Mazmur 73:21-24

73:21 Yes, ¹  my spirit was bitter, ² 

and my insides felt sharp pain. ³ 

73:22 I was ignorant ⁴  and lacked insight; ⁵ 

I was as senseless as an animal before you. ⁶ 

73:23 But I am continually with you;

you hold my right hand.

73:24 You guide ⁷  me by your wise advice,

and then you will lead me to a position of honor. ⁸ 

[73:21]  ¹ tn Or perhaps “when.”

[73:21]  ² tn The imperfect verbal form here describes a continuing attitude in a past time frame.

[73:21]  ³ tn Heb “and [in] my kidneys I was pierced.” The imperfect verbal form here describes a continuing condition in a past time frame.

[73:22]  ⁴ tn Or “brutish, stupid.”

[73:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I was not knowing.”

[73:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “an animal I was with you.”

[73:24]  ⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form here suggests this is the psalmist’s ongoing experience.

[73:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “and afterward [to] glory you will take me.” Some interpreters view this as the psalmist’s confidence in an afterlife in God’s presence and understand כָּבוֹד (cavod) as a metonymic reference to God’s presence in heaven. But this seems unlikely in the present context. The psalmist anticipates a time of vindication, when the wicked are destroyed and he is honored by God for his godly life style. The verb לָקַח (laqakh, “take”) here carries the nuance “lead, guide, conduct,” as in Num 23:14, 27-28; Josh 24:3 and Prov 24:11.