Psalms 108:2

108:2 Awake, O stringed instrument and harp!

I will wake up at dawn! ¹ 

Psalms 139:9

139:9 If I were to fly away ²  on the wings of the dawn, ³ 

and settle down on the other side ⁴  of the sea,

[108:2]  ¹ tn BDB 1007 s.v. שַׁחַר takes “dawn” as an adverbial accusative, though others understand it as a personified direct object. “Dawn” is used metaphorically for the time of deliverance and vindication the psalmist anticipates. When salvation “dawns,” the psalmist will “wake up” in praise.

[139:9]  ² tn Heb “rise up.”

[139:9]  ³ sn On the wings of the dawn. This personification of the “dawn” may find its roots in mythological traditions about the god Shachar, whose birth is described in an Ugaritic myth (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 126) and who is mentioned in Isa 14:12 as the father of Helel.

[139:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “at the end.”