Psalms 78:49-50

78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them, ¹ 

He sent fury, rage, and trouble

as messengers who bring disaster. ² 

78:50 He sent his anger in full force; ³ 

he did not spare them from death;

he handed their lives over to destruction. ⁴ 

[78:49]  ¹ tn Heb “he sent against them the rage of his anger.” The phrase “rage of his anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. 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.

[78:49]  ² tn Heb “fury and indignation and trouble, a sending of messengers of disaster.”

[78:50]  ³ tn Heb “he leveled a path for his anger.” There were no obstacles to impede its progress; it moved swiftly and destructively.

[78:50]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “[the] plague.”