Psalms 80:8-13

80:8 You uprooted a vine from Egypt;

you drove out nations and transplanted it.

80:9 You cleared the ground for it;

it took root,

and filled the land.

80:10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,

the highest cedars by its branches.

80:11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,

and its shoots the Euphrates River.

80:12 Why did you break down its walls,

so that all who pass by pluck its fruit?

80:13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it;

the insects 10  of the field feed on it.


sn The vine is here a metaphor for Israel (see Ezek 17:6-10; Hos 10:1).

tn Heb “you cleared away before it.”

tn Heb “and it took root [with] its roots.”

tn Heb “cedars of God.” The divine name אֵל (’al, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.

tn Heb “to [the] sea.” The “sea” refers here to the Mediterranean Sea.

tn Heb “to [the] river.” The “river” is the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. Israel expanded both to the west and to the east.

sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).

tn Heb “pluck it.”

tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.

10 tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word translated “insects,” which occurs only here and in Ps 50:11, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic, and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.