44:17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you 1
or violated your covenant with us. 2
50:16 God says this to the evildoer: 3
“How can you declare my commands,
and talk about my covenant? 4
74:20 Remember your covenant promises, 5
for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules. 6
111:9 He delivered his people; 7
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever. 8
His name is holy and awesome.
1 tn Heb “we have not forgotten you.” To “forget” God refers here to worshiping false gods and thereby refusing to recognize his sovereignty (see v. 20, as well as Deut 8:19; Judg 3:7; 1 Sam 12:9; Isa 17:10; Jer 3:21; Ps 9:17).Thus the translation “we have not rejected you” has been used.
2 tn Heb “and we did not deal falsely with your covenant.”
3 tn Heb “evil [one].” The singular adjective is used here in a representative sense; it refers to those within the larger covenant community who have blatantly violated the
4 tn Heb “What to you to declare my commands and lift up my covenant upon your mouth?” The rhetorical question expresses sarcastic amazement. The
5 tc Heb “look at the covenant.” The LXX reads “your covenant,” which seems to assume a second person pronominal suffix. The suffix may have been accidentally omitted by haplography. Note that the following word (כִּי) begins with kaf (כ).
6 tn Heb “for the dark places of the earth are full of dwelling places of violence.” The “dark regions” are probably the lands where the people have been exiled (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:157). In some contexts “dark regions” refers to Sheol (Ps 88:6) or to hiding places likened to Sheol (Ps 143:3; Lam 3:6).
7 tn Heb “redemption he sent for his people.”
8 tn Heb “he commanded forever his covenant.”