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Psalm 43:2-4
New English Translation
Psalm 43:2-4
New English Translation
2 For you are the God who shelters me.[a]
Why do you reject me?[b]
Why must I walk around[c] mourning[d]
because my enemies oppress me?
3 Reveal[e] your light[f] and your faithfulness.
They will lead me;[g]
they will escort[h] me back to your holy hill,[i]
and to the place where you live.[j]
4 Then I will go[k] to the altar of God,
to the God who gives me ecstatic joy,[l]
so that I may express my thanks to you,[m] O God, my God, with a harp.
Footnotes
- Psalm 43:2 tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.
- Psalm 43:2 tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).
- Psalm 43:2 tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.
- Psalm 43:2 sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.
- Psalm 43:3 tn Heb “send.”
- Psalm 43:3 sn God’s deliverance is compared here to a light which will lead the psalmist back home to the Lord’s temple. Divine deliverance will in turn demonstrate the Lord’s faithfulness to his people.
- Psalm 43:3 tn Or “may they lead me.” The prefixed verbal forms here and in the next line may be taken as jussives.
- Psalm 43:3 tn Heb “bring.”
- Psalm 43:3 sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill is Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 15:1; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.
- Psalm 43:3 tn Or “to your dwelling place[s].” The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; this is the Lord’s special dwelling place (see Pss 46:4; 84:1; 132:5, 7).
- Psalm 43:4 tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”
- Psalm 43:4 tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
- Psalm 43:4 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.
New English Translation (NET)
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