Psalms 81:1-6

Psalm 81 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the gittith style; ²  by Asaph.

81:1 Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!

Shout out to the God of Jacob!

81:2 Sing ³  a song and play the tambourine,

the pleasant sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument!

81:3 Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon, ⁴ 

and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins. ⁵ 

81:4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel; ⁶ 

it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.

81:5 He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph,

when he attacked the land of Egypt. ⁷ 

I heard a voice I did not recognize. ⁸ 

81:6 It said: ⁹  “I removed the burden from his shoulder;

his hands were released from holding the basket. ¹⁰ 

[81:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 81. The psalmist calls God’s people to assemble for a festival and then proclaims God’s message to them. The divine speech (vv. 6-16) recalls how God delivered the people from Egypt, reminds Israel of their rebellious past, expresses God’s desire for his people to obey him, and promises divine protection in exchange for obedience.

[81:1]  ² tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הַגִּתִּית (haggittit) is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or instrument. See the superscription to Ps 8.

[81:2]  ³ tn Heb “lift up.”

[81:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “at the new moon.”

[81:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “at the full moon on the day of our festival.” The Hebrew word כֶּסֶה (keseh) is an alternate spelling of כֶּסֶא (kese’, “full moon”).

[81:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “because a statute for Israel [is] it.”

[81:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “in his going out against the land of Egypt.” This apparently refers to the general time period of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The LXX reads, “from Egypt,” in which case “Joseph” (see the preceding line) would be the subject of the verb, “when he [Joseph = Israel] left Egypt.”

[81:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “a lip I did not know, I heard.” Here the term “lip” probably stands for speech or a voice. Apparently the psalmist speaks here and refers to God’s voice, whose speech is recorded in the following verses.

[81:6]  ⁹ tn The words “It said” are not included in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[81:6]  ¹⁰ sn I removed the burden. The Lord speaks metaphorically of how he delivered his people from Egyptian bondage. The reference to a basket/burden probably alludes to the hard labor of the Israelites in Egypt, where they had to carry loads of bricks (see Exod 1:14).