Psalms 62:11

62:11 God has declared one principle;

two principles I have heard: ¹ 

God is strong, ² 

Psalms 60:1

Psalm 60 ³ 

For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; ⁴  a prayer ⁵  of David written to instruct others. ⁶  It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram-Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down ⁷  12,000 Edomites ⁸  in the Valley of Salt. ⁹ 

60:1 O God, you have rejected us. ¹⁰ 

You suddenly turned on us in your anger. ¹¹ 

Please restore us! ¹² 

[62:11]  ¹ tn Heb “one God spoke, two which I heard.” This is a numerical saying utilizing the “x” followed by “x + 1” pattern to facilitate poetic parallelism. (See W. M. W. Roth, Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament [VTSup], 55-56.) As is typical in such sayings, a list corresponding to the second number (in this case “two”) follows. Another option is to translate, “God has spoken once, twice [he has spoken] that which I have heard.” The terms אַחַת (’akhat, “one; once”) and שְׁתַּיִם (shÿtayim, “two; twice”) are also juxtaposed in 2 Kgs 6:10 (where they refer to an action that was done more than “once or twice”) and in Job 33:14 (where they refer to God speaking “one way” and then in “another manner”).

[62:11]  ² tn Heb “that strength [belongs] to God.”

[60:1]  ³ sn Psalm 60. The psalmist grieves over Israel’s humiliation, but in response to God’s assuring word, he asks for divine help in battle and expresses his confidence in victory.

[60:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew expression means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title.

[60:1]  ⁵ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-59, is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[60:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “to teach.”

[60:1]  ⁷ tn In Josh 8:21 and Judg 20:48 the two verbs “turn back” and “strike down” are also juxtaposed. There they refer to a military counter-attack.

[60:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “12,000 of Edom.” Perhaps one should read אֲרַם (’aram, “Aram”) here rather than אֱדוֹם (’edom, “Edom”).

[60:1]  ⁹ sn The heading apparently refers to the military campaign recorded in 2 Sam 10 and 1 Chr 19.

[60:1]  ¹⁰ sn You have rejected us. See Pss 43:2; 44:9, 23.

[60:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you broke out upon us, you were angry.”

[60:1]  ¹² tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.