Psalm 33:6-8

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 33:6 tn Heb “word.”
2. Psalm 33:6 tn The word רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit, wind, breath”) is used in the creation account in Gen 1:2 “the Spirit of God was moving.” Here parallel to “decree/word,” it recalls the account of God speaking in order to create (cf. Gen 1:14).
3. Psalm 33:7 tn Heb “[he] gathers like a pile the waters of the sea.” Some prefer to emend נֵד (ned, “heap, pile”; cf. NASB) to נֹד (nod, “bottle”; cf. NRSV; NIV “into jars”), but “pile” is used elsewhere to describe water that the Lord confines to one place (Exod 15:8; Josh 3:13, 16; Ps 78:13). This verse appears to refer to Gen 1:9, where God decrees that the watery deep be gathered to one place so that dry land might appear. If so, the participles in this and the following line depict this action with special vividness, as if the reader were present on the occasion. Another option is that the participles picture the confinement of the sea to one place as an ongoing divine activity.
4. Psalm 33:7 tn Or “watery depths.” The form תְּהוֹמוֹת (t^ehomot, “watery depths”) is the plural form of תְּהוֹם (t^ehom, “great deep”; see Gen 1:2).
5. Psalm 33:8 tn In this context “fear” probably means “to demonstrate respect for the Lord’s power and authority by worshiping him and obeying his commandments.”