Psalms 79:1--81:16 
ContextA psalm of Asaph.
79:1 O God, foreigners 2 have invaded your chosen land; 3
they have polluted your holy temple
and turned Jerusalem 4 into a heap of ruins.
79:2 They have given the corpses of your servants
to the birds of the sky; 5
the flesh of your loyal followers
to the beasts of the earth.
79:3 They have made their blood flow like water
all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them. 6
79:4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. 7
79:5 How long will this go on, O Lord? 8
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage 9 burn like fire?
79:6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you, 10
on the kingdoms that do not pray to you! 11
79:7 For they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his home.
79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! 12
Quickly send your compassion our way, 13
for we are in serious trouble! 14
79:9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!
For the sake of your glorious reputation, 15 rescue us!
Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation! 16
79:10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants
be avenged among the nations! 17
79:11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners! 18
Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die! 19
79:12 Pay back our neighbors in full! 20
May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord! 21
79:13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will continually thank you. 22
We will tell coming generations of your praiseworthy acts. 23
For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; 25 a psalm of Asaph.
80:1 O shepherd of Israel, pay attention,
you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep!
You who sit enthroned above the winged angels, 26 reveal your splendor! 27
80:2 In the sight of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh reveal 28 your power!
Come and deliver us! 29
80:3 O God, restore us!
Smile on us! 30 Then we will be delivered! 31
80:4 O Lord God, invincible warrior! 32
How long will you remain angry at your people while they pray to you? 33
80:5 You have given them tears as food; 34
you have made them drink tears by the measure. 35
80:6 You have made our neighbors dislike us, 36
and our enemies insult us.
80:7 O God, invincible warrior, 37 restore us!
Smile on us! 38 Then we will be delivered! 39
80:8 You uprooted a vine 40 from Egypt;
you drove out nations and transplanted it.
80:9 You cleared the ground for it; 41
it took root, 42
and filled the land.
80:10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,
the highest cedars 43 by its branches.
80:11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea, 44
and its shoots the Euphrates River. 45
80:12 Why did you break down its walls, 46
so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? 47
80:13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; 48
the insects 49 of the field feed on it.
80:14 O God, invincible warrior, 50 come back!
Look down from heaven and take notice!
Take care of this vine,
80:15 the root 51 your right hand planted,
the shoot you made to grow! 52
80:16 It is burned 53 and cut down.
They die because you are displeased with them. 54
80:17 May you give support to the one you have chosen, 55
to the one whom you raised up for yourself! 56
80:18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Revive us and we will pray to you! 57
80:19 O Lord God, invincible warrior, 58 restore us!
Smile on us! 59 Then we will be delivered! 60
For the music director; according to the gittith style; 62 by Asaph.
81:1 Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!
Shout out to the God of Jacob!
81:2 Sing 63 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, 64
and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins. 65
81:4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel; 66
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. 67
I heard a voice I did not recognize. 68
81:6 It said: 69 “I removed the burden from his shoulder;
his hands were released from holding the basket. 70
81:7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud. 71
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 72 (Selah)
81:8 I said, 73 ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn 74 you!
O Israel, if only you would obey me! 75
81:9 There must be 76 no other 77 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; 78
Israel did not submit to me. 79
81:12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; 80
they did what seemed right to them. 81
81:13 If only my people would obey me! 82
If only Israel would keep my commands! 83
81:14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
and attack 84 their adversaries.”
81:15 (May those who hate the Lord 85 cower in fear 86 before him!
May they be permanently humiliated!) 87
81:16 “I would feed Israel the best wheat, 88
and would satisfy your appetite 89 with honey from the rocky cliffs.” 90
1 sn Psalm 79. The author laments how the invading nations have destroyed the temple and city of Jerusalem. He asks God to forgive his people and to pour out his vengeance on those who have mistreated them.
2 tn Or “nations.”
3 tn Heb “have come into your inheritance.”
4 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
5 tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”
6 tn Heb “they have poured out their blood like water, all around Jerusalem, and there is no one burying.”
7 tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.
8 tn Heb “How long, O
9 tn Or “jealous anger.”
10 tn Heb “which do not know you.” Here the Hebrew term “know” means “acknowledge the authority of.”
11 sn The kingdoms that do not pray to you. The people of these kingdoms pray to other gods, not the Lord, because they do not recognize his authority over them.
12 tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.
13 tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.
14 tn Heb “for we are very low.”
15 tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
16 tn Heb “your name.”
17 tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”
18 tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”
19 tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
20 tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
21 tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”
22 tn Or (hyperbolically) “will thank you forever.”
23 tn Heb “to a generation and a generation we will report your praise.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.
24 sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.
25 tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.
26 sn Winged angels (Heb “cherubs”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.
27 tn Heb “shine forth.”
sn Reveal your splendor. The psalmist may allude to Deut 33:2, where God “shines forth” from Sinai and comes to superintend Moses’ blessing of the tribes.
28 tn Heb “stir up”; “arouse.”
29 tn Heb “come for our deliverance.”
30 tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
31 tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
32 tn Heb “
33 tn Heb “How long will you remain angry during the prayer of your people.” Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) in an adversative sense here (“at/against the prayer of your people”), but the temporal sense is preferable. The psalmist expects persistent prayer to pacify God.
34 tn Heb “you have fed them the food of tears.”
35 tn Heb “[by] the third part [of a measure].” The Hebrew term שָׁלִישׁ (shalish, “third part [of a measure]”) occurs only here and in Isa 40:12.
36 tn Heb “you have made us an object of contention to our neighbors.”
37 tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also v. 4 for a similar construction.
38 tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
39 tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
40 sn The vine is here a metaphor for Israel (see Ezek 17:6-10; Hos 10:1).
41 tn Heb “you cleared away before it.”
42 tn Heb “and it took root [with] its roots.”
43 tn Heb “cedars of God.” The divine name אֵל (’al, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.
44 tn Heb “to [the] sea.” The “sea” refers here to the Mediterranean Sea.
45 tn Heb “to [the] river.” The “river” is the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. Israel expanded both to the west and to the east.
46 sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).
47 tn Heb “pluck it.”
48 tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.
49 tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word translated “insects,” which occurs only here and in Ps 50:11, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic, and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.
50 tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also vv. 4, 7 for a similar construction.
51 tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן emends the form to כַּנָּהּ (kannah, “its shoot”).
52 tn Heb “and upon a son you strengthened for yourself.” In this context, where the extended metaphor of the vine dominates, בֵּן (ben, “son”) probably refers to the shoots that grow from the vine. Cf. Gen 49:22.
53 tn Heb “burned with fire.”
54 tn Heb “because of the rebuke of your face they perish.”
55 tn Heb “may your hand be upon the man of your right hand.” The referent of the otherwise unattested phrase “man of your right hand,” is unclear. It may refer to the nation collectively as a man. (See the note on the word “yourself” in v. 17b.)
56 tn Heb “upon the son of man you strengthened for yourself.” In its only other use in the Book of Psalms, the phrase “son of man” refers to the human race in general (see Ps 8:4). Here the phrase may refer to the nation collectively as a man. Note the use of the statement “you strengthened for yourself” both here and in v. 15, where the “son” (i.e., the branch of the vine) refers to Israel.
57 tn Heb “and in your name we will call.”
58 tn Heb “O
59 tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
60 tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
61 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.
62 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.
63 tn Heb “lift up.”
64 tn Heb “at the new moon.”
sn New moon festivals were a monthly ritual in Israel (see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 469-70). In this context the New Moon festival of the seventh month, when the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated (note the reference to a “festival” in the next line), may be in view.
65 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”).
sn The festival in view is probably the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths), which began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month when the moon was full. See Lev 23:34; Num 29:12.
66 tn Heb “because a statute for Israel [is] it.”
67 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.”
68 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.
69 tn The words “It said” are not included in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarification.
70 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).
71 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).
72 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.
73 tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Verses 8-10 appear to recall what the
74 tn Or perhaps “command.”
75 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.
76 tn The imperfect verbal forms in v. 9 have a modal function, expressing what is obligatory.
77 tn Heb “different”; “illicit.”
78 tn Heb “did not listen to my voice.”
79 tn The Hebrew expression אָבָה לִי (’avah liy) means “submit to me” (see Deut 13:8).
80 tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”
81 tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).
82 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).
83 tn Heb “[and if only] Israel would walk in my ways.”
84 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).
85 tn “Those who hate the
86 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.
87 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
tn The verb form at the beginning of the line is jussive, indicating that this is a prayer. The translation assumes that v. 15 is a parenthetical “curse” offered by the psalmist. Having heard the reference to Israel’s enemies (v. 14), the psalmist inserts this prayer, reminding the Lord that they are God’s enemies as well.
88 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.
sn I would feed. After the parenthetical “curse” in v. 15, the Lord’s speech continues here.
89 tn Heb “you.” The second person singular pronominal suffix refers to Israel, as in vv. 7-10.
90 sn The language in this verse, particularly the references to wheat and honey, is reminiscent of Deut 32:13-14.
