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Psalm 60:1-2
New English Translation
Psalm 60:1-2
New English Translation
Psalm 60[a]
For the music director, according to the shushan-eduth style;[b] a prayer[c] of David written to instruct others.[d] It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down[e] 12,000 Edomites[f] in the Valley of Salt.[g]
60 O God, you have rejected us.[h]
You suddenly turned on us in your anger.[i]
Please restore us![j]
2 You made the earth quake; you split it open.[k]
Repair its breaches, for it is ready to fall.[l]
Footnotes
- Psalm 60:1 sn Psalm 60. The psalmist grieves over Israel’s humiliation, but in response to God’s assuring word, he asks for divine help in battle and expresses his confidence in victory.
- Psalm 60:1 tn The Hebrew expression means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title.
- Psalm 60:1 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-59, is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
- Psalm 60:1 tn Heb “to teach.”
- Psalm 60:1 tn In Josh 8:21 and Judg 20:48 the two verbs “turn back” and “strike down” are also juxtaposed. There they refer to a military counter-attack.
- Psalm 60:1 tn Heb “12,000 of Edom.” Perhaps one should read אֲרַם (’aram, “Aram”) here rather than אֱדוֹם (’edom, “Edom”).
- Psalm 60:1 sn The heading apparently refers to the military campaign recorded in 2 Sam 10 and 1 Chr 19.
- Psalm 60:1 sn You have rejected us. See Pss 43:2; 44:9, 23.
- Psalm 60:1 tn Heb “you broke out upon us, you were angry.”
- Psalm 60:1 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
- Psalm 60:2 tn The verb פָּצַם (patsam, “split open”) occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “crack,” and an Aramaic cognate is used in Tg. Jer 22:14 with the meaning “break open, frame.” See BDB 822 s.v. and Jastrow 1205 s.v. פְּצַם.sn You made the earth quake; you split it open. The psalmist uses the imagery of an earthquake to describe the nation’s defeat.
- Psalm 60:2 sn It is ready to fall. The earth is compared to a wall that has been broken by the force of the earthquake (note the preceding line) and is ready to collapse.
New English Translation (NET)
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