74:8 They say to themselves, 1
“We will oppress all of them.” 2
They burn down all the places where people worship God in the land. 3
74:19 Do not hand the life of your dove 4 over to a wild animal!
Do not continue to disregard 5 the lives of your oppressed people!
74:20 Remember your covenant promises, 6
for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules. 7
1 tn Heb “in their heart.”
2 tc Heb “[?] altogether.” The Hebrew form נִינָם (ninam) is problematic. It could be understood as the noun נִין (nin, “offspring”) but the statement “their offspring altogether” would make no sense here. C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:159) emends יָחַד (yakhad, “altogether”) to יָחִיד (yakhid, “alone”) and translate “let their offspring be solitary” (i.e., exiled). Another option is to understand the form as a Qal imperfect first common plural from יָנָה (yanah, “to oppress”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix, “we will oppress them.” However, this verb, when used in the finite form, always appears in the Hiphil. Therefore, it is preferable to emend the form to the Hiphil נוֹנֵם (nonem, “we will oppress them”).
3 tn Heb “they burn down all the meeting places of God in the land.”
4 sn Your dove. The psalmist compares weak and vulnerable Israel to a helpless dove.
5 tn Heb “do not forget forever.”
6 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).
7 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).