¹tn Or “place of safety.” See Ps 71:3.
²tn Heb “were born.”
³tn Heb “and you gave birth to the earth and world.” The Polel verbal form in the Hebrew text pictures God giving birth to the world. The LXX and some other ancient textual witnesses assume a polal (passive) verbal form here. In this case the earth becomes the subject of the verb and the verb is understood as third feminine singular rather than second masculine singular.
⁴tn Heb “and from everlasting to everlasting you [are] God.” Instead of la@ (“God”) the LXX reads la^ (“not”) and joins the negative particle to the following verse, making the verb bvt a jussive. In this case v. 3a reads as a prayer, “do not turn man back to a low place.” However, taking bvt as a jussive is problematic in light of the following wayyiqtol form rmatw, “and you said/say.”
⁵tn In this context the shortened prefix form does not function as a preterite, but indicates what is typical of the world.
⁶tn The Hebrew term akd carries the basic sense of “crushed.” Elsewhere it refers to those who are “crushed” in spirit or contrite of heart (see Ps 34:18; Isa 57:15). If one understands this nuance here, then v. 3 is observing that God leads mankind to repentance (the term bwv [“return”], which appears twice in this verse, is sometimes used of repentance.) However, the following context laments mankind’s mortality and the brevity of life, so it is doubtful if v. 3 should be understood so positively. It is more likely that akd here refers to “crushed matter,” that is, the dust that fills the grave (see HALOT 221; BDB 194). In this case one may hear an echo of Gen 3:19.
⁷tn Or “for.”
⁸sn The divisions of the nighttime. The ancient Israelites divided the night into distinct periods, or “watches” (see HALOT 96).
⁹tn Heb “you bring them to an end [with] sleep.” The Hebrew verb <rz has traditionally been taken to mean “flood” or “overwhelm” (note the Polel form of a root <rz in Ps 77:17, where the verb is used of the clouds pouring down rain). However, the verb form here is Qal, not Polel, and is better understood as a homonym meaning “to make an end [of life]” (see HALOT 281). The term hnv (“sleep”) can be taken as an adverbial accusative; it is a euphemism here for death (see Ps 76:5-6).
¹⁰tn Or “flourishes.” The verb is used of a crown shining in Ps 132:18. Perhaps here in Ps 90:6 it refers to the glistening of the grass in the morning dew.
¹¹tn The Polel form of this verb occurs only here. Perhaps the form should be emended to a Qal (which necessitates eliminating the final lamed as dittographic). See Ps 37:2.
¹²tn Or “for.”
¹³tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”
¹⁴tn Heb “what we have hidden to the light of your face.” God’s face is compared to a light or lamp that exposes the darkness around it.
¹⁵tn Or “for.”
¹⁶tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”
¹⁷tn Heb “we finish our years like a sigh.” In Ezek 2:10 the word hgh elsewhere refers to a grumbling or moaning sound. Here a brief sigh or moan is probably in view (see BDB 212). If so, the simile pictures one’s lifetime as transient. Another option is that the simile alludes to the weakness that characteristically overtakes a person at the end of one’s lifetime. In this case the phrase could be translated, “we end our lives with a painful moan.”
¹⁸tn Heb “the days of our years, in them [are] seventy years.”
¹⁹tn Heb “or if [there is] strength, eighty years.”
²⁰tn Heb “and their pride [is] destruction and wickedness.” The Hebrew noun bh^r) occurs only here. BDB assigns the meaning “pride,” deriving the noun from the verbal root bhr (“to act stormily [boisterously, arrogantly]”; BDB 923). Here the “pride” of one’s days (see v. 9) probably refers to one’s most productive years in the prime of life. The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 10:7. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10. The oppressive and abusive actions of evil men are probably in view (see Job 4:8; 5:6; 15:35; Isa 10:1; 59:4).
²¹tn or “for.”
²²tn Heb “it passes quickly.” The subject of the verb is probably “their pride” (see the preceding line). The verb zwg means “to pass” here (see BDB 157; HALOT 182); it occurs only here and in Num 11:31.
²³sn We fly away. The psalmist compares life to a bird that quickly flies off (see Job 20:8).
²⁴tn Heb “Who knows the strength of your anger?”
²⁵tn Heb “and like your fear [is] your raging fury.” Perhaps one should emend itarykw (“and like your fear”) to itary (“your fear”), understanding a virtual dittography (itarykw ipa) to have occurred. In this case the psalmist asserts, “your fear [is] your raging fury,” that is, your raging fury is what causes others to fear you. The suffix on “fear” is understood as objective.
²⁶tn Heb ‘to number our days,” that is, to be aware of how few they really are.
²⁷tn Heb “and we will bring a heart of wisdom.” After the imperative of the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates purpose/result. The Hebrew term “heart” here refers to the center of one’s thoughts, volition, and moral character.
²⁸tn Heb “Return, O Lord! How long?”
²⁹tn Elsewhere the Niphal of <jn + the preposition lu + a personal object has the nuance “be comforted concerning [the personal object’s death]” (see 2 Sam 13:39; Jer 31:15). However, here the context seems to demand “feel sorrow for,” “have pity on.” In Deut 32:36 and Ps 135:14, where “servants” is also the object of the preposition, this idea is expressed with the Hitpael form of the verb.
³⁰sn Morning is used metaphorically for a time of renewed joy after affliction (see Pss 30:5; 46:5; 49:14; 59:16; 143:8).
³¹tn After the imperative (see the preceding line) the cohortatives with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose/result.
³²tn Heb “have seen.”
³³tn Heb “may your work be revealed to your servants.” In this context (note v. 17) the verb form hary is best understood as an unshortened jussive (see Gen 1:9; Isa 47:3).
³⁴tn Heb “and your majesty to their sons.” The verb “be revealed” is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
³⁵tn Heb “and may the delight of the Master, our God, be on us.” The Hebrew term <un (“delight”) is used in Ps 27:4 of the Lord’s “beauty,” but here it seems to refer to his favor (see BDB 653) or kindness (HALOT 706).
³⁶tn Heb “and the work of our hands establish over us, and the work of our hands, establish it.”
³⁷sn Psalm 91. In this psalm an individual (perhaps a priest) addresses one who has sought shelter in the Lord and assures him that God will protect him from danger (vv. 1-13). In vv. 14-16 God himself promises to keep his loyal follower safe.