65:7 You calm the raging seas 1
and their roaring waves,
as well as the commotion made by the nations. 2
78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them, 3
He sent fury, rage, and trouble
as messengers who bring disaster. 4
90:9 Yes, 5 throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; 6
the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. 7
90:11 Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger? 8
Your raging fury causes people to fear you. 9
1 tn Heb “the roar of the seas.”
2 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).
3 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.
4 tn Heb “fury and indignation and trouble, a sending of messengers of disaster.”
5 tn Or “for.”
6 tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”
7 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.”
8 tn Heb “Who knows the strength of your anger?”
9 tn Heb “and like your fear [is] your raging fury.” Perhaps one should emend וּכְיִרְאָתְךְ (ukhyir’otekh, “and like your fear”) to יִרְאָתְךְ (yir’otkh, “your fear”), understanding a virtual dittography (אַפֶּךָ וּכְיִרְאָתְךְ, ’apekha ukhyir’otekh) 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.