Psalms 78:54-58

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.

[78:54]  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]  ⁷ tn Or “keep.”

[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.”