Psalms 65:7

65:7 You calm the raging seas

and their roaring waves,

as well as the commotion made by the nations.

Psalms 78:49

78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them,

He sent fury, rage, and trouble

as messengers who bring disaster.

Psalms 90:9

90:9 Yes, throughout all our days we experience your raging fury;

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh.

Psalms 90:11

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

Your raging fury causes people to fear you.


tn Heb “the roar of the seas.”

sn The raging seas…the commotion made by the nations. The raging seas symbolize the turbulent nations of the earth (see Ps 46:2-3, 6; Isa 17:12).

tn Heb “he sent against them the rage of his anger.” The phrase “rage of his anger” employs an appositional genitive. 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 “fury and indignation and trouble, a sending of messengers of disaster.”

tn Or “for.”

tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

tn Heb “we finish our years like a sigh.” In Ezek 2:10 the word הֶגֶה (hegeh) elsewhere refers to a grumbling or moaning sound. Here a brief sigh or moan is probably in view. If so, the simile pictures one’s lifetime as transient. Another option is that the simile alludes to the weakness that characteristically overtakes a person at the end of one’s lifetime. In this case the phrase could be translated, “we end our lives with a painful moan.”

tn Heb “Who knows the strength of your anger?”

tn Heb “and like your fear [is] your raging fury.” Perhaps one should emend וּכְיִרְאָתְךְ (ukhyirotekh, “and like your fear”) to יִרְאָתְךְ (yirotkh, “your fear”), understanding a virtual dittography (אַפֶּךָ וּכְיִרְאָתְךְ, ’apekha ukhyirotekh) 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.