Psalm 44 Home
Sheep to Be Slaughtered
Psalm 44
Translation This resource is forthcoming for Psalm 44. In the meantime, please refer to our Academic Resources.
Access our aids for translating Hebrew poetry in Psalm 44.
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Psalm 44 is agonizing, because in it, God’s people speak of being rejected and shamed, even though they have not neglected the covenant. This is the direct experience of the righteous sufferer, who is treated as a sheep to be slaughtered, though he himself did no wrong.
The phrase, “Sheep to be slaughtered,” captures this complaint of the innocent who nonetheless suffers. God was faithful to the ancestors by blessing them and treating them with honor. But, the psalmist’s generation experiences rejection and is treated with shame: as sheep to be slaughtered!
כִּֽי־עָ֭לֶיךָ הֹרַ֣גְנוּ כָל־הַיּ֑וֹם נֶ֝חְשַׁ֗בְנוּ כְּצֹ֣אן טִבְחָֽה׃
We have been killed because of you all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
v. 23