Discovery BoxPsalms 2:4
Context2:4 The one enthroned 1 in heaven laughs in disgust; 2
the Lord taunts 3 them.
Psalms 38:22
Context38:22 Hurry and help me, 4 O Lord, my deliverer!
Psalms 73:20
Context73:20 They are like a dream after one wakes up. 5
O Lord, when you awake 6 you will despise them. 7
Psalms 78:65
Context78:65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep; 8
he was like a warrior in a drunken rage. 9
Psalms 86:8
Context86:8 None can compare to you among the gods, O Lord!
Your exploits are incomparable! 10
[2:4] 1 tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12; 123:1).
[2:4] 2 tn As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter. The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in vv. 4-5 describe the action from the perspective of an eyewitness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.
[2:4] 3 tn Or “scoffs at”; “derides”; “mocks.”
[38:22] 4 tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Ps 22:19.
[73:20] 7 tn Heb “like a dream from awakening.” They lack any real substance; their prosperity will last for only a brief time.
[73:20] 8 sn When you awake. The psalmist compares God’s inactivity to sleep and the time of God’s judgment to his awakening from sleep.
[73:20] 9 tn Heb “you will despise their form.” The Hebrew term צֶלֶם (tselem, “form; image”) also suggests their short-lived nature. Rather than having real substance, they are like the mere images that populate one’s dreams. Note the similar use of the term in Ps 39:6.
[78:65] 10 tn Heb “and the master awoke like one sleeping.” The
[78:65] 11 tn Heb “like a warrior overcome with wine.” The Hebrew verb רוּן (run, “overcome”) occurs only here in the OT. The phrase “overcome with wine” could picture a drunken warrior controlled by his emotions and passions (as in the present translation), or it could refer to a warrior who awakes from a drunken stupor.
