Psalms 78:15

78:15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness,

and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea. ¹ 

Psalms 78:40

78:40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness,

and insulted him ²  in the desert!

Psalms 78:52

78:52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep;

he led them through the wilderness like a flock.

Psalms 106:14

106:14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving ³  for meat; ⁴ 

they challenged God ⁵  in the desert.

Psalms 106:26

106:26 So he made a solemn vow ⁶ 

that he would make them die ⁷  in the desert,

Psalms 107:33

107:33 He turned ⁸  streams into a desert,

springs of water into arid land,

Psalms 136:16

136:16 to the one who led his people through the wilderness,

for his loyal love endures,

[78:15]  ¹ tn Heb “and caused them to drink, like the depths, abundantly.”

[78:40]  ² tn Or “caused him pain.”

[106:14]  ³ sn They had an insatiable craving. This is described in Num 11:4-35.

[106:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “they craved [with] a craving.”

[106:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “they tested God.”

[106:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he lifted his hand to [or “concerning”] them.” The idiom “to lift a hand” here refers to swearing an oath. One would sometimes solemnly lift one’s hand when making such a vow (see Ezek 20:5-6, 15).

[106:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “to cause them to fall.”

[107:33]  ⁵ tn The verbal form appears to be a preterite, which is most naturally taken as narrational. (The use of prefixed forms with vav [ו] consecutive in vv. 36-37 favor this.) The psalmist may return to the theme of God’s intervention for the exiles (see vv. 4-22, especially vv. 4-9). However, many regard vv. 33-41 as a hymnic description which generalizes about God’s activities among men. In this case it would be preferable to use the English present tense throughout (cf. NEB, NRSV).