81:7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud. 1
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 2 (Selah)
139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, 3
and the night is as bright as 4 day;
darkness and light are the same to you. 5
143:3 Certainly 6 my enemies 7 chase me.
They smash me into the ground. 8
They force me to live 9 in dark regions, 10
like those who have been dead for ages.
1 tn Heb “I answered you in the hidden place of thunder.” This may allude to God’s self-revelation at Mount Sinai, where he appeared in a dark cloud accompanied by thunder (see Exod 19:16).
2 sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at the place called Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.
3 tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “shines like.”
5 tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”
6 tn Or “for.”
7 tn Heb “an enemy.” The singular is used in a representative sense to describe a typical member of the larger group of enemies (note the plural “enemies” in vv. 9, 12).
8 tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”
9 tn Or “sit.”
10 sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).