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Psalm 90:11-13
New English Translation
Psalm 90:11-13
New English Translation
11 Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger?[a]
Your raging fury causes people to fear you.[b]
12 So teach us to consider our mortality,[c]
so that we might live wisely.[d]
13 Turn back toward us, O Lord.
How long must this suffering last?[e]
Have pity on your servants.[f]
Footnotes
- Psalm 90:11 tn Heb “Who knows the strength of your anger?”
- Psalm 90:11 tc Heb “and like your fear [is] your raging fury.” Perhaps one should emend וּכְיִרְאָתְךָ (ukheyirʾatekha, “and like your fear”) to יִרְאָתְךְ (yirʾatekha, “your fear”), removing the כ (kaf) as dittography of the kaf ending the previous word. In this case the psalmist asserts “your fear [is] your raging fury,” that is, your raging fury is what causes others to fear you. The suffix on “fear” is understood as objective.
- Psalm 90:12 tn Heb “to number our days,” that is, to be aware of how few they really are.
- Psalm 90:12 tn Heb “and we will bring a heart of wisdom.” After the imperative of the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates purpose/result. The Hebrew term “heart” here refers to the center of one’s thoughts, volition, and moral character.
- Psalm 90:13 tn Heb “Return, O Lord. How long?”
- Psalm 90:13 tn Elsewhere the Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) + the preposition עַל (ʿal) + a personal object has the nuance “be comforted concerning [the personal object’s death]” (see 2 Sam 13:39; Jer 31:15). However, here the context seems to demand “feel sorrow for,” “have pity on.” In Deut 32:36 and Ps 135:14, where “servants” is also the object of the preposition, this idea is expressed with the Hitpael form of the verb.
New English Translation (NET)
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