Font Size
Psalm 79:11-13
New English Translation
Psalm 79:11-13
New English Translation
11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners.[a]
Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die.[b]
12 Pay back our neighbors in full.[c]
May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord.[d]
13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will continually thank you.[e]
We will tell coming generations of your praiseworthy acts.[f]
Footnotes
- Psalm 79:11 tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”
- Psalm 79:11 tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
- Psalm 79:12 tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shivʿatayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
- Psalm 79:12 tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”
- Psalm 79:13 tn Or (hyperbolically) “will thank you forever.”
- Psalm 79:13 tn Heb “to a generation and a generation we will report your praise.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.