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PSALM 80
STROPHE DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS
NASB | NKJV | NRSV | TEV | NJB |
God Implored to Rescue His People From Their Calamities MT Intro For the choir director; set to El Shoshannim; Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph |
Prayer for Israel's Restoration | Prayer for Deliverance From National Enemies | A Prayer for The Nation's Restoration | Prayer for the Restoration of Israel |
80:1-3 | 80:1-2 | 80:1-2 | 80:1-2 | 80:1-2 |
80:3 | 80:3 | 80:3 | 80:3 | |
80:4-7 | 80:4-6 | 80:4-6 | 80:4-6 | 80:4-6 |
80:7 | 80:7 | 80:7 | 80:7 | |
80:8-13 | 80:8-11 | 80:8-13 | 80:8-15 | 80:8-9 |
80:10-11 | ||||
80:12-13 | 80:12-13 | |||
80:14-19 | 80:14-18 | 80:14-18 | 80:14-16 | |
80:16-18 | ||||
80:17-18 | ||||
80:19 | 80:19 | 80:19 | 80:19 |
READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")
FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT PARAGRAPH LEVEL
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3). Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.
CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS
WORD AND PHRASE STUDY
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 80:1-3
1Oh, give ear,
Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a
flock;
You who are enthroned above
the cherubim, shine forth!
2Before Ephraim and
Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your power
And come to save us!
3O God, restore us
And cause Your face to shine
upon us, and we will be saved.
80:1-3 This strophe is made up of a series of IMPERATIVES OF REQUEST.
80:1 "ear" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE GOD
▣ "Shepherd of Israel" This phrase denotes God's presence and tender care (cf. Gen. 49:24; Ps. 23:1-3) and also links to David, who was called by God from tending the sheep (cf. Ps. 78:65-72). This makes the Messianic allusion in Ps. 80:15-17 more probable (see Contextual Insights, C).
Notice how God is characterized.
SPECIAL TOPIC: ARK OF THE COVENANT
80:1c "shine forth" This emphasis on God's involvement in the earthly, daily affairs of Israel is described as a light coming from above the ark (cf. Ps. 50:2; 94:1). Notice the refrain in this Psalm (cf. Ps. 80:3,7,19) has another IMPERATIVE VERB (BDB 21, KB 24) denoting light. Light in the ANE was a symbol of revelation, health, goodness. In the OT it often relates to the brightness of a theophany (physical appearance of God). Note Ps. 50:2; 94:1, as well as the Shekinah cloud of glory during the exodus and wilderness wandering period (i.e., Exod. 13:21-22; 33:9; Deut. 33:2).
God is light ‒ Ps. 27:1; Isa. 60:20; Mic. 7:8; James 1:17; 1 John 1:5
Jesus is light ‒ Isa. 9:2; John 1:4; 8:12; 12:35,46
believers are light ‒ Matt. 5:14-16; John 8:12b
80:2 There is some question why only these tribes are mentioned. From Num. 2:18-24 we know they camped together on the west side of the tabernacle as they traveled through the wilderness.
Ephraim and Manasseh were the children of Joseph. Joseph and Benjamin were the sons of Jacob's favorite wife, Rachel.
Joseph's children were fully adopted by Jacob (i.e., thirteen tribes) and became the largest tribe when the united monarchy (i.e., Saul, David, Solomon) split in 922 B.C. They became the leaders of the northern coalition known as Israel, Samaria, or Ephraim. The first leader/king was an Ephraimitic labor leader, Jeroboam I.
Benjamin became part of the southern coalition of Judah along with most of the Levites. Simeon had earlier been incorporated into Judah, therefore, it may be a way of referring to all the covenant people.
80:3 This refrain (cf. Ps. 80:7,19) shows that this Psalm was written during a time of national difficulty. If Psalms 77-80 by Asaph come from the same historical period, then this is possibly related to the invasion of Judah by Neo-Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar II. He invaded several times (i.e., 605, 597, 586, 582 B.C.), but it is possible to see this Psalm as relating to the fall of Israel in 722 B.C., when Samaria fell after a three year siege by Assyria. The Jewish Study Bible (p. 1372) suggests that it was originally written for the fall of Samaria but was reworked to refer to the fall of Jerusalem because of the proximity and phrasing connections to Psalm 79, which is obviously 586 B.C.
Because Ps. 80:14 uses the same IMPERATIVE (BDB 996, KB 1427), some scholars see it as an additional refrain, thereby having each strophe close the same. However, Ps. 80:14 is not the same, even the same VERB. The VERB is a Qal not Hiphil.
SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF NEO-BABYLON
SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF ASSYRIA
▣ "to shine upon us" This links back to v. 1c, "shine forth." The words are different, but the concept the same.
See full note at v. 1c.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 80:4-7
4O
Lord God
of hosts,
How long will You be angry
with the prayer of Your people?
5You have fed them
with the bread of tears,
And You have made them to
drink tears in large measure.
6You make us an
object of contention to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among
themselves.
7O God of
hosts, restore us
And cause Your face to shine
upon us, and we will be saved.
80:4-7 This strophe is a plea for God to intervene on behalf of His people.
These consequences of Israel/Judah's covenant disobedience and idolatry are exactly the opposite of what God wanted them to do in relation to their Gentile neighbors of the ANE. They were meant to be a light (cf. Ezek. 36:22-23) but became a joke (cf. Ps. 79:10; 115:2).
SPECIAL TOPIC: CONSEQUENCES OF IDOLATRY
SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT REQUIREMENTS OF ISRAEL
SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN
80:4 "Lord God of hosts" This combines three titles for Israel's Deity.
SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, C., D.
▣ "angry" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE GOD
▣ "Your face to shine" See full note at v. 1c.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 80:8-13
8You removed a vine
from Egypt;
You drove out the nations and
planted it.
9You cleared the
ground before it,
And it took deep root and
filled the land.
10The mountains were
covered with its shadow,
And the cedars of God with its
boughs.
11It was sending out
its branches to the sea
And its shoots to the River.
12Why have You
broken down its hedges,
So that all who pass that
way pick its
fruit?
13A boar from the
forest eats it away
And whatever moves in the
field feeds on it.
80:8-13 This strophe uses the vineyard as imagery for the covenant people.
Even with all these divine blessings they were unfaithful (cf. Nehemiah 9; Psalm 78). So the curses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 27-30 came into effect.
80:8 "vine" This could refer to all of the covenant people (cf. Isa. 5:1-7; Jer. 2:21; Hosea 10:1) or be a specific reference to the northern kingdom (cf. Gen. 49:22), which goes by several names.
80:9 "planted it" For similar imagery related to "the Two Ways," see Psalm 1.
▣ "shadow" Shadow is biblical imagery for YHWH's presence and protection.
SPECIAL TOPIC: SHADOW AS A METAPHOR FOR PROTECTION AND CARE
▣ | |
NASB, LXX, Peshitta, NJB | "of God" |
NKJV, JPSOA, NRSV, REB | "Mighty" |
The descriptive term describing "the cedars" is El, the general name for deity in the ANE. It is thought to be from an Akkadian root, "to be strong."
SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, A.
80:11 "sea. . .the River" This refers to the Mediterranean to the west and the head waters of the Euphrates River to the northeast (cf. Exod. 23:31).
80:13 | |
NASB | "eats it away" |
NKJV | "uproots it" |
REB. JPSOA | "gnaws it" |
NRSV, LXX | "ravages it" |
TEV | "trample it down" |
Peshitta | "devours it" |
This VERB (BDB 493, KB 499, Piel IMPERFECT) occurs only here.
It is obviously agricultural imagery for a boar's destruction of a wine to describe the nation's demise.
▣ | |
NASB, NRSV | "whatever moves in the field" |
NKJV, LXX, Peshitta, NJB | "wild beasts" |
JPSOA | "creatures of the field" |
TEV | "wild animals" |
REB | "wild ceatures of the countryside" |
NET | "the insects of the field" |
This term (BDB 265, KB 268) is found only here and Ps. 50:11. It seems to mean "moving things." Here, it refers to divinely sent enemies of the covenant people destryoing the Promised Land.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 80:14-19
14O God of
hosts, turn again now, we beseech You;
Look down from heaven and see,
and take care of this vine,
15Even the shoot
which Your right hand has planted,
And on the son whom You have
strengthened for Yourself.
16It is burned with
fire, it is cut down;
They perish at the rebuke of
Your countenance.
17Let Your hand be
upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You
made strong for Yourself.
18Then we shall not
turn back from You;
Revive us, and we will call
upon Your name.
19O
Lord God
of hosts, restore us;
Cause Your face to shine
upon us, and we will be saved.
80:14-19 This strophe is a concluding prayer (3 Qal IMPERATIVES OF REQUEST in Ps. 80:14) for YHWH to have mercy on the descendants of Abraham.
The real question of interpretation is how they view this divine action to occur.
It is obvious this imagery could refer to
SPECIAL TOPIC: OT TITLES FOR THE SPECIAL COMING ONE
80:14 "heaven" See SPECIAL TOPIC: HEAVEN and SPECIAL TOPIC: THE HEAVENS AND THE THIRD HEAVEN
80:15 | |
NASB | "the shoot" |
NKJV, Peshitta | "the vineyard" |
TEV | "this grapevine" |
NRSV, REB, JPSOA | "the stock" |
NET | "the root" |
The term (BDB 488) is found only here in the OT. Its basic meaning is "the supporting roots of a tree." for another suggestion, see KB 483 (i.e., "shoot").
See note at Contextual Insights, C. #1.
▣ "Your right hand" See SPECIAL TOPIC: HAND
80:16 Notice that Israel/Judah's difficulties are a direct result of God's actions, not the power of the invader. God used pagan nations to judge His people (cf. Habakkuk). This was shocking to Jewish people. He had fought on their side (cf. Ps. 76:6) but now He was on the side of the invaders (i.e., a reversal of "holy war" imagery).
▣ "fire" Note the same imagery of destructive judgment in Ps. 74:5-7.
80:17 "Your hand" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE GOD
▣ "the son of man" This phrase is recurrent in Ezekiel. See my commentary notes below from Ezekiel 2:1.
Ezek. 2:1 "Son of man" This is literally "ben-Adam" (BDB 119 CONSTRUCT, BDB 9). This is used often in Ezekiel as a way of referring to Ezekiel as a human being (93 times, cf. Ps. 8:4). In Ezekiel it is the way God addresses Ezekiel. This same phrase is found in Job and Psalms. In Dan. 7:13 this term takes on divine characteristics as one likened to "a son of man" coming before the Ancient of Days (i.e., deity) riding on the clouds of heaven. Daniel 7:13 is the background for Jesus' use of this term for himself, which combines humanity and deity (i.e., 1 John 4:1-3). The phrase had no nationalistic or militaristic rabbinical overtones.
80:18 This verse lists several promises spoken by the psalmist but on behalf of the covenant people.
Notice this use of IMPERFECTS, which denotes an ongoing action.
SPECIAL TOPIC: "THE NAME" OF YHWH
80:19 See notes at Ps. 80:1c and v. 3.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
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