Discovery BoxPsalms 55:6-8
Context55:6 I say, 1 “I wish I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and settle in a safe place!
55:7 Look, I will escape to a distant place;
I will stay in the wilderness. (Selah)
55:8 I will hurry off to a place that is safe
from the strong wind 2 and the gale.”
Psalms 120:5-7
ContextFor I have lived temporarily 4 in Meshech;
I have resided among the tents of Kedar. 5
120:6 For too long I have had to reside
with those who hate 6 peace.
120:7 I am committed to peace, 7
but when I speak, they want to make war. 8
Micah 7:1-7
ContextIndeed, 10 it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered,
and the grapes have been harvested. 11
There is no grape cluster to eat,
no fresh figs that I crave so much. 12
7:2 Faithful men have disappeared 13 from the land;
there are no godly men left. 14
They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; 15
they hunt their own brother with a net. 16
7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; 17
government officials and judges take bribes, 18
prominent men make demands,
and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. 19
7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;
the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. 20
The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –
your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, 21
and then you will experience confusion. 22
7:5 Do not rely on a friend;
do not trust a companion!
Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms! 23
7:6 For a son thinks his father is a fool,
a daughter challenges 24 her mother,
and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are his own servants. 25
7:7 But I will keep watching for the Lord;
I will wait for the God who delivers me.
My God will hear my lament. 26
[55:6] 1 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the descriptive (present progressive) force of the verbs in v. 5.
[55:8] 2 tn Heb “[the] wind [that] sweeps away.” The verb סָעָה (sa’ah, “sweep away”) occurs only here in the OT (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 120).
[120:5] 3 tn Or “woe to me.” The Hebrew term אוֹיָה (’oyah, “woe”) which occurs only here, is an alternate form of אוֹי (’oy).
[120:5] 4 tn Heb “I live as a resident alien.”
[120:5] 5 sn Meshech was located in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). Kedar was located in the desert to east-southeast of Israel. Because of the reference to Kedar, it is possible that Ps 120:5 refers to a different Meshech, perhaps one associated with the individual mentioned as a descendant of Aram in 1 Chr 1:17. (However, the LXX in 1 Chr 1:17 follows the parallel text in Gen 10:23, which reads “Mash,” not Meshech.) It is, of course, impossible that the psalmist could have been living in both the far north and the east at the same time. For this reason one must assume that he is recalling his experience as a wanderer among the nations or that he is using the geographical terms metaphorically and sarcastically to suggest that the enemies who surround him are like the barbarians who live in these distant regions. For a discussion of the problem, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 146.
[120:6] 6 tn The singular participial form probably has a representative function here. The psalmist envisions the typical hater of peace who represents the entire category of such individuals.
[120:7] 8 tn Heb “they [are] for war.”
[7:1] 9 tn Heb “woe to me!” In light of the image that follows, perhaps one could translate, “I am disappointed.”
[7:1] 11 tn Heb “I am like the gathering of the summer fruit, like the gleanings of the harvest.” Micah is not comparing himself to the harvested fruit. There is an ellipsis here, as the second half of the verse makes clear. The idea is, “I am like [one at the time] the summer fruit is gathered and the grapes are harvested.”
[7:1] 12 tn Heb “my appetite craves.”
[7:2] 13 tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”
[7:2] 14 tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”
[7:2] 15 tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”
[7:2] 16 sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.
[7:3] 17 tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”
[7:3] 18 tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”
[7:3] 19 tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.
[7:4] 20 tn Heb “[the] godly from a row of thorn bushes.” The preposition מִן (min) is comparative and the comparative element (perhaps “sharper” is the idea) is omitted. See BDB 582 s.v. 6 and GKC 431 §133.e.
[7:4] 21 tn Heb “the day of your watchmen, your appointed [time], is coming.” The present translation takes “watchmen” to refer to actual sentries. However, the “watchmen” could refer figuratively to the prophets who had warned Judah of approaching judgment. In this case one could translate, “The day your prophets warned about – your appointed time of punishment – is on the way.”
[7:4] 22 tn Heb “and now will be their confusion.”
[7:5] 23 tn Heb “from the one who lies in your arms, guard the doors of your mouth.”
[7:6] 24 tn Heb “rises up against.”
[7:6] 25 tn Heb “the enemies of a man are the men of his house.”
[7:7] 26 tn Heb “me.” In the interest of clarity the nature of the prophet’s cry has been specified as “my lament” in the translation.
