Psalms 120:3-7

120:3 How will he severely punish you,

you deceptive talker? ¹ 

120:4 Here’s how! ²  With the sharp arrows of warriors,

with arrowheads forged over the hot coals. ³ 

120:5 How miserable I am! ⁴ 

For I have lived temporarily ⁵  in Meshech;

I have resided among the tents of Kedar. ⁶ 

120:6 For too long I have had to reside

with those who hate ⁷  peace.

120:7 I am committed to peace, ⁸ 

but when I speak, they want to make war. ⁹ 

[120:3]  ¹ tn Heb “What will he give to you, and what will he add to you, O tongue of deception?” The psalmist addresses his deceptive enemies. The Lord is the understood subject of the verbs “give” and “add.” The second part of the question echoes a standard curse formula, “thus the Lord/God will do … and thus he will add” (see Ruth 1:17; 1 Sam 3:17; 14:44; 20:13; 25:22; 2 Sam 3:9, 35; 19:13; 1 Kgs 2:23; 2 Kgs 6:31).

[120:4]  ² tn The words “here’s how” are supplied in the translation as a clarification. In v. 4 the psalmist answers the question he raises in v. 3.

[120:4]  ³ tn Heb “with coals of the wood of the broom plant.” The wood of the broom plant was used to make charcoal, which in turn was used to fuel the fire used to forge the arrowheads.

[120:5]  ⁴ tn Or “woe to me.” The Hebrew term אוֹיָה (’oyah, “woe”) which occurs only here, is an alternate form of אוֹי (’oy).

[120:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “I live as a resident alien.”

[120:5]  ⁶ sn Meshech was located in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). Kedar was located in the desert to east-southeast of Israel. Because of the reference to Kedar, it is possible that Ps 120:5 refers to a different Meshech, perhaps one associated with the individual mentioned as a descendant of Aram in 1 Chr 1:17. (However, the LXX in 1 Chr 1:17 follows the parallel text in Gen 10:23, which reads “Mash,” not Meshech.) It is, of course, impossible that the psalmist could have been living in both the far north and the east at the same time. For this reason one must assume that he is recalling his experience as a wanderer among the nations or that he is using the geographical terms metaphorically and sarcastically to suggest that the enemies who surround him are like the barbarians who live in these distant regions. For a discussion of the problem, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 146.

[120:6]  ⁷ tn The singular participial form probably has a representative function here. The psalmist envisions the typical hater of peace who represents the entire category of such individuals.

[120:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “I, peace.”

[120:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “they [are] for war.”