Discovery BoxPsalms 78:54-58 
Context78:54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this mountainous land 1 which his right hand 2 acquired.
78:55 He drove the nations out from before them;
he assigned them their tribal allotments 3
and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. 4
78:56 Yet they challenged and defied 5 the sovereign God, 6
and did not obey 7 his commands. 8
78:57 They were unfaithful 9 and acted as treacherously as 10 their ancestors;
they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. 11
78:58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines, 12
and made him jealous with their idols.
1 tn Heb “this mountain.” The whole land of Canaan seems to be referred to here. In Exod 15:17 the promised land is called the “mountain of your [i.e., God’s] inheritance.”
2 tn The “right hand” here symbolizes God’s military strength (see v. 55).
3 tn Heb “he caused to fall [to] them with a measuring line an inheritance.”
4 tn Heb “and caused the tribes of Israel to settle down in their tents.”
5 tn Or “tested and rebelled against.”
6 tn Heb “God, the Most High.”
7 tn Or “keep.”
8 tn Heb “his testimonies” (see Ps 25:10).
9 tn Heb “they turned back.”
10 tn Or “acted treacherously like.”
11 tn Heb “they turned aside like a deceitful bow.”
12 tn Traditionally, “high places.”
