Psalms 42:2-3

42:2 I thirst ¹  for God,

for the living God.

I say, ²  “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?” ³ 

42:3 I cannot eat, I weep day and night; ⁴ 

all day long they say to me, ⁵  “Where is your God?”

[42:2]  ¹ tn Or “my soul thirsts.”

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

[42:2]  ³ 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).

[42:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “My tears have become my food day and night.”

[42:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “when [they] say to me all the day.” The suffixed third masculine plural pronoun may have been accidentally omitted from the infinitive בֶּאֱמֹר (be’ÿmor, “when [they] say”). Note the term בְּאָמְרָם (bÿ’omram, “when they say”) in v. 10.