Psalms 42:1-2

Book 2
(Psalms 42-72)

Psalm 42 ¹ 

For the music director; a well-written song ²  by the Korahites.

42:1 As a deer ³  longs ⁴  for streams of water,

so I long ⁵  for you, O God!

42:2 I thirst ⁶  for God,

for the living God.

I say, ⁷  “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?” ⁸ 

Psalms 84:2

84:2 I desperately want to be ⁹ 

in the courts of the Lord’s temple. ¹⁰ 

My heart and my entire being ¹¹  shout for joy

to the living God.

Psalms 119:81

כ (Kaf)

119:81 I desperately long for ¹²  your deliverance.

I find hope in your word.

Psalms 143:6

143:6 I spread my hands out to you in prayer; ¹³ 

my soul thirsts for you in a parched ¹⁴  land. ¹⁵ 

John 7:37

Teaching About the Spirit

7:37 On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, ¹⁶  Jesus stood up and shouted out, ¹⁷  “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and

Revelation 7:16-17

7:16 They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat, ¹⁸  7:17 because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” ¹⁹ 

[42:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 42. The psalmist recalls how he once worshiped in the Lord’s temple, but laments that he is now oppressed by enemies in a foreign land. Some medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalms 42 and 43 into a single psalm.

[42:1]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[42:1]  ³ tn Since the accompanying verb is feminine in form, the noun אָיִּל (’ayyil, “male deer”) should be emended to אַיֶּלֶת (’ayyelet, “female deer”). Haplography of the letter tav has occurred; note that the following verb begins with tav.

[42:1]  ⁴ tn Or “pants [with thirst].”

[42:1]  ⁵ tn Or “my soul pants [with thirst].” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[42:2]  ⁶ tn Or “my soul thirsts.”

[42:2]  ⁷ tn The words “I say” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

[42:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “When will I go and appear [to] the face of God?” Some emend the Niphal verbal form אֵרָאֶה (’era’eh, “I will appear”) to a Qal אֶרְאֶה (’er’eh, “I will see”; see Gen 33:10), but the Niphal can be retained if one understands ellipsis of אֶת (’et) before “face” (see Exod 34:24; Deut 31:11).

[84:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “my soul longs, it even pines for.”

[84:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the courts of the Lord” (see Ps 65:4).

[84:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my flesh,” which stands for his whole person and being.

[119:81]  ¹² tn Heb “my soul pines for.” See Ps 84:2.

[143:6]  ¹³ tn The words “in prayer” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the psalmist is referring to a posture of prayer.

[143:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” See Ps 63:1.

[143:6]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “my soul like a faint land for you.” A verb (perhaps “thirsts”) is implied (see Ps 63:1). The translation assumes an emendation of the preposition -כְּ (kÿ, “like”) to -בְּ (bÿ, “in,” see Ps 63:1; cf. NEB “athirst for thee in a thirsty land”). If the MT is retained, one might translate, “my soul thirsts for you, as a parched land does for water/rain” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[7:37]  ¹⁶ sn There is a problem with the identification of this reference to the last day of the feast, the greatest day: It appears from Deut 16:13 that the feast went for seven days. Lev 23:36, however, makes it plain that there was an eighth day, though it was mentioned separately from the seven. It is not completely clear whether the seventh or eighth day was the climax of the feast, called here by the author the “last great day of the feast.” Since according to the Mishnah (m. Sukkah 4.1) the ceremonies with water and lights did not continue after the seventh day, it seems more probable that this is the day the author mentions.

[7:37]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Jesus stood up and cried out, saying.”

[7:16]  ¹⁸ tn An allusion to Isa 49:10. The phrase “burning heat” is one word in Greek (καῦμα, kauma) that refers to a burning, intensely-felt heat. See BDAG 536 s.v.

[7:17]  ¹⁹ sn An allusion to Isa 25:8.