Discovery BoxPsalms 80:1-12
ContextFor the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; 2 a psalm of Asaph.
80:1 O shepherd of Israel, pay attention,
you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep!
You who sit enthroned above the winged angels, 3 reveal your splendor! 4
80:2 In the sight of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh reveal 5 your power!
Come and deliver us! 6
80:3 O God, restore us!
Smile on us! 7 Then we will be delivered! 8
80:4 O Lord God, invincible warrior! 9
How long will you remain angry at your people while they pray to you? 10
80:5 You have given them tears as food; 11
you have made them drink tears by the measure. 12
80:6 You have made our neighbors dislike us, 13
and our enemies insult us.
80:7 O God, invincible warrior, 14 restore us!
Smile on us! 15 Then we will be delivered! 16
80:8 You uprooted a vine 17 from Egypt;
you drove out nations and transplanted it.
80:9 You cleared the ground for it; 18
it took root, 19
and filled the land.
80:10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,
the highest cedars 20 by its branches.
80:11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea, 21
and its shoots the Euphrates River. 22
80:12 Why did you break down its walls, 23
so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? 24
[80:1] 1 sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.
[80:1] 2 tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.
[80:1] 3 sn Winged angels (Heb “cherubs”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.
[80:1] 4 tn Heb “shine forth.”
[80:2] 5 tn Heb “stir up”; “arouse.”
[80:2] 6 tn Heb “come for our deliverance.”
[80:3] 7 tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
[80:3] 8 tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
[80:4] 9 tn Heb “
[80:4] 10 tn Heb “How long will you remain angry during the prayer of your people.” Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) in an adversative sense here (“at/against the prayer of your people”), but the temporal sense is preferable. The psalmist expects persistent prayer to pacify God.
[80:5] 11 tn Heb “you have fed them the food of tears.”
[80:5] 12 tn Heb “[by] the third part [of a measure].” The Hebrew term שָׁלִישׁ (shalish, “third part [of a measure]”) occurs only here and in Isa 40:12.
[80:6] 13 tn Heb “you have made us an object of contention to our neighbors.”
[80:7] 14 tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also v. 4 for a similar construction.
[80:7] 15 tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
[80:7] 16 tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
[80:8] 17 sn The vine is here a metaphor for Israel (see Ezek 17:6-10; Hos 10:1).
[80:9] 18 tn Heb “you cleared away before it.”
[80:9] 19 tn Heb “and it took root [with] its roots.”
[80:10] 20 tn Heb “cedars of God.” The divine name אֵל (’al, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.
[80:11] 21 tn Heb “to [the] sea.” The “sea” refers here to the Mediterranean Sea.
[80:11] 22 tn Heb “to [the] river.” The “river” is the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. Israel expanded both to the west and to the east.
[80:12] 23 sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).
