Mazmur 80:7-13

80:7 O God, invincible warrior, ¹  restore us!

Smile on us! ²  Then we will be delivered! ³ 

80:8 You uprooted a vine ⁴  from Egypt;

you drove out nations and transplanted it.

80:9 You cleared the ground for it; ⁵ 

it took root, ⁶ 

and filled the land.

80:10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,

the highest cedars ⁷  by its branches.

80:11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea, ⁸ 

and its shoots the Euphrates River. ⁹ 

80:12 Why did you break down its walls, ¹⁰ 

so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? ¹¹ 

80:13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; ¹² 

the insects ¹³  of the field feed on it.

[80:7]  ¹ tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also v. 4 for a similar construction.

[80:7]  ² tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

[80:7]  ³ tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.

[80:8]  ⁴ sn The vine is here a metaphor for Israel (see Ezek 17:6-10; Hos 10:1).

[80:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “you cleared away before it.”

[80:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “and it took root [with] its roots.”

[80:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “cedars of God.” The divine name אֵל (’al, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.

[80:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “to [the] sea.” The “sea” refers here to the Mediterranean Sea.

[80:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “to [the] river.” The “river” is the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. Israel expanded both to the west and to the east.

[80:12]  ¹⁰ sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).

[80:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “pluck it.”

[80:13]  ¹² tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.

[80:13]  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.