Psalms 83:13-16

83:13 O my God, make them like dead thistles, ¹ 

like dead weeds blown away by ²  the wind!

83:14 Like the fire that burns down the forest,

or the flames that consume the mountainsides, ³ 

83:15 chase them with your gale winds,

and terrify ⁴  them with your windstorm.

83:16 Cover ⁵  their faces with shame,

so they might seek ⁶  you, ⁷  O Lord.

[83:13]  ¹ tn Or “tumbleweed.” The Hebrew noun גַּלְגַּל (galgal) refers to a “wheel” or, metaphorically, to a whirling wind (see Ps 77:18). If taken in the latter sense here, one could understand the term as a metonymical reference to dust blown by a whirlwind (cf. NRSV “like whirling dust”). However, HALOT 190 s.v. II גַּלְגַּל understands the noun as a homonym referring to a “dead thistle” here and in Isa 17:13. The parallel line, which refers to קַשׁ (qash, “chaff”), favors this interpretation.

[83:13]  ² tn Heb “before.”

[83:14]  ³ sn The imagery of fire and flames suggests unrelenting, destructive judgment.

[83:15]  ⁴ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 15 express the psalmist’s wish or prayer.

[83:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “fill.”

[83:16]  ⁶ tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose or result (“then they will seek”).

[83:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “your name,” which stands here for God’s person.