Psalms 80:11-13

80:11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea, ¹ 

and its shoots the Euphrates River. ² 

80:12 Why did you break down its walls, ³ 

so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? ⁴ 

80:13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; ⁵ 

the insects ⁶  of the field feed on it.

[80:11]  ¹ tn Heb “to [the] sea.” The “sea” refers here to the Mediterranean Sea.

[80:11]  ² 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]  ³ sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).

[80:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “pluck it.”

[80:13]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.

[80:13]  ⁶ tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word translated “insects,” which occurs only here and in Ps 50:11, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic, and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.