77:15 You delivered 1 your people by your strength 2 –
the children of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah)
For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; 4 a psalm of Asaph.
80:1 O shepherd of Israel, pay attention,
you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep!
You who sit enthroned above the winged angels, 5 reveal your splendor! 6
80:2 In the sight of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh reveal 7 your power!
Come and deliver us! 8
6:6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, 9
and pour the very best oils on themselves. 10
Yet they are not concerned over 11 the ruin 12 of Joseph.
1 tn Or “redeemed.”
2 tn Heb “with [your] arm.”
3 sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.
4 tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.
5 sn Winged angels (Heb “cherubs”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.
6 tn Heb “shine forth.”
7 tn Heb “stir up”; “arouse.”
8 tn Heb “come for our deliverance.”
9 sn Perhaps some religious rite is in view, or the size of the bowls is emphasized (i.e., bowls as large as sacrificial bowls).
10 tn Heb “with the best of oils they anoint [themselves].”
11 tn Or “not sickened by.”
12 sn The ruin of Joseph may refer to the societal disintegration in Israel, or to the effects of the impending judgment.