tn Heb “one God spoke, two which I heard.” This is a numerical saying utilizing the “x” followed by “x + 1” pattern to facilitate poetic parallelism. (See W. M. W. Roth, Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament [VTSup], 55-56.) As is typical in such sayings, a list corresponding to the second number (in this case “two”) follows. Another option is to translate, “God has spoken once, twice [he has spoken] that which I have heard.” The terms אַחַת (’akhat, “one; once”) and שְׁתַּיִם (shÿtayim, “two; twice”) are also juxtaposed in 2 Kgs 6:10 (where they refer to an action that was done more than “once or twice”) and in Job 33:14 (where they refer to God speaking “one way” and then in “another manner”).
2 tn Heb “that strength [belongs] to God.”
3 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.
4 tn The Hebrew expression means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title.
5 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.”
6 tn Heb “to teach.”
7 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.
8 tn Heb “12,000 of Edom.” Perhaps one should read אֲרַם (’aram, “Aram”) here rather than אֱדוֹם (’edom, “Edom”).
9 sn The heading apparently refers to the military campaign recorded in 2 Sam 10 and 1 Chr 19.
10 sn You have rejected us. See Pss 43:2; 44:9, 23.
11 tn Heb “you broke out upon us, you were angry.”
12 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.