Psalms 90:10-17

Context

90:10 The days of our lives add up to seventy years,¹

or eighty, if one is especially strong.²

But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression.³

Yes,⁴ they pass quickly⁵ and we fly away.⁶

90:11 Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger?⁷

Your raging fury causes people to fear you.⁸

90:12 So teach us to consider our mortality,⁹

so that we might live wisely.¹⁰

90:13 Turn back toward us, O Lord!

How long must this suffering last?¹¹

Have pity on your servants!¹²

90:14 Satisfy us in the morning¹³ with your loyal love!

Then we will shout for joy and be happy¹⁴ all our days!

90:15 Make us happy in proportion to the days you have afflicted us,

in proportion to the years we have experienced¹⁵ trouble!

90:16 May your servants see your work!¹⁶

May their sons see your majesty!¹⁷

90:17 May our sovereign God extend his favor to us!¹⁸

Make our endeavors successful!

Yes, make them successful!¹⁹

[90:10] ¹tn Heb “the days of our years, in them [are] seventy years.”

[90:10] ²tn Heb “or if [there is] strength, eighty years.”

[90:10] ³tn Heb “and their pride [is] destruction and wickedness.” The Hebrew noun רֹהַב (rohav) occurs only here. BDB 923 s.v. assigns the meaning “pride,” deriving the noun from the verbal root רהב (“to act stormily [boisterously, arrogantly]”). Here the “pride” of one’s days (see v. 9) probably refers to one’s most productive years in the prime of life. The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 10:7. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10. The oppressive and abusive actions of evil men are probably in view (see Job 4:8; 5:6; 15:35; Isa 10:1; 59:4).

[90:10] ⁴tn or “for.”

[90:10] ⁵tn Heb “it passes quickly.” The subject of the verb is probably “their pride” (see the preceding line). The verb גּוּז (guz) means “to pass” here; it occurs only here and in Num 11:31.

[90:10] ⁶sn We fly away. The psalmist compares life to a bird that quickly flies off (see Job 20:8).

[90:11] ⁷tn Heb “Who knows the strength of your anger?”

[90:11] ⁸tn Heb “and like your fear [is] your raging fury.” Perhaps one should emend וּכְיִרְאָתְךְ (ukhyir’otekh, “and like your fear”) to יִרְאָתְךְ (yir’otkh, “your fear”), understanding a virtual dittography (אַפֶּךָ וּכְיִרְאָתְךְ, ’apekha ukhyir’otekh) to have occurred. In this case the psalmist asserts “your fear [is] your raging fury,” that is, your raging fury is what causes others to fear you. The suffix on “fear” is understood as objective.

[90:12] ⁹tn Heb “to number our days,” that is, to be aware of how few they really are.

[90:12] ¹⁰tn Heb “and we will bring a heart of wisdom.” After the imperative of the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates purpose/result. The Hebrew term “heart” here refers to the center of one’s thoughts, volition, and moral character.

[90:13] ¹¹tn Heb “Return, O Lord! How long?”

[90:13] ¹²tn Elsewhere the Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) + the preposition עַל (’al) + a personal object has the nuance “be comforted concerning [the personal object’s death]” (see 2 Sam 13:39; Jer 31:15). However, here the context seems to demand “feel sorrow for,” “have pity on.” In Deut 32:36 and Ps 135:14, where “servants” is also the object of the preposition, this idea is expressed with the Hitpael form of the verb.

[90:14] ¹³sn Morning is used metaphorically for a time of renewed joy after affliction (see Pss 30:5; 46:5; 49:14; 59:16; 143:8).

[90:14] ¹⁴tn After the imperative (see the preceding line) the cohortatives with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose/result.

[90:15] ¹⁵tn Heb “have seen.”

[90:16] ¹⁶tn Heb “may your work be revealed to your servants.” In this context (note v. 17) the verb form יֵרָאֶה (yera’eh) is best understood as an unshortened jussive (see Gen 1:9; Isa 47:3).

[90:16] ¹⁷tn Heb “and your majesty to their sons.” The verb “be revealed” is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[90:17] ¹⁸tn Heb “and may the delight of the Master, our God, be on us.” The Hebrew term נֹעַם (no’am, “delight”) is used in Ps 27:4 of the Lord’s “beauty,” but here it seems to refer to his favor (see BDB 653 s.v.) or kindness (HALOT 706 s.v.).

[90:17] ¹⁹tn Heb “and the work of our hands establish over us, and the work of our hands, establish it.”