Psalm 61:2-4

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 61:2 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.” This may indicate (1) the psalmist is exiled in a distant land, or (2) it may be hyperbolic (the psalmist feels alienated from God’s presence, as if he were in a distant land).
2. Psalm 61:2 tn Heb “while my heart faints.”
3. Psalm 61:2 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
4. Psalm 61:2 tn Heb “on to a rocky summit [that] is higher than I.”
5. Psalm 61:3 tn Or “for.”
6. Psalm 61:3 tn Or “have been.”
7. Psalm 61:3 tn Heb “a strong tower from the face of an enemy.”
8. Psalm 61:4 tn Heb “I will live as a resident foreigner in your tent permanently.” The cohortative is understood here as indicating resolve. Another option is to take it as expressing a request, “please let me live” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
9. Psalm 61:4 sn I will find shelter in the protection of your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.