Psalms 106:32-40

106:32 They made him angry by the waters of Meribah,

and Moses suffered ¹  because of them,

106:33 for they aroused ²  his temper, ³ 

and he spoke rashly. ⁴ 

106:34 They did not destroy the nations, ⁵ 

as the Lord had commanded them to do.

106:35 They mixed in with the nations

and learned their ways. ⁶ 

106:36 They worshiped ⁷  their idols,

which became a snare to them. ⁸ 

106:37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. ⁹ 

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. ¹⁰ 

106:39 They were defiled by their deeds,

and unfaithful in their actions. ¹¹ 

106:40 So the Lord was angry with his people ¹² 

and despised the people who belong to him. ¹³ 

[106:32]  ¹ tn Heb “there was harm to Moses.”

[106:33]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “his spirit.”

[106:33]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “with his lips,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[106:34]  ³ tn That is, the nations of Canaan.

[106:35]  ⁴ tn Heb “their deeds.”

[106:36]  ⁵ tn Or “served.”

[106:36]  ⁶ sn Became a snare. See Exod 23:33; Judg 2:3.

[106:37]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ sn Num 35:33-34 explains that bloodshed defiles a land.

[106:39]  ⁸ tn Heb “and they committed adultery in their actions.” This means that they were unfaithful to the Lord (see Ps 73:27).

[106:40]  ⁹ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord burned against his people.”

[106:40]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his inheritance.”