Discovery BoxPsalms 74:12-18
Context74:12 But God has been my 1 king from ancient times,
performing acts of deliverance on the earth. 2
74:13 You destroyed 3 the sea by your strength;
you shattered the heads of the sea monster 4 in the water.
74:14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan; 5
you fed 6 him to the people who live along the coast. 7
74:15 You broke open the spring and the stream; 8
you dried up perpetually flowing rivers. 9
74:16 You established the cycle of day and night; 10
you put the moon 11 and sun in place. 12
74:17 You set up all the boundaries 13 of the earth;
you created the cycle of summer and winter. 14
74:18 Remember how 15 the enemy hurls insults, O Lord, 16
and how a foolish nation blasphemes your name!
Psalms 143:5
Context143:5 I recall the old days; 17
I meditate on all you have done;
I reflect on your accomplishments. 18
Deuteronomy 32:7
Context32:7 Remember the ancient days;
bear in mind 19 the years of past generations. 20
Ask your father and he will inform you,
your elders, and they will tell you.
Isaiah 51:9
Context51:9 Wake up! Wake up!
Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! 21
Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!
Did you not smash 22 the Proud One? 23
Did you not 24 wound the sea monster? 25
Isaiah 63:9-15
Context63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. 26
The messenger sent from his very presence 27 delivered them.
In his love and mercy he protected 28 them;
he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. 29
63:10 But they rebelled and offended 30 his holy Spirit, 31
so he turned into an enemy
and fought against them.
63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. 32
Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,
along with the shepherd of 33 his flock?
Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, 34
63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, 35
who divided the water before them,
gaining for himself a lasting reputation, 36
63:13 who led them through the deep water?
Like a horse running on flat land 37 they did not stumble.
63:14 Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze, 38
so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.
In this way 39 you guided your people,
gaining for yourself an honored reputation. 40
63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,
from your holy, majestic palace!
Where are your zeal 41 and power?
Do not hold back your tender compassion! 42
Micah 7:14-15
Context7:14 Shepherd your people with your shepherd’s rod, 43
the flock that belongs to you, 44
the one that lives alone in a thicket,
in the midst of a pastureland. 45
Allow them to graze in Bashan and Gilead, 46
as they did in the old days. 47
7:15 “As in the days when you departed from the land of Egypt,
[74:12] 1 tn The psalmist speaks as Israel’s representative here.
[74:12] 2 tn Heb “in the midst of the earth.”
[74:13] 3 tn The derivation and meaning of the Polel verb form פּוֹרַרְתָּ (porarta) are uncertain. The form may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning “break, shatter,” though the biblical Hebrew cognate of this verb always appears in the Hiphil or Hophal stem. BDB 830 s.v. II פָּרַר suggests a homonym here, meaning “to split; to divide.” A Hitpolel form of a root פָּרַר (parar) appears in Isa 24:19 with the meaning “to shake violently.”
[74:13] 4 tn The Hebrew text has the plural form, “sea monsters” (cf. NRSV “dragons”), but it is likely that an original enclitic mem has been misunderstood as a plural ending. The imagery of the mythological sea monster is utilized here. See the note on “Leviathan” in v. 14.
[74:14] 5 sn You crushed the heads of Leviathan. The imagery of vv. 13-14 originates in West Semitic mythology. The description of Leviathan should be compared with the following excerpts from Ugaritic mythological texts: (1) “Was not the dragon [Ugaritic tnn, cognate with Hebrew תַּנִין (tanin), translated “sea monster” in v. 13] vanquished and captured? I did destroy the wriggling [Ugaritic ’qltn, cognate to Hebrew עֲקַלָּתוֹן (’aqallaton), translated “squirming” in Isa 27:1] serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (note the use of the plural “heads” here and in v. 13). (See CTA 3.iii.38-39 in G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 50.) (2) “For all that you smote Leviathan the slippery [Ugaritic brh, cognate to Hebrew בָּרִחַ (bariakh), translated “fast moving” in Isa 27:1] serpent, [and] made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (See CTA 5.i.1-3 in G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 68.) In the myths Leviathan is a sea creature that symbolizes the destructive water of the sea and, in turn, the forces of chaos that threaten the established order. In the OT, the battle with the sea motif is applied to Yahweh’s victories over the forces of chaos at creation and in history (see Pss 74:13-14; 77:16-20; 89:9-10; Isa 51:9-10). Yahweh’s subjugation of the waters of chaos is related to his kingship (see Pss 29:3, 10; 93:3-4). Isa 27:1 applies imagery from Canaanite mythology to Yahweh’s eschatological victory over his enemies. Apocalyptic literature employs the imagery as well. The beasts of Dan 7 emerge from the sea, while Rev 13 speaks of a seven-headed beast coming from the sea. Here in Ps 74:13-14 the primary referent is unclear. The psalmist may be describing God’s creation of the world (note vv. 16-17 and see Ps 89:9-12), when he brought order out of a watery mass, or the exodus (see Isa 51:9-10), when he created Israel by destroying the Egyptians in the waters of the sea.
[74:14] 6 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite in this narrational context.
[74:14] 7 sn You fed him to the people. This pictures the fragments of Leviathan’s dead corpse washing up on shore and being devoured by those who find them. If the exodus is in view, then it may allude to the bodies of the dead Egyptians which washed up on the shore of the Red Sea (see Exod 14:30).
[74:15] 8 sn You broke open the spring and the stream. Perhaps this alludes to the way in which God provided water for the Israelites as they traveled in the wilderness following the exodus (see Ps 78:15-16, 20; 105:41).
[74:15] 9 sn Perpetually flowing rivers are rivers that contain water year round, unlike the seasonal streams that flow only during the rainy season. Perhaps the psalmist here alludes to the drying up of the Jordan River when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan under Joshua (see Josh 3-4).
[74:16] 10 tn Heb “To you [is] day, also to you [is] night.”
[74:16] 11 tn Heb “[the] light.” Following the reference to “day and night” and in combination with “sun,” it is likely that the Hebrew term מָאוֹר (ma’or, “light”) refers here to the moon.
[74:16] 12 tn Heb “you established [the] light and [the] sun.”
[74:17] 13 tn This would appear to refer to geographical boundaries, such as mountains, rivers, and seacoasts. However, since the day-night cycle has just been mentioned (v. 16) and the next line speaks of the seasons, it is possible that “boundaries” here refers to the divisions of the seasons. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 2:156.
[74:17] 14 tn Heb “summer and winter, you, you formed them.”
[74:18] 15 tn Heb “remember this.”
[74:18] 16 tn Or “[how] the enemy insults the
[143:5] 17 tn Or “ancient times”; Heb “days from before.”
[143:5] 18 tn Heb “the work of your hands.”
[32:7] 19 tc The Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read 2nd person masculine singular whereas the MT has 2nd person masculine plural. The former is preferred, the latter perhaps being a misreading (בִּינוּ [binu] for בִּינָה [binah]). Both the preceding (“remember”) and following (“ask”) imperatives are singular forms in the Hebrew text.
[32:7] 20 tn Heb “generation and generation.” The repetition of the singular noun here singles out each of the successive past generations. See IBHS 116 §7.2.3b.
[51:9] 21 tn The arm of the Lord is a symbol of divine military power. Here it is personified and told to arouse itself from sleep and prepare for action.
[51:9] 22 tn Heb “Are you not the one who smashed?” The feminine singular forms agree grammatically with the feminine noun “arm.” The Hebrew text has ַהמַּחְצֶבֶת (hammakhtsevet), from the verbal root חָצַב (khatsav, “hew, chop”). The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has, probably correctly, המחצת, from the verbal root מָחַץ (makhats, “smash”) which is used in Job 26:12 to describe God’s victory over “the Proud One.”
[51:9] 23 tn This title (רַהַב, rahav, “proud one”) is sometimes translated as a proper name: “Rahab” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). It is used here of a symbolic sea monster, known elsewhere in the Bible and in Ugaritic myth as Leviathan. This sea creature symbolizes the forces of chaos that seek to destroy the created order. In the Bible “the Proud One” opposes God’s creative work, but is defeated (see Job 26:12; Ps 89:10). Here the title refers to Pharaoh’s Egyptian army that opposed Israel at the Red Sea (see v. 10, and note also Isa 30:7 and Ps 87:4, where the title is used of Egypt).
[51:9] 24 tn The words “did you not” are understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). The rhetorical questions here and in v. 10 expect the answer, “Yes, you certainly did!”
[51:9] 25 tn Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin) is another name for the symbolic sea monster. See the note at 27:1. In this context the sea creature represents Egypt. See the note on the title “Proud One” earlier in this verse.
[63:9] 26 tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).
[63:9] 27 tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”
[63:9] 28 tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”
[63:9] 29 tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”
[63:10] 30 tn Or “grieved, hurt the feelings of.”
[63:10] 31 sn The phrase “holy Spirit” occurs in the OT only here (in v. 11 as well) and in Ps 51:11 (51:13 HT), where it is associated with the divine presence.
[63:11] 32 tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.
[63:11] 33 tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, ra’ah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.
[63:11] 34 sn See the note at v. 10.
[63:12] 35 tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”
[63:12] 36 tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”
[63:13] 37 tn Heb “in the desert [or “steppe”].”
[63:14] 38 tn The words “to graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[63:14] 39 tn Or “so” (KJV, ASV), or “thus” (NAB, NRSV).
[63:14] 40 tn Heb “making for yourself a majestic name.”
[63:15] 41 tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.
[63:15] 42 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (’al). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, tit’appaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (’afaq) also occurs in 42:14.
[7:14] 43 tn Or “with your scepter” (the Hebrew term can mean either “rod” or “scepter”).
[7:14] 44 tn Heb “the flock of your inheritance.”
[7:14] 45 tn Or “in the midst of Carmel.” The Hebrew term translated “pastureland” may be a place name.
[7:14] 46 sn The regions of Bashan and Gilead, located in Transjordan, were noted for their rich grazing lands.
[7:14] 47 tn Heb “as in the days of antiquity.”
[7:15] 48 tn Heb “him.” This probably refers to Israel in a collective sense. Because the switch from direct address to the third person is awkward, some prefer to emend the suffix to a second person form. In any case, it is necessary to employ a second person pronoun in the translation to maintain the connection for the English reader.
[7:15] 49 sn I will show you miraculous deeds. In this verse the
