Psalms 85:2-3

85:2 You pardoned ¹  the wrongdoing of your people;

you forgave ²  all their sin. (Selah)

85:3 You withdrew all your fury;

you turned back from your raging anger. ³ 

[85:2]  ¹ tn Heb “lifted up.”

[85:2]  ² tn Heb “covered over.”

[85:3]  ³ tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81. See Pss 69:24; 78:49.