Mazmur 44:14-17

44:14 You made us ¹  an object of ridicule ²  among the nations;

foreigners treat us with contempt. ³ 

44:15 All day long I feel humiliated ⁴ 

and am overwhelmed with shame, ⁵ 

44:16 before the vindictive enemy

who ridicules and insults me. ⁶ 

44:17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you ⁷ 

or violated your covenant with us. ⁸ 

[44:14]  ¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:14]  ² tn Heb “a proverb,” or “[the subject of] a mocking song.”

[44:14]  ³ tn Heb “a shaking of the head among the peoples.” Shaking the head was a derisive gesture (see Jer 18:16; Lam 2:15).

[44:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “all the day my humiliation [is] in front of me.”

[44:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the shame of my face covers me.”

[44:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the voice of one who ridicules and insults, from the face of an enemy and an avenger.” See Ps 8:2.

[44:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “we have not forgotten you.” To “forget” God refers here to worshiping false gods and thereby refusing to recognize his sovereignty (see v. 20, as well as Deut 8:19; Judg 3:7; 1 Sam 12:9; Isa 17:10; Jer 3:21; Ps 9:17).Thus the translation “we have not rejected you” has been used.

[44:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “and we did not deal falsely with your covenant.”