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Psalm 75:7-9
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 75:7-9
New Catholic Bible
7 [a]For judgment does not come from east or west,
nor from the wilderness or the mountains.[b]
8 Rather, it is God who judges rightly,
humbling one and exalting another.[c]
9 The Lord holds in his hand a cup
filled with foaming wine and richly spiced.
When he pours it out,
all the wicked[d] of the earth must drink;
they will drain it down to the dregs.
Footnotes
- Psalm 75:7 Concerning these first two verses of the response from earth (vv. 7-8), possibly by a Levite, see 1 Sam 2:7; Dan 2:21. The oracles against the nations envisaged such and such a power, in the north (see Zep 2:13), in the south (see Isa 30:6), or in the wilderness (Isa 21:1); other oracles were directed against the mountains of Israel (see Ezek 6:2; 36:1), or the forests of the south (see Ezek 21:2f). Here, the wilderness represents the south, and the mountains (Lebanon) stand for the north (see note on v. 7, below). As in Zec 1:16, the accent is placed on the universality of the divine judgment (see v. 9) on the day of the Lord (see Mt 24:23ff).
- Psalm 75:7 For judgment does not come . . . the mountains: another possible translation is: “No one from the east or the west / or from the wilderness can exalt a man.” In other words, search where we may, there is no other arbiter but God; therefore, no earthly honor is anything but provisional. Furthermore, no one can escape God’s judgment (see Ps 139); God will bring down anyone who exalts himself.
- Psalm 75:8 Indeed, judgment belongs to God alone, for he is sovereign in judgment and in redemption.
- Psalm 75:9 All the wicked will be vanquished by God. The image of the cup full of foaming and dizzying wine is taken from the Prophets (see Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15; 49:12; Lam 4:21; Ezek 23:31; Hab 2:15); it has already appeared in Ps 60:5 (see Job 21:20) and will reappear in Rev 14:10. See also note on Ps 16:5.
