Psalms 123–4
Psalm 123:1-4
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Psa.123.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שיר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- המעלות: NOUN,f,pl,def
- אליך: PREP+PRON,2,m,sg
- נשאתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- עיני: NOUN,f,pl,cons+1s
- הישבי: VERB,qal,ptcp,_,m,pl,def
- בשמים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Ps.121:1-2 (verbal): Shares the opening motif 'I lift up my eyes'—both begin by looking upward for help from the LORD who is above/heaven.
- Ps.141:8 (verbal): Uses similar language ('my eyes are toward you, O LORD') expressing an attentive, dependent gaze toward God.
- Ps.25:15 (verbal): 'My eyes are ever toward the LORD' parallels the persistent looking-up posture of trust and reliance found in Ps.123:1.
- Ps.11:4 (thematic): Both texts appeal to God as enthroned in heaven—Ps.123 addresses 'you who are enthroned in the heavens,' echoing the theme of God's heavenly kingship and sovereign seat.
Alternative generated candidates
- A song of ascents. To you I lift up my eyes, O you who sit enthroned in the heavens.
- A song of ascents. To you I lift up my eyes, O you who sit enthroned in the heavens.
Psa.123.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הנה: PART
- כעיני: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,cons
- עבדים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אל: NEG
- יד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- א: PRT
- דוניהם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,pl
- כעיני: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,cons
- שפחה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- יד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גברתה: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,f
- כן: ADV
- עינינו: NOUN,f,pl,poss_1pl
- אל: NEG
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהינו: NOUN,m,pl,abs,poss:1,pl
- עד: PREP
- שיחננו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg+PRON,1,pl
Parallels
- Ps.25.15 (verbal): Uses the closely related phrasing of directed eyes to the LORD (Heb. 'עיני אל–יהוה נשואות'), echoing the motif of eyes fixed on God for help and guidance.
- Ps.121.1-2 (thematic): Both passages depict lifting or fixing the eyes toward God as the source of help and protection ('From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD').
- Ps.130.5 (thematic): Speaks of waiting on the LORD ('I wait for the LORD; my soul waits; in his word I hope'), paralleling the patience and expectation in Ps 123 ('until he has mercy on us').
- Lam.3.25-26 (thematic): Affirms the goodness of waiting for the LORD and seeking him patiently—close in tone to the petitionary waiting for God's mercy in Ps 123.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold—like the eyes of servants to the hand of their masters, like the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress—so our eyes are toward the LORD our God, until he shows us mercy.
- Behold— as the eyes of servants are toward the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid toward the hand of her mistress— so our eyes are toward the LORD our God, until he shows us mercy.
Psa.123.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- חננו: VERB,piel,impv,2,ms,OBJ,1,pl
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- חננו: VERB,piel,impv,2,ms,OBJ,1,pl
- כי: CONJ
- רב: ADJ,m,sg
- שבענו: VERB,qal,perf,1,pl
- בוז: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 86:3 (verbal): A direct first‑person plea for God's mercy ('Be merciful to me, O Lord'), mirroring the repeated petition 'Have mercy, O LORD' in Ps 123:3.
- Psalm 79:8 (thematic): A communal appeal for mercy because the people are humbled and afflicted—like Ps 123's plea 'for we have endured much contempt.'
- Psalm 22:6–7 (thematic): Expresses contempt and reproach ('I am a reproach of men, and despised'), paralleling Ps 123's complaint about being filled with scorn.
- Psalm 69:19–21 (thematic): Describes reproach, shame, and suffering and implicitly calls for God's help—resonant with Ps 123's cry for mercy in face of contempt.
- Lamentations 3:52–54 (thematic): Depicts persecution, scoffing, and humiliation, echoing the communal sense of contempt and the need for God's compassion found in Ps 123:3.
Alternative generated candidates
- Show us mercy, O LORD; show us mercy, for we have had our fill of scorn.
- Be gracious to us, O LORD; be gracious to us, for we have had our fill of contempt.
Psa.123.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- רבת: ADV
- שבעה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- נפשנו: NOUN,f,sg,prsuf_1pl
- הלעג: NOUN,m,sg,def
- השאננים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- הבוז: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לגאיונים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Ps.22:7-8 (verbal): The psalmist complains of being mocked and scorned by onlookers—'all who see me mock me… they shake their heads'—parallel to Ps 123's lament over the scornful and contempt of the proud.
- Ps.35:15 (verbal): Speaks of enemies who rejoice at the psalmist's downfall and deride him without cause, echoing Ps 123's experience of persistent scorn and derision.
- Ps.44:13-14 (verbal): Describes Israel as a byword and object of scorn and derision among the nations—language and motif very close to the 'scorn' and 'contempt' lamented in Ps 123:4.
- Ps.119:51 (verbal): 'The insolent utterly deride me' mirrors Ps 123's complaint about the arrogant/scornful; both portray faithful sufferers subjected to derision by the proud.
Alternative generated candidates
- Our soul is full—overflowing with the derision of the complacent and with the contempt of the proud.
- Our soul has had its fill of the taunts of the complacent and the scorn of the proud.
A song of ascents. To you I lift up my eyes—O you who are enthroned in the heavens.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until he shows us mercy.
Have mercy on us, O LORD; have mercy on us, for we are filled with scorn.
Our soul is filled with the scoffing of the complacent, with the contempt of the proud.