107:20 He sent them an assuring word 1 and healed them;
he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped. 2
107:25 He gave the order for a windstorm, 3
and it stirred up the waves of the sea. 4
1 tn Heb “he sent his word.” This probably refers to an oracle of assurance which announced his intention to intervene (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 59).
2 tn Heb “he rescued from their traps.” The Hebrew word שְׁחִית (shekhit, “trap”) occurs only here and in Lam 4:20, where it refers to a trap or pit in which one is captured. Because of the rarity of the term and the absence of an object with the verb “rescued,” some prefer to emend the text of Ps 107:20, reading מִשַׁחַת חַיָּתָם (mishakhat khayyatam, “[he rescued] their lives from the pit”). Note also NIV “from the grave,” which interprets the “pit” as Sheol or the grave.
3 tn Heb “he spoke and caused to stand a stormy wind.”
4 tn Heb “and it stirred up its [i.e., the sea’s, see v. 23] waves.”