Mazmur 42:2

42:2 I thirst ¹  for God,

for the living God.

I say, ²  “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?” ³ 

Mazmur 42:6

42:6 I am depressed, ⁴ 

so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, ⁵ 

from Hermon, ⁶  from Mount Mizar. ⁷ 

Mazmur 63:1

Psalm 63 ⁸ 

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. ⁹ 

63:1 O God, you are my God! I long for you! ¹⁰ 

My soul thirsts ¹¹  for you,

my flesh yearns for you,

in a dry and parched ¹²  land where there is no water.

[42:2]  ¹ tn Or “my soul thirsts.”

[42:2]  ² tn The words “I say” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

[42:2]  ³ tn Heb “When will I go and appear [to] the face of God?” Some emend the Niphal verbal form אֵרָאֶה (’era’eh, “I will appear”) to a Qal אֶרְאֶה (’er’eh, “I will see”; see Gen 33:10), but the Niphal can be retained if one understands ellipsis of אֶת (’et) before “face” (see Exod 34:24; Deut 31:11).

[42:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “my God, upon me my soul bows down.” As noted earlier, “my God” belongs with the end of v. 6.

[42:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan.” “Remember” is here used metonymically for prayer (see vv. 8-9). As the next line indicates, the region of the upper Jordan, where the river originates, is in view.

[42:6]  ⁶ tc Heb “Hermons.” The plural form of the name occurs only here in the OT. Some suggest the plural refers to multiple mountain peaks (cf. NASB) or simply retain the plural in the translation (cf. NEB), but the final mem (ם) is probably dittographic (note that the next form in the text begins with the letter mem) or enclitic. At a later time it was misinterpreted as a plural marker and vocalized accordingly.

[42:6]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term מִצְעָר (mits’ar) is probably a proper name (“Mizar”), designating a particular mountain in the Hermon region. The name appears only here in the OT.

[63:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 63. The psalmist expresses his intense desire to be in God’s presence and confidently affirms that God will judge his enemies.

[63:1]  ⁹ sn According to the psalm superscription David wrote the psalm while in the “wilderness of Judah.” Perhaps this refers to the period described in 1 Sam 23-24 or to the incident mentioned in 2 Sam 15:23.

[63:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “I will seek you.”

[63:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “I thirst.”

[63:1]  ¹² tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” This may picture the land as “faint” or “weary,” or it may allude to the effect this dry desert has on those who are forced to live in it.