Psalms 80:8-13

80:8 You uprooted a vine ¹  from Egypt;

you drove out nations and transplanted it.

80:9 You cleared the ground for it; ² 

it took root, ³ 

and filled the land.

80:10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,

the highest cedars ⁴  by its branches.

80:11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea, ⁵ 

and its shoots the Euphrates River. ⁶ 

80:12 Why did you break down its walls, ⁷ 

so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? ⁸ 

80:13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; ⁹ 

the insects ¹⁰  of the field feed on it.

[80:8]  ¹ sn The vine is here a metaphor for Israel (see Ezek 17:6-10; Hos 10:1).

[80:9]  ² tn Heb “you cleared away before it.”

[80:9]  ³ tn Heb “and it took root [with] its roots.”

[80:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “cedars of God.” The divine name אֵל (’al, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.

[80:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “to [the] sea.” The “sea” refers here to the Mediterranean Sea.

[80:11]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).

[80:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “pluck it.”

[80:13]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.

[80:13]  ¹⁰ 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.