Discovery BoxPsalms 77:20
Context77:20 You led your people like a flock of sheep,
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalms 78:14-72
Context78:14 He led them with a cloud by day,
and with the light of a fire all night long.
78:15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea. 1
78:16 He caused streams to flow from the rock,
and made the water flow like rivers.
78:17 Yet they continued to sin against him,
and rebelled against the sovereign One 2 in the desert.
78:18 They willfully challenged God 3
by asking for food to satisfy their appetite.
78:19 They insulted God, saying, 4
“Is God really able to give us food 5 in the wilderness?
78:20 Yes, 6 he struck a rock and water flowed out,
streams gushed forth.
But can he also give us food?
Will he provide meat for his people?”
78:21 When 7 the Lord heard this, he was furious.
A fire broke out against Jacob,
and his anger flared up 8 against Israel,
78:22 because they did not have faith in God,
and did not trust his ability to deliver them. 9
78:23 He gave a command to the clouds above,
and opened the doors in the sky.
78:24 He rained down manna for them to eat;
he gave them the grain of heaven. 10
78:25 Man ate the food of the mighty ones. 11
He sent them more than enough to eat. 12
78:26 He brought the east wind through the sky,
and by his strength led forth the south wind.
78:27 He rained down meat on them like dust,
birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores. 13
78:28 He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp,
all around their homes.
78:29 They ate until they were stuffed; 14
he gave them what they desired.
78:30 They were not yet filled up, 15
their food was still in their mouths,
78:31 when the anger of God flared up against them.
He killed some of the strongest of them;
he brought the young men of Israel to their knees.
78:32 Despite all this, they continued to sin,
and did not trust him to do amazing things. 16
78:33 So he caused them to die unsatisfied 17
and filled with terror. 18
78:34 When he struck them down, 19 they sought his favor; 20
they turned back and longed for God.
78:35 They remembered that God was their protector, 21
and that the sovereign God was their deliverer. 22
78:36 But they deceived him with their words, 23
and lied to him. 24
78:37 They were not really committed to him, 25
and they were unfaithful to his covenant.
78:38 Yet he is compassionate.
He forgives sin and does not destroy.
He often holds back his anger,
and does not stir up his fury. 26
78:39 He remembered 27 that they were made of flesh,
and were like a wind that blows past and does not return. 28
78:40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness,
and insulted him 29 in the desert!
78:41 They again challenged God, 30
and offended 31 the Holy One of Israel. 32
78:42 They did not remember what he had done, 33
how he delivered them from the enemy, 34
78:43 when he performed his awesome deeds 35 in Egypt,
and his acts of judgment 36 in the region of Zoan.
78:44 He turned their rivers into blood,
and they could not drink from their streams.
78:45 He sent swarms of biting insects against them, 37
as well as frogs that overran their land. 38
78:46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
the fruit of their labor to the locust.
78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail,
and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain.
78:48 He rained hail down on their cattle, 39
and hurled lightning bolts down on their livestock. 40
78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them, 41
He sent fury, rage, and trouble
as messengers who bring disaster. 42
78:50 He sent his anger in full force; 43
he did not spare them from death;
he handed their lives over to destruction. 44
78:51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power 45 in the tents of Ham.
78:52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep;
he led them through the wilderness like a flock.
78:53 He guided them safely along,
while the sea covered their enemies.
78:54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this mountainous land 46 which his right hand 47 acquired.
78:55 He drove the nations out from before them;
he assigned them their tribal allotments 48
and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. 49
78:56 Yet they challenged and defied 50 the sovereign God, 51
and did not obey 52 his commands. 53
78:57 They were unfaithful 54 and acted as treacherously as 55 their ancestors;
they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. 56
78:58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines, 57
and made him jealous with their idols.
78:59 God heard and was angry;
he completely rejected Israel.
78:60 He abandoned 58 the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; 59
he gave the symbol of his splendor 60 into the hand of the enemy. 61
78:62 He delivered his people over to the sword,
and was angry with his chosen nation. 62
78:63 Fire consumed their 63 young men,
and their 64 virgins remained unmarried. 65
78:64 Their 66 priests fell by the sword,
but their 67 widows did not weep. 68
78:65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep; 69
he was like a warrior in a drunken rage. 70
78:66 He drove his enemies back;
he made them a permanent target for insults. 71
78:67 He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
78:69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above; 72
as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. 73
78:70 He chose David, his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds.
78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, 74
and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and of Israel, his chosen nation. 75
78:72 David 76 cared for them with pure motives; 77
he led them with skill. 78
Psalms 105:39-41
Context105:39 He spread out a cloud for a cover, 79
and provided a fire to light up the night.
105:40 They asked for food, 80 and he sent quails;
he satisfied them with food from the sky. 81
105:41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out;
a river ran through dry regions.
Psalms 106:12-48
Context106:12 They believed his promises; 82
they sang praises to him.
106:13 They quickly forgot what he had done; 83
they did not wait for his instructions. 84
106:14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving 85 for meat; 86
they challenged God 87 in the desert.
106:15 He granted their request,
then struck them with a disease. 88
106:16 In the camp they resented 89 Moses,
and Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest. 90
106:17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it engulfed 91 the group led by Abiram. 92
106:18 Fire burned their group;
the flames scorched the wicked. 93
106:19 They made an image of a calf at Horeb,
and worshiped a metal idol.
106:20 They traded their majestic God 94
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
106:21 They rejected 95 the God who delivered them,
the one who performed great deeds in Egypt,
106:22 amazing feats in the land of Ham,
mighty 96 acts by the Red Sea.
106:23 He threatened 97 to destroy them,
but 98 Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him 99
and turned back his destructive anger. 100
106:24 They rejected the fruitful land; 101
they did not believe his promise. 102
106:25 They grumbled in their tents; 103
they did not obey 104 the Lord.
106:26 So he made a solemn vow 105
that he would make them die 106 in the desert,
106:27 make their descendants 107 die 108 among the nations,
and scatter them among foreign lands. 109
106:28 They worshiped 110 Baal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to the dead. 111
106:29 They made the Lord angry 112 by their actions,
and a plague broke out among them.
106:30 Phinehas took a stand and intervened, 113
and the plague subsided.
106:31 This brought him a reward,
an eternal gift. 114
106:32 They made him angry by the waters of Meribah,
and Moses suffered 115 because of them,
106:33 for they aroused 116 his temper, 117
and he spoke rashly. 118
106:34 They did not destroy the nations, 119
as the Lord had commanded them to do.
106:35 They mixed in with the nations
and learned their ways. 120
106:36 They worshiped 121 their idols,
which became a snare to them. 122
106:37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. 123
106:38 They shed innocent blood –
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land was polluted by bloodshed. 124
106:39 They were defiled by their deeds,
and unfaithful in their actions. 125
106:40 So the Lord was angry with his people 126
and despised the people who belong to him. 127
106:41 He handed them over to 128 the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
106:42 Their enemies oppressed them;
they were subject to their authority. 129
106:43 Many times he delivered 130 them,
but they had a rebellious attitude, 131
and degraded themselves 132 by their sin.
106:44 Yet he took notice of their distress,
when he heard their cry for help.
106:45 He remembered his covenant with them,
and relented 133 because of his great loyal love.
106:46 He caused all their conquerors 134
to have pity on them.
106:47 Deliver us, O Lord, our God!
Gather us from among the nations!
Then we will give thanks 135 to your holy name,
and boast about your praiseworthy deeds. 136
106:48 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise, 137
in the future and forevermore. 138
Let all the people say, “We agree! 139 Praise the Lord!” 140
[78:15] 1 tn Heb “and caused them to drink, like the depths, abundantly.”
[78:17] 2 tn Heb “rebelling [against] the Most High.”
[78:18] 3 tn Heb “and they tested God in their heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the center of their volition.
[78:19] 4 tn Heb “they spoke against God, they said.”
[78:19] 5 tn Heb “to arrange a table [for food].”
[78:21] 8 tn Heb “and also anger went up.”
[78:22] 9 tn Heb “and they did not trust his deliverance.”
[78:24] 10 sn Manna was apparently shaped like a seed (Exod 16:31), perhaps explaining why it is here compared to grain.
[78:25] 11 sn Because of the reference to “heaven” in the preceding verse, it is likely that mighty ones refers here to the angels of heaven. The LXX translates “angels” here, as do a number of modern translations (NEB, NIV, NRSV).
[78:25] 12 tn Heb “provision he sent to them to satisfaction.”
[78:27] 13 tn Heb “and like the sand of the seas winged birds.”
[78:29] 14 tn Heb “and they ate and were very satisfied.”
[78:30] 15 tn Heb “they were not separated from their desire.”
[78:32] 16 tn Heb “and did not believe in his amazing deeds.”
[78:33] 17 tn Heb “and he ended in vanity their days.”
[78:33] 18 tn Heb “and their years in terror.”
[78:34] 19 tn Or “killed them,” that is, killed large numbers of them.
[78:34] 20 tn Heb “they sought him.”
[78:35] 21 tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”
[78:35] 22 tn Heb “and [that] God Most High [was] their redeemer.”
[78:36] 23 tn Heb “with their mouth.”
[78:36] 24 tn Heb “and with their tongue they lied to him.”
[78:37] 25 tn Heb “and their heart was not firm with him.”
[78:38] 26 tn One could translate v. 38 in the past tense (“he was compassionate…forgave sin and did not destroy…held back his anger, and did not stir up his fury”), but the imperfect verbal forms are probably best understood as generalizing. Verse 38 steps back briefly from the narrational summary of Israel’s history and lays the theological basis for v. 39, which focuses on God’s mercy toward sinful Israel.
[78:39] 27 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive signals a return to the narrative.
[78:39] 28 tn Heb “and he remembered that they [were] flesh, a wind [that] goes and does not return.”
[78:40] 29 tn Or “caused him pain.”
[78:41] 30 tn Heb “and they returned and tested God.” The Hebrew verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate that an earlier action was repeated.
[78:41] 31 tn Or “wounded, hurt.” The verb occurs only here in the OT.
[78:41] 32 sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the
[78:42] 33 tn Heb “his hand,” symbolizing his saving activity and strength, as the next line makes clear.
[78:42] 34 tn Heb “[the] day [in] which he ransomed them from [the] enemy.”
[78:43] 35 tn Or “signs” (see Ps 65:8).
[78:43] 36 tn Or “portents, omens” (see Ps 71:7). The Egyptian plagues are referred to here (see vv. 44-51).
[78:45] 37 tn Heb “and he sent an insect swarm against them and it devoured them.”
[78:45] 38 tn Heb “and a swarm of frogs and it destroyed them.”
[78:48] 39 tn Heb “and he turned over to the hail their cattle.”
[78:48] 40 tn Heb “and their livestock to the flames.” “Flames” here refer to the lightning bolts that accompanied the storm.
[78:49] 41 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.
[78:49] 42 tn Heb “fury and indignation and trouble, a sending of messengers of disaster.”
[78:50] 43 tn Heb “he leveled a path for his anger.” There were no obstacles to impede its progress; it moved swiftly and destructively.
[78:50] 44 tn Or perhaps “[the] plague.”
[78:51] 45 tn Heb “the beginning of strength.” If retained, the plural form אוֹנִים (’onim, “strength”) probably indicates degree (“great strength”), but many ancient witnesses read “their strength,” which presupposes an emendation to אֹנָם (’onam; singular form of the noun with third masculine plural pronominal suffix).
[78:54] 46 tn Heb “this mountain.” The whole land of Canaan seems to be referred to here. In Exod 15:17 the promised land is called the “mountain of your [i.e., God’s] inheritance.”
[78:54] 47 tn The “right hand” here symbolizes God’s military strength (see v. 55).
[78:55] 48 tn Heb “he caused to fall [to] them with a measuring line an inheritance.”
[78:55] 49 tn Heb “and caused the tribes of Israel to settle down in their tents.”
[78:56] 50 tn Or “tested and rebelled against.”
[78:56] 51 tn Heb “God, the Most High.”
[78:56] 53 tn Heb “his testimonies” (see Ps 25:10).
[78:57] 54 tn Heb “they turned back.”
[78:57] 55 tn Or “acted treacherously like.”
[78:57] 56 tn Heb “they turned aside like a deceitful bow.”
[78:58] 57 tn Traditionally, “high places.”
[78:61] 59 tn Heb “and he gave to captivity his strength.” The expression “his strength” refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant, which was housed in the tabernacle at Shiloh.
[78:61] 60 tn Heb “and his splendor into the hand of an enemy.” The expression “his splendor” also refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant.
[78:61] 61 sn Verses 60-61 refer to the Philistines’ capture of the ark in the days of Eli (1 Sam 4:1-11).
[78:62] 62 tn Heb “his inheritance.”
[78:63] 63 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:63] 64 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:63] 65 tn Heb “were not praised,” that is, in wedding songs. The young men died in masses, leaving no husbands for the young women.
[78:64] 66 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:64] 67 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:64] 68 sn Because of the invading army and the ensuing panic, the priests’ widows had no time to carry out the normal mourning rites.
[78:65] 69 tn Heb “and the master awoke like one sleeping.” The
[78:65] 70 tn Heb “like a warrior overcome with wine.” The Hebrew verb רוּן (run, “overcome”) occurs only here in the OT. The phrase “overcome with wine” could picture a drunken warrior controlled by his emotions and passions (as in the present translation), or it could refer to a warrior who awakes from a drunken stupor.
[78:66] 71 tn Heb “a permanent reproach he made them.”
[78:69] 72 tc Heb “and he built like the exalting [ones] his sanctuary.” The phrase כְּמוֹ־רָמִים (kÿmo-ramim, “like the exalting [ones]”) is a poetic form of the comparative preposition followed by a participial form of the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”). The text should be emended to כִּמְרֹמִים (kimromim, “like the [heavenly] heights”). See Ps 148:1, where “heights” refers to the heavens above.
[78:69] 73 tn Heb “like the earth, [which] he established permanently.” The feminine singular suffix on the Hebrew verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish”) refers to the grammatically feminine noun “earth.”
[78:71] 74 tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”
[78:71] 75 tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”
[78:72] 76 tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[78:72] 77 tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”
[78:72] 78 tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”
[105:40] 80 tn Heb “he [i.e., his people] asked.” The singular form should probably be emended to a plural שָׁאֲלוּ (sha’alu, “they asked”), the vav (ו) having fallen off by haplography (note the vav at the beginning of the following form).
[105:40] 81 tn Or “bread of heaven.” The reference is to manna (see Exod 16:4, 13-15).
[106:12] 82 tn Heb “his words.”
[106:13] 83 tn Heb “his works.”
[106:13] 84 tn Heb “his counsel.”
[106:14] 85 sn They had an insatiable craving. This is described in Num 11:4-35.
[106:14] 86 tn Heb “they craved [with] a craving.”
[106:14] 87 tn Heb “they tested God.”
[106:15] 88 tn Heb “and he sent leanness into their being.”
[106:16] 90 tn Heb “the holy one of the
[106:17] 92 tn Or “the assembly of Abiram.”
[106:18] 93 sn Verses 16-18 describe the events of Num 16:1-40.
[106:20] 94 tn Heb “their glory.” According to an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition, the text originally read “his glory” or “my glory.” In Jer 2:11 the
[106:22] 96 tn Or “awe-inspiring.”
[106:23] 97 tn Heb “and he said.”
[106:23] 98 tn Heb “if not,” that is, “[and would have] if [Moses] had not.”
[106:23] 99 tn Heb “stood in the gap before him.”
[106:23] 100 tn Heb “to turn back his anger from destroying.”
[106:24] 101 tn Heb “a land of delight” (see also Jer 3:19; Zech 7:14).
[106:24] 102 tn Heb “his word.”
[106:25] 103 sn They grumbled in their tents. See Deut 1:27.
[106:25] 104 tn Heb “did not listen to the voice of.”
[106:26] 105 tn Heb “and he lifted his hand to [or “concerning”] them.” The idiom “to lift a hand” here refers to swearing an oath. One would sometimes solemnly lift one’s hand when making such a vow (see Ezek 20:5-6, 15).
[106:26] 106 tn Heb “to cause them to fall.”
[106:27] 107 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
[106:27] 108 tn Heb “and to cause their offspring to fall.” Some emend the verb to “scatter” to form tighter parallelism with the following line (cf. NRSV “disperse”).
[106:27] 109 tn Heb “among the lands.” The word “foreign” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[106:28] 110 tn Heb “joined themselves to.”
[106:28] 111 tn Here “the dead” may refer to deceased ancestors (see Deut 26:14). Another option is to understand the term as a derogatory reference to the various deities which the Israelites worshiped at Peor along with Baal (see Num 25:2 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 49).
[106:29] 112 tn Heb “They made angry [him].” The pronominal suffix is omitted here, but does appear in a few medieval Hebrew
[106:30] 113 sn The intervention of Phinehas is recounted in Num 25:7-8.
[106:31] 114 tn Heb “and it was reckoned to him for righteousness, to a generation and a generation forever.” The verb חָשַׁב (khashav, “to reckon”) is collocated with צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”) only in Ps 106:31 and Gen 15:6, where God rewards Abram’s faith with a land grant.
[106:32] 115 tn Heb “there was harm to Moses.”
[106:33] 116 tn The Hebrew text vocalizes the form as הִמְרוּ (himru), a Hiphil from מָרָה (marah, “to behave rebelliously”), but the verb fits better with the object (“his spirit”) if it is revocalized as הֵמֵרוּ (hemeru), a Hiphil from מָרַר (marar, “to be bitter”). The Israelites “embittered” Moses’ “spirit” in the sense that they aroused his temper with their complaints.
[106:33] 117 tn Heb “his spirit.”
[106:33] 118 tn The Hebrew text adds “with his lips,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[106:34] 119 tn That is, the nations of Canaan.
[106:35] 120 tn Heb “their deeds.”
[106:36] 122 sn Became a snare. See Exod 23:33; Judg 2:3.
[106:37] 123 tn The Hebrew term שֵׁדִים (shedim, “demons”) occurs only here and in Deut 32:17. Some type of lesser deity is probably in view.
[106:38] 124 sn Num 35:33-34 explains that bloodshed defiles a land.
[106:39] 125 tn Heb “and they committed adultery in their actions.” This means that they were unfaithful to the
[106:40] 126 tn Heb “the anger of the
[106:40] 127 tn Heb “his inheritance.”
[106:41] 128 tn Heb “gave them into the hand of.”
[106:42] 129 tn Heb “they were subdued under their hand.”
[106:43] 130 tn The prefixed verbal form is either preterite or imperfect, in which case it is customary, describing repeated action in past time (“he would deliver”).
[106:43] 131 tn Heb “but they rebelled in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite or imperfect, in which case it is customary, describing repeated action in past time (“they would have a rebellious attitude”).
[106:43] 132 tn Heb “they sank down.” The Hebrew verb מָכַךְ (makhakh, “to lower; to sink”) occurs only here in the Qal.
[106:45] 133 tn The Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) refers here to God relenting from a punishment already underway.
[106:47] 135 tn Heb “to give thanks.” The infinitive construct indicates result after the imperative.
[106:47] 136 tn Heb “to boast in your praise.”
[106:48] 137 tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.
[106:48] 138 tn Heb “from everlasting to everlasting.”
[106:48] 139 tn Heb “surely” (אָמֵן, ’amen), traditionally transliterated “amen.”
[106:48] 140 sn The final verse (v. 48) is a conclusion to this fourth “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the first, second and third “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 41:13; 72:18-19; 89:52, respectively).
