Psalm 78:2-6

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 78:2 tn Heb “I will open with a wise saying my mouth, I will utter insightful sayings from long ago.” Elsewhere the Hebrew word pair חִידָה + מָשָׁל (mashal + khidah) refers to a taunt song (Hab 2:6), a parable (Ezek 17:2), proverbial sayings (Prov 1:6), and an insightful song that reflects on the mortality of humankind and the ultimate inability of riches to prevent death (Ps 49:4).
2. Psalm 78:3 tn Or “known.”
3. Psalm 78:3 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 5, 8, 12, 57).
4. Psalm 78:4 tn The pronominal suffix refers back to the “fathers” (“our ancestors,” v. 3).
5. Psalm 78:4 tn Heb “to a following generation telling the praises of the Lord.” “Praises” stand by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.
6. Psalm 78:5 tn The Hebrew noun עֵדוּת (ʿedut) refers here to God’s command that the older generation teach their children about God’s mighty deeds in the nation’s history (see Exod 10:2; Deut 4:9; 6:20-25).
7. Psalm 78:5 tn Heb “which he commanded our fathers to make them known to their sons.” The plural suffix “them” probably refers back to the Lord’s mighty deeds (see vv. 3-4).
8. Psalm 78:6 tn Heb “in order that they might know, a following generation, sons [who] will be born, they will arise and will tell to their sons.”