Mazmur 104:1-4
Konteks104:1 Praise the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are magnificent. 2
You are robed in splendor and majesty.
104:2 He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.
He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,
104:3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. 3
He makes the clouds his chariot,
and travels along on the wings of the wind. 4
104:4 He makes the winds his messengers,
and the flaming fire his attendant. 5
Mazmur 104:24-33
Konteks104:24 How many living things you have made, O Lord! 6
You have exhibited great skill in making all of them; 7
the earth is full of the living things you have made.
104:25 Over here is the deep, wide sea, 8
which teems with innumerable swimming creatures, 9
living things both small and large.
104:26 The ships travel there,
and over here swims the whale 10 you made to play in it.
104:27 All of your creatures 11 wait for you
to provide them with food on a regular basis. 12
104:28 You give food to them and they receive it;
you open your hand and they are filled with food. 13
104:29 When you ignore them, they panic. 14
When you take away their life’s breath, they die
and return to dust.
104:30 When you send your life-giving breath, they are created,
and you replenish the surface of the ground.
104:31 May the splendor of the Lord endure! 15
May the Lord find pleasure in the living things he has made! 16
104:32 He looks down on the earth and it shakes;
he touches the mountains and they start to smolder.
104:33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist! 17
[104:1] 1 sn Psalm 104. The psalmist praises God as the ruler of the world who sustains all life.
[104:1] 2 tn Heb “very great.”
[104:3] 3 tn Heb “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44-45.
[104:3] 4 sn Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.
[104:4] 5 tc Heb “and his attendants a flaming fire.” The lack of agreement between the singular “fire” and plural “attendants” has prompted various emendations. Some read “fire and flame.” The present translation assumes an emendation to “his attendant” (יו in the Hebrew text being virtually dittographic).
[104:4] sn In Ugaritic mythology Yam’s messengers appear as flaming fire before the assembly of the gods. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 42.
[104:24] 6 tn Heb “How many [are] your works, O
[104:24] 7 tn Heb “all of them with wisdom you have made.”
[104:25] 8 tn Heb “this [is] the sea, great and broad of hands [i.e., “sides” or “shores”].”
[104:25] 9 tn Heb “where [there are] swimming things, and without number.”
[104:26] 10 tn Heb “[and] this Leviathan, [which] you formed to play in it.” Elsewhere Leviathan is a multiheaded sea monster that symbolizes forces hostile to God (see Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1), but here it appears to be an actual marine creature created by God, probably some type of whale.
[104:27] 11 tn Heb “All of them.” The pronoun “them” refers not just to the sea creatures mentioned in vv. 25-26, but to all living things (see v. 24). This has been specified in the translation as “all of your creatures” for clarity.
[104:27] 12 tn Heb “to give their food in its time.”
[104:28] 13 tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] good.”
[104:29] 14 tn Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”
[104:31] 15 tn Heb “be forever.”
