74:7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they desecrate your dwelling place by knocking it to the ground. 1
74:17 You set up all the boundaries 2 of the earth;
you created the cycle of summer and winter. 3
79:11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners! 4
Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die! 5
102:20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,
and to set free those condemned to die, 6
141:9 Protect me from the snare they have laid for me,
and the traps the evildoers have set. 7
1 tn Heb “to the ground they desecrate the dwelling place of your name.”
2 tn This would appear to refer to geographical boundaries, such as mountains, rivers, and seacoasts. However, since the day-night cycle has just been mentioned (v. 16) and the next line speaks of the seasons, it is possible that “boundaries” here refers to the divisions of the seasons. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 2:156.
3 tn Heb “summer and winter, you, you formed them.”
4 tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”
5 tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
6 tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
7 tn Heb “and the traps of the doers of evil.”