Psalms 78:49-50

78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them,

He sent fury, rage, and trouble

as messengers who bring disaster.

78:50 He sent his anger in full force;

he did not spare them from death;

he handed their lives over to destruction.


tn Heb “he sent against them the rage of his anger.” The phrase “rage of his anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

tn Heb “fury and indignation and trouble, a sending of messengers of disaster.”

tn Heb “he leveled a path for his anger.” There were no obstacles to impede its progress; it moved swiftly and destructively.

tn Or perhaps “[the] plague.”