Discovery BoxPsalms 78:53-72
Context78:53 He guided them safely along,
while the sea covered their enemies.
78:54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this mountainous land 1 which his right hand 2 acquired.
78:55 He drove the nations out from before them;
he assigned them their tribal allotments 3
and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. 4
78:56 Yet they challenged and defied 5 the sovereign God, 6
and did not obey 7 his commands. 8
78:57 They were unfaithful 9 and acted as treacherously as 10 their ancestors;
they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. 11
78:58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines, 12
and made him jealous with their idols.
78:59 God heard and was angry;
he completely rejected Israel.
78:60 He abandoned 13 the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; 14
he gave the symbol of his splendor 15 into the hand of the enemy. 16
78:62 He delivered his people over to the sword,
and was angry with his chosen nation. 17
78:63 Fire consumed their 18 young men,
and their 19 virgins remained unmarried. 20
78:64 Their 21 priests fell by the sword,
but their 22 widows did not weep. 23
78:65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep; 24
he was like a warrior in a drunken rage. 25
78:66 He drove his enemies back;
he made them a permanent target for insults. 26
78:67 He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
78:69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above; 27
as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. 28
78:70 He chose David, his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds.
78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, 29
and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and of Israel, his chosen nation. 30
78:72 David 31 cared for them with pure motives; 32
he led them with skill. 33
[78:54] 1 tn Heb “this mountain.” The whole land of Canaan seems to be referred to here. In Exod 15:17 the promised land is called the “mountain of your [i.e., God’s] inheritance.”
[78:54] 2 tn The “right hand” here symbolizes God’s military strength (see v. 55).
[78:55] 3 tn Heb “he caused to fall [to] them with a measuring line an inheritance.”
[78:55] 4 tn Heb “and caused the tribes of Israel to settle down in their tents.”
[78:56] 5 tn Or “tested and rebelled against.”
[78:56] 6 tn Heb “God, the Most High.”
[78:56] 8 tn Heb “his testimonies” (see Ps 25:10).
[78:57] 9 tn Heb “they turned back.”
[78:57] 10 tn Or “acted treacherously like.”
[78:57] 11 tn Heb “they turned aside like a deceitful bow.”
[78:58] 12 tn Traditionally, “high places.”
[78:61] 14 tn Heb “and he gave to captivity his strength.” The expression “his strength” refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant, which was housed in the tabernacle at Shiloh.
[78:61] 15 tn Heb “and his splendor into the hand of an enemy.” The expression “his splendor” also refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant.
[78:61] 16 sn Verses 60-61 refer to the Philistines’ capture of the ark in the days of Eli (1 Sam 4:1-11).
[78:62] 17 tn Heb “his inheritance.”
[78:63] 18 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:63] 19 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:63] 20 tn Heb “were not praised,” that is, in wedding songs. The young men died in masses, leaving no husbands for the young women.
[78:64] 21 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:64] 22 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:64] 23 sn Because of the invading army and the ensuing panic, the priests’ widows had no time to carry out the normal mourning rites.
[78:65] 24 tn Heb “and the master awoke like one sleeping.” The
[78:65] 25 tn Heb “like a warrior overcome with wine.” The Hebrew verb רוּן (run, “overcome”) occurs only here in the OT. The phrase “overcome with wine” could picture a drunken warrior controlled by his emotions and passions (as in the present translation), or it could refer to a warrior who awakes from a drunken stupor.
[78:66] 26 tn Heb “a permanent reproach he made them.”
[78:69] 27 tc Heb “and he built like the exalting [ones] his sanctuary.” The phrase כְּמוֹ־רָמִים (kÿmo-ramim, “like the exalting [ones]”) is a poetic form of the comparative preposition followed by a participial form of the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”). The text should be emended to כִּמְרֹמִים (kimromim, “like the [heavenly] heights”). See Ps 148:1, where “heights” refers to the heavens above.
[78:69] 28 tn Heb “like the earth, [which] he established permanently.” The feminine singular suffix on the Hebrew verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish”) refers to the grammatically feminine noun “earth.”
[78:71] 29 tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”
[78:71] 30 tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”
[78:72] 31 tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[78:72] 32 tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”
[78:72] 33 tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”
