Mazmur 44:1-2
KonteksFor the music director; by the Korahites, a well-written song. 2
44:1 O God, we have clearly heard; 3
our ancestors 4 have told us
what you did 5 in their days,
in ancient times. 6
44:2 You, by your power, 7 defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; 8
you crushed 9 the people living there 10 and enabled our ancestors to occupy it. 11
Mazmur 78:3-6
Konteks78:3 What we have heard and learned 12 –
that which our ancestors 13 have told us –
78:4 we will not hide from their 14 descendants.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, 15
about his strength and the amazing things he has done.
78:5 He established a rule 16 in Jacob;
he set up a law in Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to make his deeds known to their descendants, 17
78:6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born,
might know about them.
They will grow up and tell their descendants about them. 18
[44:1] 1 sn Psalm 44. The speakers in this psalm (the worshiping community within the nation Israel) were disappointed with God. The psalm begins on a positive note, praising God for leading Israel to past military victories. Verses 1-8 appear to be a song of confidence and petition which the people recited prior to battle. But suddenly the mood changes as the nation laments a recent defeat. The stark contrast between the present and the past only heightens the nation’s confusion. Israel trusted in God for victory, but the Lord rejected them and allowed them to be humiliated in battle. If Israel had been unfaithful to God, their defeat would make sense, but the nation was loyal to the Lord. Comparing the Lord to a careless shepherd, the nation urges God to wake up and to extend his compassion to his suffering people.
[44:1] 2 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 42.
[44:1] 3 tn Heb “with our ears we have heard.”
[44:1] 4 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 2; the same Hebrew word may be translated either “fathers” or “ancestors” depending on the context.
[44:1] 5 tn Heb “the work you worked.”
[44:1] 6 tn Heb “in the days of old.” This refers specifically to the days of Joshua, during Israel’s conquest of the land, as vv. 2-3 indicate.
[44:2] 7 tn Heb “you, your hand.”
[44:2] 8 tn Heb “dispossessed nations and planted them.” The third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1). See Ps 80:8, 15.
[44:2] 9 tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Hiphil preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive) from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil; be bad”). If retained it apparently means, “you injured; harmed.” Some prefer to derive the verb from רָעַע (“break”; cf. NEB “breaking up the peoples”), in which case the form must be revocalized as Qal (since this verb is unattested in the Hiphil).
[44:2] 11 tn Heb “and you sent them out.” The translation assumes that the third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1), as in the preceding parallel line. See Ps 80:11, where Israel, likened to a vine, “spreads out” its tendrils to the west and east. Another option is to take the “peoples” as the referent of the pronoun and translate, “and you sent them away,” though this does not provide as tight a parallel with the corresponding line.
[78:3] 13 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 5, 8, 12, 57).
[78:4] 14 tn The pronominal suffix refers back to the “fathers” (“our ancestors,” v. 3).
[78:4] 15 tn Heb “to a following generation telling the praises of the
[78:5] 16 tn The Hebrew noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to God’s command that the older generation teach their children about God’s mighty deeds in the nation’s history (see Exod 10:2; Deut 4:9; 6:20-25).
[78:5] 17 tn Heb “which he commanded our fathers to make them known to their sons.” The plural suffix “them” probably refers back to the
[78:6] 18 tn Heb “in order that they might know, a following generation, sons [who] will be born, they will arise and will tell to their sons.”
pada halaman