Psalms 78:8

78:8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,

who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation that was not committed

and faithful to God. ¹ 

Psalms 78:40

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

and insulted him ²  in the desert!

Psalms 78:49

78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them, ³ 

He sent fury, rage, and trouble

as messengers who bring disaster. ⁴ 

Psalms 78:56

78:56 Yet they challenged and defied ⁵  the sovereign God, ⁶ 

and did not obey ⁷  his commands. ⁸ 

[78:8]  ¹ tn Heb “a generation that did not make firm its heart and whose spirit was not faithful with God.” The expression “make firm the heart” means “to be committed, devoted” (see 1 Sam 7:3).

[78:40]  ² tn Or “caused him pain.”

[78:49]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “fury and indignation and trouble, a sending of messengers of disaster.”

[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).