Discovery BoxPsalms 79:2-13
Context79:2 They have given the corpses of your servants
to the birds of the sky; 1
the flesh of your loyal followers
to the beasts of the earth.
79:3 They have made their blood flow like water
all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them. 2
79:4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. 3
79:5 How long will this go on, O Lord? 4
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage 5 burn like fire?
79:6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you, 6
on the kingdoms that do not pray to you! 7
79:7 For they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his home.
79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! 8
Quickly send your compassion our way, 9
for we are in serious trouble! 10
79:9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!
For the sake of your glorious reputation, 11 rescue us!
Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation! 12
79:10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants
be avenged among the nations! 13
79:11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners! 14
Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die! 15
79:12 Pay back our neighbors in full! 16
May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord! 17
79:13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will continually thank you. 18
We will tell coming generations of your praiseworthy acts. 19
[79:2] 1 tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”
[79:3] 2 tn Heb “they have poured out their blood like water, all around Jerusalem, and there is no one burying.”
[79:4] 3 tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.
[79:5] 4 tn Heb “How long, O
[79:5] 5 tn Or “jealous anger.”
[79:6] 6 tn Heb “which do not know you.” Here the Hebrew term “know” means “acknowledge the authority of.”
[79:6] 7 sn The kingdoms that do not pray to you. The people of these kingdoms pray to other gods, not the Lord, because they do not recognize his authority over them.
[79:8] 8 tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.
[79:8] 9 tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.
[79:8] 10 tn Heb “for we are very low.”
[79:9] 11 tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
[79:10] 13 tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”
[79:11] 14 tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”
[79:11] 15 tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
[79:12] 16 tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
[79:12] 17 tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”
[79:13] 18 tn Or (hyperbolically) “will thank you forever.”
[79:13] 19 tn Heb “to a generation and a generation we will report your praise.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.
