69:8 My own brothers treat me like a stranger;
they act as if I were a foreigner. 1
78:9 The Ephraimites 2 were armed with bows, 3
but they retreated in the day of battle. 4
78:29 They ate until they were stuffed; 5
he gave them what they desired.
78:30 They were not yet filled up, 6
their food was still in their mouths,
80:10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,
the highest cedars 7 by its branches.
102:9 For I eat ashes as if they were bread, 8
and mix my drink with my tears, 9
105:12 When they were few in number,
just a very few, and resident aliens within it,
105:38 Egypt was happy when they left,
for they were afraid of them. 10
106:39 They were defiled by their deeds,
and unfaithful in their actions. 11
126:3 The Lord did indeed accomplish great things for us.
We were happy.
136:23 to the one who remembered us when we were down, 12
for his loyal love endures,
1 tn Heb “and I am estranged to my brothers, and a foreigner to the sons of my mother.”
2 tn Heb “the sons of Ephraim.” Ephraim probably stands here by synecdoche (part for whole) for the northern kingdom of Israel.
3 tn Heb “ones armed, shooters of bow.” It is possible that the term נוֹשְׁקֵי (noshÿqey, “ones armed [with]”) is an interpretive gloss for the rare רוֹמֵי (romey, “shooters of”; on the latter see BDB 941 s.v. I רָמָה). The phrase נוֹשְׁקֵי קֶשֶׁת (noshÿqey qeshet, “ones armed with a bow”) appears in 1 Chr 12:2; 2 Chr 17:17.
4 sn They retreated. This could refer to the northern tribes’ failure to conquer completely their allotted territory (see Judg 1), or it could refer generally to the typical consequence (military defeat) of their sin (see vv. 10-11).
5 tn Heb “and they ate and were very satisfied.”
6 tn Heb “they were not separated from their desire.”
7 tn Heb “cedars of God.” The divine name אֵל (’al, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.
8 sn Mourners would sometimes put ashes on their head or roll in ashes as a sign of mourning (see 2 Sam 13:19; Job 2:8; Isa 58:5).
9 tn Heb “weeping.”
10 tn Heb “for fear of them had fallen upon them.”
11 tn Heb “and they committed adultery in their actions.” This means that they were unfaithful to the
12 tn Heb “who, in our low condition, remembered us.”