Discovery BoxPsalms 81:7-16
Context81:7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud. 1
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 2 (Selah)
81:8 I said, 3 ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn 4 you!
O Israel, if only you would obey me! 5
81:9 There must be 6 no other 7 god among you.
You must not worship a foreign god.
81:10 I am the Lord, your God,
the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it!’
81:11 But my people did not obey me; 8
Israel did not submit to me. 9
81:12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; 10
they did what seemed right to them. 11
81:13 If only my people would obey me! 12
If only Israel would keep my commands! 13
81:14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
and attack 14 their adversaries.”
81:15 (May those who hate the Lord 15 cower in fear 16 before him!
May they be permanently humiliated!) 17
81:16 “I would feed Israel the best wheat, 18
and would satisfy your appetite 19 with honey from the rocky cliffs.” 20
[81:7] 1 tn Heb “I answered you in the hidden place of thunder.” This may allude to God’s self-revelation at Mount Sinai, where he appeared in a dark cloud accompanied by thunder (see Exod 19:16).
[81:7] 2 sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at the place called Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.
[81:8] 3 tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Verses 8-10 appear to recall what the
[81:8] 4 tn Or perhaps “command.”
[81:8] 5 tn The Hebrew particle אִם (“if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (GKC 321 §109.b). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.
[81:9] 6 tn The imperfect verbal forms in v. 9 have a modal function, expressing what is obligatory.
[81:9] 7 tn Heb “different”; “illicit.”
[81:11] 8 tn Heb “did not listen to my voice.”
[81:11] 9 tn The Hebrew expression אָבָה לִי (’avah liy) means “submit to me” (see Deut 13:8).
[81:12] 10 tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”
[81:12] 11 tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).
[81:13] 12 tn Heb “if only my people were listening to me.” The Hebrew particle לוּ (lu, “if not”) introduces a purely hypothetical or contrary to fact condition (see 2 Sam 18:12).
[81:13] 13 tn Heb “[and if only] Israel would walk in my ways.”
[81:14] 14 tn Heb “turn my hand against.” The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack” (see Isa 1:25; Ezek 38:12; Amos 1:8; Zech 13:7).
[81:15] 15 tn “Those who hate the
[81:15] 16 tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 66:3 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “to be weak; to be powerless” (see also Ps 109:24). The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, parallel to the jussive form in the next line.
[81:15] 17 tc Heb “and may their time be forever.” The Hebrew term עִתָּם (’ittam, “their time”) must refer here to the “time” of the demise and humiliation of those who hate the
[81:16] 18 tn Heb “and he fed him from the best of the wheat.” The Hebrew text has a third person form of the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive attached. However, it is preferable, in light of the use of the first person in v. 14 and in the next line, to emend the verb to a first person form and understand the vav as conjunctive, continuing the apodosis of the conditional sentence of vv. 13-14. The third masculine singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in v. 6.
[81:16] 19 tn Heb “you.” The second person singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in vv. 7-10.
[81:16] 20 sn The language in this verse, particularly the references to wheat and honey, is reminiscent of Deut 32:13-14.
