Psalms 43:2-4

Context

43:2 For you are the God who shelters me.¹

Why do you reject me?²

Why must I walk around³ mourning⁴

because my enemies oppress me?

43:3 Reveal⁵ your light⁶ and your faithfulness!

They will lead me,⁷

they will escort⁸ me back to your holy hill,⁹

and to the place where you live.¹⁰

43:4 Then I will go¹¹ to the altar of God,

to the God who gives me ecstatic joy,¹²

so that I express my thanks to you,¹³ O God, my God, with a harp.

[43:2] ¹tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.

[43:2] ²tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).

[43:2] ³tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.

[43:2] ⁴sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.

[43:3] ⁵tn Heb “send.”

[43:3] ⁶sn God’s deliverance is compared here to a light which will lead the psalmist back home to the Lord’s temple. Divine deliverance will in turn demonstrate the Lord’s faithfulness to his people.

[43:3] ⁷tn Or “may they lead me.” The prefixed verbal forms here and in the next line may be taken as jussives.

[43:3] ⁸tn Heb “bring.”

[43:3] ⁹sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill is Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 15:1; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.

[43:3] ¹⁰tn Or “to your dwelling place[s].” The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; this is the Lord’s special dwelling place (see Pss 46:4; 84:1; 132:5, 7).

[43:4] ⁹tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”

[43:4] ¹⁰tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[43:4] ¹¹tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.