Mazmur 78:38-39

78:38 Yet he is compassionate.

He forgives sin and does not destroy.

He often holds back his anger,

and does not stir up his fury. ¹ 

78:39 He remembered ²  that they were made of flesh,

and were like a wind that blows past and does not return. ³ 

Mazmur 85:5

85:5 Will you stay mad at us forever?

Will you remain angry throughout future generations? ⁴ 

Mazmur 103:9-16

103:9 He does not always accuse,

and does not stay angry. ⁵ 

103:10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; ⁶ 

he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. ⁷ 

103:11 For as the skies are high above the earth,

so his loyal love towers ⁸  over his faithful followers. ⁹ 

103:12 As far as the eastern horizon ¹⁰  is from the west, ¹¹ 

so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions ¹²  from us.

103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, ¹³ 

so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. ¹⁴ 

103:14 For he knows what we are made of; ¹⁵ 

he realizes ¹⁶  we are made of clay. ¹⁷ 

103:15 A person’s life is like grass. ¹⁸ 

Like a flower in the field it flourishes,

103:16 but when the hot wind ¹⁹  blows by, it disappears,

and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.

[78:38]  ¹ tn One could translate v. 38 in the past tense (“he was compassionate…forgave sin and did not destroy…held back his anger, and did not stir up his fury”), but the imperfect verbal forms are probably best understood as generalizing. Verse 38 steps back briefly from the narrational summary of Israel’s history and lays the theological basis for v. 39, which focuses on God’s mercy toward sinful Israel.

[78:39]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive signals a return to the narrative.

[78:39]  ³ tn Heb “and he remembered that they [were] flesh, a wind [that] goes and does not return.”

[85:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “Will your anger stretch to a generation and a generation?”

[103:9]  ⁵ 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).

[103:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”

[103:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”

[103:11]  ⁸ tn For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.

[103:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[103:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sunrise.”

[103:12]  ¹¹ tn Or “sunset.”

[103:12]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term פֶּשַׁע (pesha’, rebellious act”) is here used metonymically for the guilt such actions produce.

[103:13]  ¹³ tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.

[103:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[103:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “our form.”

[103:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “remembers.”

[103:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “we [are] clay.”

[103:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[as for] mankind, like grass [are] his days.” The Hebrew noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) is used here generically of human beings. What is said is true of all mankind.

[103:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[the] wind.” The word “hot” is supplied in the translation for clarification.