Psalm 80:8-16
New English Translation
8 You uprooted a vine[a] from Egypt;
you drove out nations and transplanted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;[b]
it took root,[c]
and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,
the highest cedars[d] by its branches.
11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,[e]
and its shoots the Euphrates River.[f]
12 Why did you break down its walls,[g]
so that all who pass by pluck its fruit?[h]
13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it;[i]
the insects[j] of the field feed on it.
14 O God of Heaven’s Armies,[k] come back.
Look down from heaven and take notice.
Take care of this vine,
15 the root[l] your right hand planted,
the shoot you made to grow.[m]
16 It is burned[n] and cut down.
May those who did this die because you are displeased with them.[o]
Footnotes
- Psalm 80:8 sn The vine is here a metaphor for Israel (see Ezek 17:6-10; Hos 10:1).
- Psalm 80:9 tn Heb “you cleared away before it.”
- Psalm 80:9 tn Heb “and it took root [with] its roots.”
- Psalm 80:10 tn Heb “cedars of God.” The divine name אֵל (ʾel, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.
- Psalm 80:11 tn Heb “to [the] sea.” The “sea” refers here to the Mediterranean Sea.
- Psalm 80:11 tn Heb “to [the] river.” The “river” is the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. Israel expanded both to the west and to the east.
- Psalm 80:12 sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).
- Psalm 80:12 tn Heb “pluck it.”
- Psalm 80:13 tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.
- Psalm 80:13 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.
- Psalm 80:14 tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsevaʾot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ʾelohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsevaʾot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also vv. 4, 7 for a similar construction.
- Psalm 80:15 tn The form וְכַנָּה (vekhannah, “and a root”) is understood as וְכַנָּהּ (vekhannah), taking the ה (he) at the end as the third feminine singular pronominal suffix הּ (he with mappiq is hard “h”) rather than as the noun ending (see HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן). Elsewhere the noun refers to a pedestal or base, most often for the wash basin between the tabernacle and the altar. Translations here vary as “root” (NIV), “shoot” (NASB), “stock” (ASV, ESV, RSV), or the contextually driven “vineyard” (KJV).
- Psalm 80:15 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.
- Psalm 80:16 tn Heb “burned with fire.”
- Psalm 80:16 tn Heb “because of the rebuke of your face they perish.”
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