Mazmur 74:20-22

74:20 Remember your covenant promises, ¹ 

for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules. ² 

74:21 Do not let the afflicted be turned back in shame!

Let the oppressed and poor praise your name! ³ 

74:22 Rise up, O God! Defend your honor! ⁴ 

Remember how fools insult you all day long! ⁵ 

[74:20]  ¹ tc Heb “look at the covenant.” The LXX reads “your covenant,” which seems to assume a second person pronominal suffix. The suffix may have been accidentally omitted by haplography. Note that the following word (כִּי) begins with kaf (כ).

[74:20]  ² tn Heb “for the dark places of the earth are full of dwelling places of violence.” The “dark regions” are probably the lands where the people have been exiled (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:157). In some contexts “dark regions” refers to Sheol (Ps 88:6) or to hiding places likened to Sheol (Ps 143:3; Lam 3:6).

[74:21]  ³ sn Let the oppressed and poor praise your name! The statement is metonymic. The point is this: May the oppressed be delivered from their enemies! Then they will have ample reason to praise God’s name.

[74:22]  ⁴ tn Or “defend your cause.”

[74:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “remember your reproach from a fool all the day.”