Psalms 107:33-35

107:33 He turned ¹  streams into a desert,

springs of water into arid land,

107:34 and a fruitful land into a barren place, ² 

because of the sin of its inhabitants.

107:35 As for his people, ³  he turned ⁴  a desert into a pool of water,

and a dry land into springs of water.

[107:33]  ¹ tn The verbal form appears to be a preterite, which is most naturally taken as narrational. (The use of prefixed forms with vav [ו] consecutive in vv. 36-37 favor this.) The psalmist may return to the theme of God’s intervention for the exiles (see vv. 4-22, especially vv. 4-9). However, many regard vv. 33-41 as a hymnic description which generalizes about God’s activities among men. In this case it would be preferable to use the English present tense throughout (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[107:34]  ² tn Heb “a salty land.”

[107:35]  ³ tn The words “As for his people” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. The psalmist contrasts God’s judgment on his enemies with his blessing of his people. See the note on the word “enemies” in v. 39 for further discussion.

[107:35]  ⁴ tn The verbal form appears to be a preterite, which is most naturally taken as narrational. See the note on the word “turned” in v. 33.