Psalms 109:19

109:19 May a curse attach itself to him, like a garment one puts on, ¹ 

or a belt ²  one wears continually!

Psalms 84:6

84:6 As they pass through the Baca Valley, ³ 

he provides a spring for them. ⁴ 

The rain ⁵  even covers it with pools of water. ⁶ 

[109:19]  ¹ tn Heb “may it be for him like a garment one puts on.”

[109:19]  ² tn The Hebrew noun מֵזַח (mezakh, “belt; waistband”) occurs only here in the OT. The form apparently occurs in Isa 23:10 as well, but an emendation is necessary there.

[84:6]  ³ tn The translation assumes that the Hebrew phrase עֵמֶק הַבָּכָא (’emeq habbakha’) is the name of an otherwise unknown arid valley through which pilgrims to Jerusalem passed. The term בָּכָא (bakha’) may be the name of a particular type of plant or shrub that grew in this valley. O. Borowski (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 130) suggests it is the black mulberry. Some take the phrase as purely metaphorical and relate בָּכָא to the root בָּכָה (bakhah, “to weep”). In this case one might translate, “the valley of weeping” or “the valley of affliction.”

[84:6]  ⁴ tc The MT reads “a spring they make it,” but this makes little sense. Many medieval Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX, understand God to be the subject and the valley to be the object, “he [God] makes it [the valley] [into] a spring.”

[84:6]  ⁵ tn This rare word may refer to the early (or autumn) rains (see Joel 2:23).

[84:6]  ⁶ tc The MT reads בְּרָכוֹת (bÿrakhot, “blessings”) but the preceding reference to a “spring” favors an emendation to בְּרֵכוֹת (bÿrekhot, “pools”).