Psalms 40:2

40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit,

out of the slimy mud.

He placed my feet on a rock

and gave me secure footing.

Psalms 78:20

78:20 Yes, he struck a rock and water flowed out,

streams gushed forth.

But can he also give us food?

Will he provide meat for his people?”


tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (shaon, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).

tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two 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.

tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”

tn Heb “look.”