Discovery BoxPsalms 124:1-5 
ContextA song of ascents, 2 by David.
124:1 “If the Lord had not been on our side” –
let Israel say this! –
124:2 if the Lord had not been on our side,
when men attacked us, 3
124:3 they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger raged against us.
124:4 The water would have overpowered us;
the current 4 would have overwhelmed 5 us. 6
124:5 The raging water
would have overwhelmed us. 7
1 sn Psalm 124. Israel acknowledges that the Lord delivered them from certain disaster.
2 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
3 tn Heb “rose up against us.”
4 tn Or “stream.”
5 tn Heb “would have passed over.”
6 tn Heb “our being.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
7 tn Heb “then they would have passed over our being, the raging waters.”
