Psalm 74:2–8

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^74:2Remember your people³ whom you acquired in ancient times,

whom you rescued⁴ so they could be your very own nation,⁵

as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell!

^74:3Hurry and look⁶ at the permanent ruins,

and all the damage the enemy has done to the temple!⁷

^74:4Your enemies roar⁸ in the middle of your sanctuary;⁹

they set up their battle flags.¹⁰

^74:5They invade like lumberjacks

swinging their axes in a thick forest.¹¹

^74:6And now¹² they are tearing down¹³ all its engravings¹⁴

with axes¹⁵ and crowbars.¹⁶

^74:7They set your sanctuary on fire;

they desecrate your dwelling place by knocking it to the ground.¹⁷

^74:8They say to themselves,¹⁸

“We will oppress all of them.”¹⁹

They burn down all the places where people worship God in the land.²⁰

Read in Logos

Footnotes

3 Heb “your assembly,” which pictures God’s people as an assembled community.
4 Heb “redeemed.” The verb “redeem” casts God in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).
5 Heb “the tribe of your inheritance” (see Jer 10:16; 51:19).
6 Heb “lift up your steps to,” which may mean “run, hurry.”
7 Heb “everything [the] enemy has damaged in the holy place.”
8 This verb is often used of a lion’s roar, so the psalmist may be comparing the enemy to a raging, devouring lion.
9 Heb “your meeting place.”
10 Heb “they set up their banners [as] banners.” The Hebrew noun אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) here refers to the enemy army’s battle flags and banners (see Num 2:12).
11 Heb “it is known like one bringing upwards, in a thicket of wood, axes.” The Babylonian invaders destroyed the woodwork in the temple.
12 This is the reading of the Qere (marginal reading). The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and a time.”
13 The imperfect verbal form vividly describes the act as underway.
14 Heb “its engravings together.”
15 This Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [], 49–50).
16 This Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. An Akkadian cognate refers to a “pickaxe” (cf. “hatchet and pick”; “axes and hatchets”; “hatchets and hammers”).
17 Heb “to the ground they desecrate the dwelling place of your name.”
18 Heb “in their heart.”
19 Heb “[?] altogether.” The Hebrew form נִינָם (ninam) is problematic. It could be understood as the noun נִין (nin, “offspring”) but the statement “their offspring altogether” would make no sense here. C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [], 2:) emends יָחַד (yakhad, “altogether”) to יָחִיד (yakhid, “alone”) and translate “let their offspring be solitary” (i.e., exiled). Another option is to understand the form as a Qal imperfect first common plural from יָנָה (yanah, “to oppress”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix, “we will oppress them.” However, this verb, when used in the finite form, always appears in the Hiphil. Therefore, it is preferable to emend the form to the Hiphil נוֹנֵם (nonem, “we will oppress them”).
20 Heb “they burn down all the meeting places of God in the land.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old,

which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage!

Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.

Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;

the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place;

they set up their own signs for signs.

They were like those who swing axes

in a forest of trees.

And all its carved wood

they broke down with hatchets and hammers.

They set your sanctuary on fire;

they profaned the dwelling place of your name,

bringing it down to the ground.

They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;

they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Remember the nation you purchased long ago,

the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed—

Mount Zion, where you dwelt.

Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,

all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;

they set up their standards as signs.

They behaved like men wielding axes

to cut through a thicket of trees.

They smashed all the carved paneling

with their axes and hatchets.

They burned your sanctuary to the ground;

they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.

They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!”

They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Remember your congregation,

which you purchased long ago

and redeemed as the tribe for your own possession.

Remember Mount Zion where you dwell.

Make your way to the perpetual ruins,

to all that the enemy has destroyed in the sanctuary.

Your adversaries roared in the meeting place

where you met with us.

They set up their emblems as signs.

It was like men in a thicket of trees,

wielding axes,

then smashing all the carvings

with hatchets and picks.

They set your sanctuary on fire;

they utterly desecrated

the dwelling place of your name.

They said in their hearts,

“Let’s oppress them relentlessly.”

They burned every place throughout the land

where God met with us.

NLTNew Living Translation

Remember that we are the people you chose long ago,

the tribe you redeemed as your own special possession!

And remember Jerusalem, your home here on earth.

Walk through the awful ruins of the city;

see how the enemy has destroyed your sanctuary.

There your enemies shouted their victorious battle cries;

there they set up their battle standards.

They swung their axes

like woodcutters in a forest.

With axes and picks,

they smashed the carved paneling.

They burned your sanctuary to the ground.

They defiled the place that bears your name.

Then they thought, “Let’s destroy everything!”

So they burned down all the places where God was worshiped.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Remember your congregation that you bought long ago,

when you redeemed the tribe of your inheritance.

Remember Mount Zion where you have dwelt.

Lift your steps to the perpetual ruins,

to all that the enemy has ruined in the sanctuary.

Your enemies have roared in the midst of your meeting place;

they have set up their signs for signs.

They are known to be like those who wield

axes in a thicket of trees.

And now its carved works altogether

they have smashed with axe and hammer.

They have set fire to your sanctuary.

They have defiled to the ground,

the dwelling place for your name.

They have said in their heart,

“We will completely oppress them.”

They burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

KJV 1900King James Version

Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old;

The rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed;

This mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations;

Even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations;

They set up their ensigns for signs.

A man was famous according as he had lifted up

Axes upon the thick trees.

But now they break down the carved work thereof

At once with axes and hammers.

They have cast fire into thy sanctuary,

They have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.

They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together:

They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

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