Mazmur 77:7-9

77:7 I asked, ¹  “Will the Lord reject me forever?

Will he never again show me his favor?

77:8 Has his loyal love disappeared forever?

Has his promise ²  failed forever?

77:9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has his anger stifled his compassion?”

Mazmur 85:5

85:5 Will you stay mad at us forever?

Will you remain angry throughout future generations? ³ 

Mazmur 103:8-9

103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;

he is patient ⁴  and demonstrates great loyal love. ⁵ 

103:9 He does not always accuse,

and does not stay angry. ⁶ 

[77:7]  ¹ tn As in vv. 4 and 6a, the words of vv. 7-9 are understood as a quotation of what the psalmist said earlier. Therefore the words “I asked” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[77:8]  ² tn Heb “word,” which may refer here to God’s word of promise (note the reference to “loyal love” in the preceding line).

[85:5]  ³ tn Heb “Will your anger stretch to a generation and a generation?”

[103:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).

[103:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).

[103:9]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew verb נָטַר (natar) is usually taken to mean “to keep; to guard,” with “anger” being understood by ellipsis. The idiom “to guard anger” is then understood to mean “to remain angry” (see Lev 19:18; Jer 3:5, 12; Nah 1:2). However, it is possible that this is a homonymic root meaning “to be angry” (see HALOT 695 s.v. נטר).