Discovery BoxPsalms 80:11-16 
Context80:11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea, 1
and its shoots the Euphrates River. 2
80:12 Why did you break down its walls, 3
so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? 4
80:13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; 5
the insects 6 of the field feed on it.
80:14 O God, invincible warrior, 7 come back!
Look down from heaven and take notice!
Take care of this vine,
80:15 the root 8 your right hand planted,
the shoot you made to grow! 9
80:16 It is burned 10 and cut down.
They die because you are displeased with them. 11
1 tn Heb “to [the] sea.” The “sea” refers here to the Mediterranean Sea.
2 tn Heb “to [the] river.” The “river” is the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. Israel expanded both to the west and to the east.
3 sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).
4 tn Heb “pluck it.”
5 tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.
6 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.
7 tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also vv. 4, 7 for a similar construction.
8 tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן emends the form to כַּנָּהּ (kannah, “its shoot”).
9 tn Heb “and upon a son you strengthened for yourself.” In this context, where the extended metaphor of the vine dominates, בֵּן (ben, “son”) probably refers to the shoots that grow from the vine. Cf. Gen 49:22.
10 tn Heb “burned with fire.”
11 tn Heb “because of the rebuke of your face they perish.”
