Psalms 79–13
Psalm 79:1-13
Psa.79.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מזמור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לאסף: VERB,qal,inf
- א: PRT
- להים: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- באו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- גוים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- בנחלתך: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+SUF,2,m,sg
- טמאו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- היכל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קדשך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2,ms
- שמו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- ירושלם: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לעיים: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs,1cp
Parallels
- Ps.74:7 (verbal): Uses nearly the same language of the sanctuary/dwelling of God's name being profaned—verbal echo of temple desecration.
- 2 Chron.36:19 (structural): Historical report that the Babylonians burned and defiled the house of the Lord and made Jerusalem a ruin—the historical event behind the psalm's complaint.
- Jer.52:12-14 (structural): Parallel historical account of the temple's burning and Jerusalem's destruction by Babylon, matching the psalm's charge that the sanctuary was profaned.
- Ezek.8:6-12 (allusion): Ezekiel's vision of idolatrous practices in the temple—thematic parallel to the idea that the sanctuary was profaned before/alongside its devastation.
- Isa.64:10-11 (thematic): Isaiah laments Zion as a wilderness and speaks of the holy house being profaned—thematic resonance with Jerusalem laid waste and the sanctuary defiled.
Alternative generated candidates
- A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy sanctuary and have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
- A Psalm of Asaph. O God, nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple and made Jerusalem a ruin.
Psa.79.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- נתנו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- נבלת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- עבדיך: NOUN,m,pl,abs,2ms
- מאכל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לעוף: INF,qal
- השמים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- בשר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חסידיך: NOUN,m,pl,abs+2mp
- לחיתו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 28:26 (verbal): Uses almost identical curse-formula—’your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth’—a background for the image of bodies given to birds and beasts.
- Ezekiel 39:17-20 (verbal): God summons birds and wild animals to feast on the slain of Gog—an eschatological expansion of the motif of corpses as food for birds and beasts.
- Revelation 19:21 (verbal): Apocalyptic echo: the defeated are slain and the birds gorge themselves on their flesh, carrying the same image into the New Testament judgment tradition.
- Isaiah 34:6-8 (thematic): Descriptive oracle of divine vengeance in which the land and its slain are given over to slaughter and scavengers—shares the theme of dishonoring the slain as part of judgment.
- 2 Kings 9:36-37 (thematic): Account of Jezebel’s end—her body is trampled and eaten by dogs—parallels the motif of the defeated’s bodies being left to animals as a sign of humiliation and divine judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- They have given the corpses of your servants as food to the birds of the heavens, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the field.
- They have given the dead bodies of your servants as food to the birds of the heavens, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the field.
Psa.79.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שפכו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- דמם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כמים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- סביבות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ירושלם: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- קובר: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 28:26 (verbal): Part of the covenant curses: bodies left for birds and beasts and no one to frighten them away—language and motif similar to bloodshed and lack of burial in Ps 79:3.
- Jeremiah 16:4 (thematic): God says the people’s dead will lie unburied and be food for birds/beasts—echoes the theme of exposed corpses and communal devastation found in Ps 79:3.
- Jeremiah 7:33 (verbal): Foretells corpses of the people becoming food for birds and beasts—close verbal/material parallel to the image of unburied victims in Ps 79:3.
- 1 Samuel 31:11-13 (thematic): After Saul and his sons are left exposed (bodies fastened to the wall), men later recover and bury them—addresses the social/shameful consequences of battle-deaths and the problem of burial that Ps 79:3 laments.
Alternative generated candidates
- Their blood they have poured out like water round about Jerusalem; there is no one to bury.
- Their blood they have poured out like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.
Psa.79.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- היינו: VERB,qal,perf,1,pl
- חרפה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לשכנינו: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs,1p
- לעג: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וקלס: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לסביבותינו: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs,1p
Parallels
- Psalm 44:13-14 (verbal): Uses nearly identical language about becoming a reproach/a byword to neighbors and being met with scorn and derision — a close verbal and thematic parallel of communal disgrace.
- Deuteronomy 28:37 (thematic): Part of the Deuteronomic curses: Israel will become a horror, byword, and object of ridicule among the nations — background theological motif for the psalmist's lament.
- Nehemiah 2:19 (thematic): Opponents respond to Jerusalem's rebuilding by mocking and scorning the people (‘laughed us to scorn’), a situational echo of the psalm’s complaint about derision from neighbors.
- Ezekiel 36:20-23 (allusion): Describes exiles profaning God’s name and provoking contempt among the nations — links the experience of exile and international scorn to the psalmist’s sense of shame.
Alternative generated candidates
- We have become a taunt to our neighbors, an object of scorn and derision to those around us.
- We have become a taunt to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those around us.
Psa.79.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עד: PREP
- מה: PRON,int
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- תאנף: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- לנצח: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תבער: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- כמו: PREP
- אש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- קנאתך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 13:1 (verbal): Begins with the identical lament formula “How long, O LORD…?”—a direct verbal and thematic parallel of pleading about prolonged divine displeasure.
- Habakkuk 1:2 (thematic): Uses the same ‘How long…?’ complaint against God’s apparent inaction/anger; shares the theme of urgent protest over ongoing suffering.
- Deuteronomy 4:24 (verbal): Describes the LORD as a “consuming fire” and a jealous God, closely echoing the image “burn like the fire of your jealousy.”
- Exodus 34:14 (allusion): Declares that the LORD is a jealous God; the concept of divine jealousy here underlies the Psalm’s language linking anger and jealous burning.
- Nahum 1:2,6 (verbal): Portrays God’s jealousy and wrath as fierce and burning—‘his fury is poured out like fire’—using imagery very similar to the Psalm’s depiction of anger that burns like fire.
Alternative generated candidates
- How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your zeal burn like fire?
- How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?
Psa.79.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שפך: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חמתך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,2ms
- אל: NEG
- הגוים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- לא: PART_NEG
- ידעוך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg,suff:2,m,sg
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- ממלכות: NOUN,f,pl,cs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- בשמך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON:2ms
- לא: PART_NEG
- קראו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Jer.10:25 (quotation): Nearly identical wording — an explicit imprecation: 'Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.' (Jeremiah and Psalm share the same petitional formula.)
- Ps.2:1 (thematic): Both psalms confront hostile nations/peoples who oppose God and his purposes; Psalm 2 focuses on the plotting of the nations against the Lord and his anointed, echoing the theme of foreign hostility found in Ps.79:6.
- Isa.63:4–6 (thematic): Isaiah depicts the Lord executing vengeance and trampling the peoples in his wrath — a prophetic portrayal of divine anger poured out upon nations, thematically parallel to the imprecation in Ps.79:6.
- Joel 3:2 (thematic): Joel announces that God will judge the nations that scattered his people and profaned his land/name — a related theme of God pouring out judgment on foreign nations that acted against Israel and did not honor his name.
Alternative generated candidates
- Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.
- Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name.
Psa.79.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- אכל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- יעקב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ואת: CONJ
- נוהו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- השמו: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 79:1–2 (verbal): Same psalm: the nations invade God's inheritance, desecrate the sanctuary and give the dead of his servants as spoil/food — closely parallel language and imagery to 'they have eaten up Jacob and laid waste his dwelling.'
- Psalm 74:3–4 (thematic): Describes enemies laying waste to God's sanctuary and treating the slain of Zion as food for beasts/birds — a parallel image of destruction and profanation of Israel's dwelling-place.
- Obadiah 1:10 (thematic): Condemns violence done to 'your brother Jacob' and rejoicing over Judah's calamity — thematically parallel in accusing nations of violence and spoil against Jacob/Israel.
- Psalm 106:40–41 (thematic): Speaks of the LORD giving his people into the hands of the nations because of their sin, so that enemies rule over them — parallels the motif of Israel being delivered over and devastated by other peoples.
- Joel 3:2 (Joel 4:2 in Hebrew numbering) (allusion): God will judge those who 'scattered my people and divided my land' and gave Israel as spoil — closely related idea of Israel being given over as spoil to the nations.
Alternative generated candidates
- For they have devoured Jacob and made his habitation a desolation.
- For they have devoured Jacob and made his dwelling a desolation.
Psa.79.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אל: NEG
- תזכר: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,sg
- לנו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
- עונת: NOUN,f,sg,const
- ראשנים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- מהר: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- יקדמונו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- רחמיך: NOUN,m,pl,poss-2ms
- כי: CONJ
- דלונו: VERB,qal,perf,1,pl
- מאד: ADV
Parallels
- Isaiah 43:25 (verbal): God declares, 'I—indeed I—am he who blots out your transgressions... I will not remember your sins,' echoing the petition 'Do not remember... the iniquities'.
- Micah 7:18-19 (thematic): Asks who is a God who pardons and shows compassion; 'he will again have compassion on us' and deal with our iniquities, paralleling the plea for swift mercy because the people are low.
- Daniel 9:16-19 (structural): A corporate confession of sin for fathers and present people followed by urgent appeal for God's compassion and speedy intervention ('do not delay'), mirroring Ps 79:8's form and urgency.
- Lamentations 5:7 (thematic): 'Our fathers sinned, and are no more, and we bear their iniquities'—connects the burden of ancestral sin and the request that God not forget or impute those sins to the current generation.
- Psalm 106:45 (allusion): Though Israel sinned with their ancestors, 'for their sake he remembered his covenant and took pity,' reflecting the interplay of divine remembrance and mercy found in Ps 79:8.
Alternative generated candidates
- Do not remember against us the iniquities of our fathers; may your mercies hasten to meet us, for we are brought very low.
- Do not remember against us the iniquities of our fathers; let your tender mercies hasten to meet us, for we are brought very low.
Psa.79.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עזרנו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg+PRON,1,pl
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- ישענו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כבוד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שמך: NOUN,m,sg,cs,2,m,sg
- והצילנו: VERB,hiph,imp,2,m,sg
- וכפר: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- חטאתינו: NOUN,f,pl,def,1pl
- למען: PREP
- שמך: NOUN,m,sg,cs,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 25:11 (verbal): Uses the exact motif 'for your name's sake' in a plea for pardon—request that God forgive/justify the petitioner because of God's honor.
- Daniel 9:19 (allusion): Communal confession and urgent petition for mercy 'for your own sake' because the city and people bear God's name—echoes plea for deliverance and atonement on account of God's name.
- Ezekiel 36:22-27 (structural): God declares he will act 'for my holy name's sake' and promises cleansing and renewal—connects divine vindication of God's name with forgiveness and restoration.
- Psalm 44:26 (thematic): A communal cry 'Rise up, and help us; redeem us for your steadfast love/for your name's sake'—parallels plea for deliverance motivated by God's character and reputation.
Alternative generated candidates
- Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins—for your name’s sake.
- Help us, O God of our salvation, for the sake of the glory of your name; deliver us and atone for our sins—for your name's sake.
Psa.79.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- למה: ADV
- יאמרו: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,pl
- הגוים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- איה: ADV,interr
- א: PRT
- להיהם: NOUN,m,pl,abs,prsuf:3,m,pl
- יודע: VERB,qal,ptc,ms,sg
- בגוים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לעינינו: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,cons+PRON,1,pl
- נקמת: NOUN,f,sg,const
- דם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עבדיך: NOUN,m,pl,abs,2ms
- השפוך: VERB,pual,ptc,pass,ms,sg,def
Parallels
- Psalm 115:2 (verbal): Uses the same phrase/idea—'Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”'—a near-verbal parallel questioning God's presence before the nations.
- Psalm 74:8-10 (thematic): Describes enemies profaning the sanctuary, giving the bodies of God's servants to birds and mocking; like Ps 79 it laments slaughter/defilement and pleads for God to remember and avenge his servants' blood.
- Ezekiel 36:20-23 (structural): Reports the nations' taunt regarding Israel's God when the people were scattered and announces God's intent to vindicate and sanctify his name—parallels the motif of nations scoffing and divine vindication.
- Joel 3:1-2 (thematic): God declares he will enter judgment against the nations for scattering his people and shedding the blood of his servants—directly echoes the plea for God to avenge poured-out blood.
Alternative generated candidates
- Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’ Let the nations know, before our eyes, the vengeance for the blood of your servants that has been shed.
- Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let the nations know, before our eyes, the vengeance for the blood of your servants that has been poured out.
Psa.79.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- תבוא: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- לפניך: PREP+PRON,2,m,sg
- אנקת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- אסיר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כגדל: PREP+ADJ,m,sg,abs
- זרועך: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- הותר: VERB,hiph,impv,2,m,sg
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- תמותה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 69:33 (verbal): Both verses speak of God’s care for the needy/prisoners—‘the LORD hears the needy; he will not despise his prisoners’ parallels the petition that the sighing of the prisoner come before God.
- Psalm 142:7 (thematic): A personal lament/prayer from a prisoner asking God to ‘bring me out of prison’ mirrors the Psalm 79 plea that the cries of captives be presented to God and preserved.
- Isaiah 42:7 (allusion): The prophetic promise ‘to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon’ echoes the theme of God’s intervention on behalf of the imprisoned and bound.
- Acts 16:25-26 (thematic): Paul and Silas’s prayer and singing in prison followed by miraculous release provides a New Testament narrative parallel: God responding to the cries of prisoners and granting deliverance.
Alternative generated candidates
- Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; by the greatness of your arm preserve those doomed to die.
- Let the groaning of the prisoners come before you; by the greatness of your arm, save those who are about to perish.
Psa.79.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והשב: VERB,hifil,imperfect,3,m,sg
- לשכנינו: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs,1p
- שבעתים: ADV
- אל: NEG
- חיקם: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3mp
- חרפתם: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,pl
- אשר: PRON,rel
- חרפוך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl+PRON,2,m,sg
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
Parallels
- Proverbs 6:31 (verbal): Uses the distinctive phrase of sevenfold restitution—"restore sevenfold"—linking the numerical motif of making recompense that appears in Ps 79:12 (return sevenfold).
- Genesis 4:15 (verbal): God's pronouncement that anyone avenging Cain would suffer vengeance sevenfold echoes the specific sevenfold retribution motif found in Ps 79:12.
- Deuteronomy 32:35 (quotation): Declares "Vengeance is mine, and recompense" (I will repay), thematically parallel to the psalmist's plea that the LORD repay the reproach of the enemies.
- Romans 12:19 (allusion): Paul cites Deut 32:35—"Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord"—reflecting the same theological idea of divine repayment that underlies the psalmist's petition for God to repay enemies.
Alternative generated candidates
- Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom the reproach with which they have reproached you, O LORD.
- Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom the reproach with which they have reproached you, O Lord.
Psa.79.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואנחנו: CONJ+PRON,1,pl
- עמך: NOUN,m,sg,suff-2m
- וצאן: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מרעיתך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,2ms
- נודה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,pl
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- לעולם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לדר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ודר: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נספר: VERB,qal,imprf,1,pl
- תהלתך: NOUN,f,sg,abs+2ms
Parallels
- Psalm 100:3 (verbal): Uses nearly identical language: ‘we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture,’ directly paralleling Ps 79:13’s self-identification as God’s people and sheep of his pasture.
- Psalm 95:7 (verbal): Contains the same shepherd/ flock formula (‘For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand’), echoing the corporate confession in Ps 79:13.
- Psalm 145:4 (structural): Speaks of passing praise from one generation to another (‘One generation shall commend your works to another’), paralleling Ps 79:13’s commitment to recount God’s praise to all generations.
- Isaiah 40:11 (thematic): Employs the shepherd metaphor for God’s care (‘He will tend his flock like a shepherd’), thematically resonant with Ps 79:13’s image of the people as the sheep of God’s pasture.
- John 10:14-16 (allusion): Jesus’ self-identification as the Good Shepherd who knows and tends his sheep applies the biblical shepherd motif to the pastoral care of God’s people, echoing the identity and care language of Ps 79:13.
Alternative generated candidates
- But we—your people and the sheep of your pasture—will give you thanks forever; from generation to generation we will declare your praise.
- But we, your people, and the sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple and made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
They have given the bodies of your servants as food to the birds of the heavens, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out their blood like water around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them.
We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a byword and derision to those around us.
How long, O LORD, will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name.
For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his dwelling.
Do not remember against us the iniquities of our fathers; let your compassion hasten to meet us, for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name's sake.
Why should the nations say, 'Where is their God?' Let the nations see before our eyes the vengeance for the blood of your servants that has been poured out.
Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to the greatness of your arm, preserve those doomed to die.
Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom the reproach with which they have reproached you, O LORD. But we, your people and the sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.