Discovery BoxPsalms 78:59-72
Context78:59 God heard and was angry;
he completely rejected Israel.
78:60 He abandoned 1 the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; 2
he gave the symbol of his splendor 3 into the hand of the enemy. 4
78:62 He delivered his people over to the sword,
and was angry with his chosen nation. 5
78:63 Fire consumed their 6 young men,
and their 7 virgins remained unmarried. 8
78:64 Their 9 priests fell by the sword,
but their 10 widows did not weep. 11
78:65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep; 12
he was like a warrior in a drunken rage. 13
78:66 He drove his enemies back;
he made them a permanent target for insults. 14
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; 15
as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. 16
78:70 He chose David, his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds.
78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, 17
and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and of Israel, his chosen nation. 18
78:72 David 19 cared for them with pure motives; 20
he led them with skill. 21
[78:61] 2 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] 3 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] 4 sn Verses 60-61 refer to the Philistines’ capture of the ark in the days of Eli (1 Sam 4:1-11).
[78:62] 5 tn Heb “his inheritance.”
[78:63] 6 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:63] 7 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:63] 8 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] 9 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:64] 10 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:64] 11 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] 12 tn Heb “and the master awoke like one sleeping.” The
[78:65] 13 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] 14 tn Heb “a permanent reproach he made them.”
[78:69] 15 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] 16 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] 17 tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”
[78:71] 18 tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”
[78:72] 19 tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[78:72] 20 tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”
[78:72] 21 tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”
