Psalms 85

Translator Notes

1. Another Korahite psalm, continuing the second Korahite collection (Psalms 84-85, 87-88). The Korahite psalms in this section share a focus on Zion theology — God's dwelling, God's land, God's city — and the longing for divine presence that defines the Korahite voice.

Translator Notes

1. The verb ratsita ('You showed favor, You were pleased with') from ratsah means to accept, to take delight in, to be gracious toward. The phrase shavta shevit Ya'aqov ('You returned the captivity/fortunes of Jacob') uses the idiom shuv shevut, which can refer to a literal return from exile or a general restoration of well-being. The psalmist establishes precedent: You have done this before.

Translator Notes

1. Two verbs of forgiveness: nasata ('You bore, You carried away, You forgave') from nasa means to lift up and remove — God picks up the guilt and carries it away. kissita ('You covered') from kasah means to conceal, to hide from sight — God covers the sin so it is no longer visible. Together they describe forgiveness as both removal and concealment: the sin is taken away and hidden. The selah may mark a pause for the congregation to absorb the weight of this remembered mercy.

Translator Notes

1. The verb asafta ('You gathered in, You withdrew') from asaf means to collect back, to pull in. God's fury (evratekha, from avar, 'to overflow, to rage') was out — deployed, active — and God gathered it back. The phrase charon af ('burning of the nostril') is the standard Hebrew idiom for intense anger — the image is of nostrils flaring with heat. God turned from this heat. Past tense: He did this. The question is whether He will do it again.

Translator Notes

1. The verb shuvenu ('restore us, turn us, bring us back') from shuv is the same root as teshuvah ('repentance, return'). The psalmist asks God to do the turning — the people cannot return on their own. The title Elohei yish'enu ('God of our salvation') grounds the petition in God's identity as savior. The verb hafer ('break, annul, put an end to') from parar means to shatter, to dissolve — the psalmist wants God's anger literally broken apart.

Translator Notes

1. Two questions that are also arguments: if God's anger lasts forever, it contradicts His character as the God of salvation (v. 5) and the God who previously forgave (vv. 3-4). The verb timshokh ('will You drag out, extend, prolong') from mashakh means to stretch, to pull like a rope. Will God's anger stretch endlessly across generations? The implied answer is no — the God who once withdrew His fury will do so again.

Translator Notes

1. The verb techayyenu ('You will revive us, give us life') from chayah means to make alive, to restore to vitality. The psalmist asks for resurrection — not from death but from the living death of divine displeasure. Revival is not an end in itself: it serves rejoicing. The people need to be made alive so they can be glad in God. Joy is the goal of restoration.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The verb har'enu ('show us, let us see') from ra'ah means to make visible — the psalmist wants to see God's chesed (faithful love) manifested in concrete action, not merely believed as doctrine. The parallel 'grant us Your salvation' (yesh'akha titten lanu) makes chesed and salvation nearly synonymous: faithful love is salvation, and salvation is the visible proof of faithful love.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The shift from petition (vv. 5-8) to prophetic listening (v. 9) marks the psalm's structural pivot. The psalmist stops asking and starts listening. What follows (vv. 10-14) is the content of what God speaks — a vision of restored creation that answers every petition the psalm has raised.

Translator Notes

1. The word qarov ('near, close') establishes proximity — salvation is not distant or abstract but close at hand. The purpose: lishkon kavod be-artsenu ('so that glory may dwell in our land'). The verb shakan ('to dwell, to tabernacle') is the root of Shekhinah — God's dwelling presence. The psalm envisions kavod ('glory') — the visible weight of God's presence — taking up permanent residence in the land. This is the ultimate goal of restoration: not merely forgiveness but the return of God's manifested presence.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The four attributes — chesed, emet, tsedeq, shalom — are the foundational qualities of God's character and God's kingdom. Their personified meeting describes a world restored to wholeness, where no divine attribute is sacrificed for another. In fallen reality, justice and mercy seem opposed; in the restored world, they kiss.

Translator Notes

1. The agricultural metaphor — truth 'sprouts' from the earth — suggests that truth is not imposed from outside but grows organically from a restored creation. When the land is healed, truth is its natural produce. Righteousness gazing down from heaven is the divine counterpart: God's order descending to meet earth's response. Isaiah 45:8 develops this same imagery: 'Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies rain righteousness; let the earth open and let salvation sprout.'

Translator Notes

1. The vision moves from cosmic abstraction to agricultural reality: the LORD gives ha-tov ('the good') and the land gives yevulah ('its produce, its yield'). The two givings mirror each other — God gives from above, the land gives from below. The word yevul ('produce, harvest') grounds the theology in material blessing: restored relationship with God results in literal abundance. The covenant blessings of Deuteronomy 28:1-14 are being fulfilled.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The personification of righteousness as a road-preparer echoes Isaiah 40:3 ('Prepare the way of the LORD') and anticipates the New Testament application to John the Baptist. The image of God walking suggests the return of divine presence to the land — the kavod ('glory') of verse 10 now in motion, approaching, arriving.