Psalms 74:14-23

74:14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan; ¹ 

you fed ²  him to the people who live along the coast. ³ 

74:15 You broke open the spring and the stream; ⁴ 

you dried up perpetually flowing rivers. ⁵ 

74:16 You established the cycle of day and night; ⁶ 

you put the moon ⁷  and sun in place. ⁸ 

74:17 You set up all the boundaries ⁹  of the earth;

you created the cycle of summer and winter. ¹⁰ 

74:18 Remember how ¹¹  the enemy hurls insults, O Lord, ¹² 

and how a foolish nation blasphemes your name!

74:19 Do not hand the life of your dove ¹³  over to a wild animal!

Do not continue to disregard ¹⁴  the lives of your oppressed people!

74:20 Remember your covenant promises, ¹⁵ 

for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules. ¹⁶ 

74:21 Do not let the afflicted be turned back in shame!

Let the oppressed and poor praise your name! ¹⁷ 

74:22 Rise up, O God! Defend your honor! ¹⁸ 

Remember how fools insult you all day long! ¹⁹ 

74:23 Do not disregard ²⁰  what your enemies say, ²¹ 

or the unceasing shouts of those who defy you. ²² 

[74:14]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite in this narrational context.

[74:14]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “To you [is] day, also to you [is] night.”

[74:16]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “you established [the] light and [the] sun.”

[74:17]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “summer and winter, you, you formed them.”

[74:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “remember this.”

[74:18]  ¹² tn Or “[how] the enemy insults the Lord.”

[74:19]  ¹³ sn Your dove. The psalmist compares weak and vulnerable Israel to a helpless dove.

[74:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “do not forget forever.”

[74:20]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “look at the covenant.” The LXX reads “your covenant,” which seems to assume a second person pronominal suffix. The suffix may have been accidentally omitted by haplography. Note that the following word (כִּי) begins with kaf (כ).

[74:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for the dark places of the earth are full of dwelling places of violence.” The “dark regions” are probably the lands where the people have been exiled (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:157). In some contexts “dark regions” refers to Sheol (Ps 88:6) or to hiding places likened to Sheol (Ps 143:3; Lam 3:6).

[74:21]  ¹⁷ sn Let the oppressed and poor praise your name! The statement is metonymic. The point is this: May the oppressed be delivered from their enemies! Then they will have ample reason to praise God’s name.

[74:22]  ¹⁸ tn Or “defend your cause.”

[74:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “remember your reproach from a fool all the day.”

[74:23]  ²⁰ tn Or “forget.”

[74:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “the voice of your enemies.”

[74:23]  ²² tn Heb “the roar of those who rise up against you, which ascends continually.”