Psalm 95 Story Behind

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↑ Common-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/ANE background - beliefs and practices that were widespread at this time and place. This is the background information necessary for understanding propositions that do not readily make sense to those who are so far removed from the culture in which the proposition was originally expressed.
↑ Local-ground assumptions are those propositions which are necessarily true if the text is true. They include both presuppositions and entailments. Presuppositions are those implicit propositions which are assumed to be true by an explicit proposition. Entailments are those propositions which are necessarily true if a proposition is true.
↑ Whereas local-ground assumptions are inferences which are necessarily true if the text is true, play-ground assumptions are those inferences which might be true if the text is true.
↑ Hossfeld 2005, 450.
↑ See Schniedewind 1995.
↑ Nevertheless, since Moses is the last mentioned author in Psalm 90 and another author is not mentioned until David in Psalm 101, a number of traditions hold that Moses is the author of Psalms 90–100, ranging from representatives of both Rabbinic Judaism (e.g., Rashi on Ps 90:1) and Karaites (e.g., Yefet Ben ʿAli; see Simon 1991, 85), and approved of by Church Fathers (see, e.g., Jerome's Homily on Ps 90).
↑ Since, "by recounting the rebellious actions of the earlier generation the speaker calls into question the sincerity of the present generation" (Savran 2003, 29). Further, the psalm "could also serve to explain to the post-exilic generation why the exile and loss of land took place" (Prinsloo 1995, 407). Hezekiah's period is a possible chronological provenance. His reminder seems to accommodate both possible readings of "rest": "Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the LORD. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 If you return to the LORD, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him." (2 Chr 30:8-9, NIV).
↑ While some scholarship considers the psalm's two major sections to be determined by the "prophetic" turn in v. 7c (see, e.g., Howard 1997, 53-54; Fokkelman 2003, 184), van der Lugt's (2014, 62) approach reflects our observations here and understands the two imperatives in vv. 1 and 6 to represent the beginning of the psalm's two sections. See the discussion in van der Lugt (2014, 66-69), which he prefaces as follows: "Mesmerized by the special character of vv. 8–11, exegetes generally take v. 7d as an independent colon introducing the divine speech ... I will argue that the main caesura in Psalm 95 is not to be found after v. 7c, but after v. 5. At the same time, there are no compelling reasons to separate v. 7d from the preceding strophe" (2014, 6). Further, we are in full agreement with his conclusion: "The bipartite structure of Psalm 95 is not based on the difference between a ‘hymn’ and an ‘oracle’, but between God as the Lord above the gods (vv. 1–5) and God as the Shepherd of the people of Israel (vv. 6–11), between ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’" (2014, 68).
↑ For full discussion, see Braulik 1986.
↑ See, for example, Genesis 37:20, 27; Judges 19:11, 13; 1 Samuel 9:5, 9; 11:14; 14:1, 6; 20:11; 2 Kings 7:4, 9; Isaiah 1:18; 2:3, 5; Jeremiah 18:18; 48:2; Hosea 6:1; Jonah 1:17; Micah 4:2; Psalm 83:5; Nehemiah 2:17; 6:2, 7.
↑ The final section of the psalm (vv. 7c-11) warns the people of irreverent worship today based on the ancestors' failures in putting YHWH to the test in the past, at the waters of Meribah/Massah (see v. 8). There, immediately following the Exodus, the people grumbled against Moses in the wilderness as they asked for water, and "tested the Lord saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'" (Exod 17:7, NIV). That entire episode was characterized by the rock: "I will stand there before you by the rock (הַצּוּר) at Horeb. Strike the rock (בַצּוּר), and water will come out of it for the people to drink" (Exod 17:6, NIV). Although "rock" (צוּר) is a common title for YHWH throughout the Bible, including the Psalms, it takes on a special significance and irony in Psalm 95. The opening reference to YHWH as "the rock of our salvation" highlights the irony in that, though their ancestors questioned "Is the Lord among us or not?" (Exod 17:7), the Lord does not reject their descendants, but invites them to trust him and enter the rest of his presence (v. 11b).
↑ See BHRG §39.6.(3e) and (4), respectively.
↑ Ḥakham paraphrases: "let us come to him and in our hands is an offering of thanksgiving and in our mouths is a song of thanksgiving" (1979, 198; נבוא אליו ובידינו קרבן תודה ובפינו שׁיר תודה).
↑ Atkinson 2026b, 127.
↑ See, however, the continuation of subjunctives in the LXX (ἀλαλάξωμεν), Symmachus (σημάνωμεν) and Jerome Hebr. (iubilemus). Nevertheless, the Masoretic tradition across both Tiberian and Babylonian manuscripts is quite consistent in intentionally lacking the he.
↑ See GKC §133i; cf. Mena 2012, 87. For the alternative relative clause, see the Peshitta's "a king who is great over all gods" (ܡܠܟܐ ܕܪܒ ܥܠ ܟܠܗܘܢ ܐ̈ܠܗܐ).
↑ See Mena 2012, 85-87 for discussion.
↑ Compare the מִן of comparison in Exodus 18:11 עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֔עְתִּי כִּֽי־גָד֥וֹל יְהוָ֖ה מִכָּל־הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods" (NIV).
↑ See the similar idea expressed in the New Testament: "even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God" (1 Cor 8:5-6, NIV).
↑ As evident in the other ancient versions, the LXX's rendering of אֲשֶׁר with causal ὅτι (NETS: "because in his hand are..."), while not impossible, is not necessary. Indeed, both Aquila and Symmachus have οὗ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ "in whose hand...", resuming "a God" from the previous verse, i.e., drawing attention to a particular feature of God, the noun that is being modified.
↑ For the alternative emendation of plural "hands" in place of the MT's "hand," see the Syr. ܐ̈ܝܕܘܗܝ.
↑ Lu (2025, 11 n. 45) suggests texts such as the following list deities, rather than simply landforms: "the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear" (Hab 3:10, NIV). See, however, similar phraseology in Psalm 77:17, which refers to the Reed Sea after the Exodus event: "The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed" (NIV). See further Job 38:16: "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?" (NIV; הֲבָאתָ עַד־נִבְכֵי־יָם וּבְחֵקֶר תְּהוֹם הִתְהַלָּכְתָּ).
↑ The ancient versions have τὰ ὕψη (LXX), excelsa (Jerome's Hebr.); ܪܘܡܐ (Syr.) "the heights" and תוקפי רום (TgPs) "the mighty heights."
↑ Compare Proverbs 25:3: "As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable" (NIV).
↑ Although the lexeme יַבֶּשֶׁת only occurs here and in Exodus 4:9 in the Bible, it is unambiguously derived from the common root √יבשׁ, "be dry." The more typical form for "dry land" is יַבָּשָׁה (as read also in 4Q94 of our present text), though the context both here and in Exodus 4:9 show יַבֶּשֶׁת simply to be a by-form with the same sense.
↑ The clause וְהוּא עָשָׂהוּ is subject-fronted in order to function as an explanatory thetic (see Sasse 2006, Atkinson 2026b), since it grounds the previous clause.
↑ See also Watson 1986, 128-144. Furthermore, Jerome’s iuxta Hebraeos supports the parenthetical reading as it provides the conjunction "for" (enim fecit illud), indicating a semantically non-at-issue remark with a speech act of justification, rather than the assertion of the host sentence.
↑ See Tsumura 2023, 53. In Psalm 18:42, however, the x’ (וְלֹ֣א עָנָם) is waw-conjoined, whereas here the parallel relationship is not as explicit, ידיו יצרו lacking a conjunction. Psalm 18:42 reads יְשַׁוְּעוּ וְאֵין־מוֹשִׁיעַ עַל־יְהוָה וְלֹא עָנָם׃, which could be interpreted as They cry out—but there is no one rescuing—to YHWH, but he does not answer them. See further Atkinson 2025.
↑ As in v. 1; see the second-person imperatives in Psalms 34:12; 46:9; 66:5, 16, and the first-person cohortative following—as in the present instance—in Psalm 83:5.
↑ See, however, 1 Kings 20:33; 2 Kings 10:25; Ezekiel 33:30; Joel 1:13; 4:13, and the first-person cohortative in Jeremiah 35:11; 50:5; 51:10.
↑ Note that the LXX reads "and let us weep before the Lord" (NETS; καὶ κλαύσωμεν ἐναντίον κυρίου) for the MT's let us kneel down נִבְרְכָה, apparently mistakenly overlooking the resh and reading נִבְכֶּה. The Peshitta seems to have read the correct letters, but has mistaken the root "kneel down" for "bless" (ܘܢܒܪܟܝܘܗܝ ܠܡܪܝܐ "and let us bless the Lord").
↑ Further structuring the psalm's two halves is the assonance between the final words of vv. 1 and 6, יִשְׁעֵנוּ (yish’enu) and עֹשֵֽנוּ (osenu), respectively.
↑ Compare the very similar formulation in Psalms 79:13 and 100:3 (assimilation to which has probably brought about the textual variant in the Peshitta, "for he is our God; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture," Taylor 2020, 395): דְּעוּ כִּי־יְהוָה הוּא אֱלֹהִים הוּא־עָשָׂנוּ (ולא) וְלוֹ אֲנַחְנוּ עַמּוֹ וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתוֹ׃.
↑ Adapted from Schniedewind 1995, 546-547.
↑ Our preferred interpretation of the clause הַיּוֹם אִם־בְּקֹלוֹ תִשְׁמָעוּ involves הַיּוֹם as a sentence adverb (see the full treatment of sentence adverbs in Blau 1982), in similar manner to וְעַתָּה, as expressed explicitly by Ḥakham (1979, 200): "כלומר: עתה" "that is to say, now." The effect of this sentence adverb has been picked up in the rhetorical heart of the argument of the writer to the Hebrews: "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Heb 3:12–13, ESV). There is also a poetic motivation for using הַיּוֹם instead of the more frequent sentence adverb וְעַתָּה, as it contrasts with "the day of Massah" (כְּיוֹם מַסָּה) in v. 8 (see Poetic Structure).
↑ Le sens du psaume se dégage justement de cette rupture [v. 7c] dans le texte (van Petegem 2008, 237).
↑ Prinsloo 1995, 403.
↑ So also GKC §151eAposiopesis is defined as a “Lapse into silence before the construction of a sentence is completed” (Matthews 2014). While the syntactic characteristic simply involves ‘an unfinished sentence’, the rhetorical motivations vary. See further Atkinson, 2026a.
↑ Si hoy escuchan ustedes mi voz. See also Briggs & Briggs 1906-7, 295.
↑ For the modality of agent-oriented desire in the protasis of the conditional, see Khan (forthcoming, "Yiqṭol," 147; cf. IBHS §31.4h), in which case the protasis and apodosis often contain similar semantics, so there is no tautology involved. For similar examples, cf. "But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it" (Judg 13:16, NET); "If you want to take it for yourself, then take it" (1 Sam 21:10, CSB); "If you want to ask, ask" (Isa 21:12, NET); "Israel, if you want to come back, then come back to me" (Jer 4:1, ERV); "if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you" (Ruth 3:13, NIV); "If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so" (Ruth 4:4, NET).
↑ See van der Merwe 2025, 85-87.
↑ The LXX translates the phrase according to their etymological sense: ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ ... κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ "as at the embittering ... like the day of the trial" (NETS). Likewise, Jerome (Hebr.) renders sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis "like in the conflict, like the day of trial"; TgPs היך במצותא היך יומא דנסיתון אלהא "as at Strife, as in the day when you tested God" (Stec 2004, 179); Syr. ܐܝܟ ܡܡܪ̈ܡܪܢܐ ܘܐܝܟ ܝܘܡܐ ܕܢܣܝܘܢܐ "like the rebellious and like the day of testing" (Taylor 2020, 395).
↑ See VTH: vol 4, 391. They have perhaps understood מְרִיבָה as its abstract sense (cf. Gen 13:8; Num 27:14), rather than the proper name it came to attain, so "with strife."
↑ So JM §133h: "After כְּ the expected preposition is often omitted" (cf. Isa 28:21, among other examples cited there). On the other hand, we occasionally find the preposition בְּ intended to communicate both comparative כְּ and locative בְּ, as in בְּחַרְבֹנֵי קַיִץ "as in the heat of summer" (NIV).
↑ See, also, the LXX "as at the embittering" (NETS, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ); Jerome's Hebr. sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis "as in the strife, as in the day of temptation" and TgPs, היך במצותא "as at Strife" (Stec 2004, 179). The other clause of TgPs and the entire verse of the Syr. employ a paraphrastic approach. Saadia's rendering is equally illuminating: כמא כאן פי ד׳את אלכ׳צומה וד׳את אלמחנה פי אלבר "as it was/happened in Meribah and in Massah in the desert" (Qafaḥ 1965, 216). In Modern Hebrew, this combination can be communicated by the combination of both כְּ and בְּ, which is precisely what we read in HaEdut: כמו במְרִיבָה, כמו ביום שהייתם במַסָה.
↑ So Ḥakham 1979, 200.
↑ οὗ ἐπείρασαν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν and ubi temptaverunt me patres vestri, respectively.
↑ Not only is the locative reading explicit in these ancient versions, but it is supported by the possible interpretation of "forty years" as modifying בְּחָנוּנִי גַּם־רָאוּ פָעֳלִי׃ in the Syr.: ܘܒܩܘ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ "They tried me and saw my works for forty years" (Taylor 2020, 395), which is not compatible with "the day... when." See v. 10 for further discussion.
↑ See, for example, the LXX's καὶ and Jerome's et.
↑ Contra Fassberg 2019, §346.
↑ These read εἴδοσαν τὰ ἔργα μου and ܘܒܩܘ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ, respectively (cf. also εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου in Heb 3:9).
↑ "Yhwh’s 'deed' may be specifically the exodus or the Red Sea deliverance, or the word may be a collective for Yhwh’s deeds of deliverance and protection in general" (Goldingay 2006, 96).
↑ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ; cf. de-Rossi (Variae Lectiones, vol. 4, 64).
↑ Walter et al. 1980, 112.
↑ Compare διὸ προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ⸀ταύτῃ and the LXX's προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ.
↑ Other evidence for this interpretation is found in Acts 7:36, speaking of Moses, through whom YHWH would have performed the works: "This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years (ἔτη τεσσεράκοντα)" (ESV). Nevertheless, the writer to the Hebrews was also aware of the MT and LXX's understanding of the syntax, when he later questions "And with whom was he provoked for forty years?" (3:17, ESV).
↑ After the spies disheartened the people due to their lack of faith, YHWH promised that the entire generation would wander the wilderness for forty years (Num 14:21-23). Despite YHWH's oath, the people tried to enter anyway, to their own peril (Num 14:29-35).
↑ SDBH defines it as "to experience a deep loathing for a person or condition." The LXX has προσώχθισα, from προσοχθίζω "be wroth" (LSJ, 1522), while Aquila and Symmachus read δυσηρεστήθην, from δυσαρεστέω "be displeased, annoyed" (CGL vol 1, 399; cf. LSJ, 454). TgPs has מאסית "I loathed," while Syr. reads ܡܐܢܬ ܠܝ "I was weary of."
↑ The past time context has led the LXX (προσώχθισα) and both Aquila and Symmachus (δυσηρεστήθην) to translate with aorists, and TgPs to employ a suffix conjugation (מאסית), as, also the Syr., with its impersonal ܡܐܢܬ ܠܝ "it was wearisome to me.
↑ See Lambert 1898.
↑ Delitzsch 1877, 88.
↑ Ḥakham 1979, 201.
↑ These read τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ "that generation" (LXX); ܒܕܪܐ ܗܘ "that generation" (Peshitta); τῇ γενεᾷ ⸀ταύτῃ "this generation" (Heb 3:10); generatio illa "that generation" (Jerome); דרא דמדברא "the generation which was in the wilderness" (TgPs). Similarly, Saadia provides only the definite article: ארבעין סנה אסתצגרת באלג׳יל, rendered by Qafaḥ as ארבעים שנה הקטנתי את הדור (Qafaḥ 1965, 217).
↑ The construct chain תֹּעֵי לֵבָב has a semantic relation of characteristic-specification, i.e., going astray [with regard to] their heart = thoughts/affections. See, similarly Isaiah 29:24: וְיָדְעוּ תֹעֵי־רוּחַ בִּינָה ("And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding," ESV). This interpretation is reflected in the NET, "These people desire to go astray" (cf. the CSB: "They are a people whose hearts go astray"). Likewise, the following paraphrases are illustrative: עמא דטעותא בלבהון "a people in whose heart is error" (TgPs); ܥܡܐ ܗܘ ܕܛܥܐ ܠܒܗܘܢ "it is a people whose heart goes astray" (Syr.). Ḥakham, similarly, paraphrases, הם עם שׁלבבם תועה "they are a people whose heart goes astray" (1979, 201).
↑ It reads Ἀεὶ "always."
↑ See VTH vol. 4, 391.
↑ Instead of עַד, Barthélemy et al. (2005, 671) actually suggest עֹלָם as the LXX's Vorlage.
↑ Cf. the Peshitta's ܐܝܟ ܕ and Christian Palestinian Aramaic ܗܝܟ ܕ, both of which perhaps reflect the LXX's ὡς.
↑ So Holmstedt (2016, 233). This is also the most probable reading of the LXX's ὡς (see Smyth 1956, §2193; cf. Vul. ut).
↑ Alternatively "unto whom" (KJV).
↑ Conklin 2011, 37-41.
↑ Compare Jerome (Hebr.) and the Peshitta, which render the introduction of the oath as ut non introirent and ܕܠܐ ܢܥܠܘܢ "so that ... not." In light of the instances of שׁבע with complementizer כִּי (see, e.g., Josh 2:12; 2 Sam 3:9; 1 Kgs 1:17; Jer 22:5; 49:13; Amos 4:2) or the quotative frame לֵאמֹר (see, e.g., 1 Kgs 1:13, 30), however, the interpretation of the final clause as direct speech is preferred.
↑ Meier 1992, 201.
↑ See also Targum Psalms and the Christian Palestinian Aramaic versions of our present verse: אם יעלון לנייח בית מקדשי "they should not come into the rest of the house of my sanctuary" (Stec 2004, 179); ܐܢ ܝܥܘܠܘܢ ܠܒܝܬ ܢܝܚܝ "if they will enter the house of my rest."
↑ Prinsloo 1995, 405.
↑ Hossfeld 2005, 450.
↑ See Schniedewind 1995.
↑ Nevertheless, since Moses is the last mentioned author in Psalm 90 and another author is not mentioned until David in Psalm 101, a number of traditions hold that Moses is the author of Psalms 90–100, ranging from representatives of both Rabbinic Judaism (e.g., Rashi on Ps 90:1) and Karaites (e.g., Yefet Ben ʿAli; see Simon 1991, 85), and approved of by Church Fathers (see, e.g., Jerome's Homily on Ps 90).
↑ Since, "by recounting the rebellious actions of the earlier generation the speaker calls into question the sincerity of the present generation" (Savran 2003, 29). Further, the psalm "could also serve to explain to the post-exilic generation why the exile and loss of land took place" (Prinsloo 1995, 407). Hezekiah's period is a possible chronological provenance. His reminder seems to accommodate both possible readings of "rest": "Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the LORD. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 If you return to the LORD, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him." (2 Chr 30:8-9, NIV).
↑ While some scholarship considers the psalm's two major sections to be determined by the "prophetic" turn in v. 7c (see, e.g., Howard 1997, 53-54; Fokkelman 2003, 184), van der Lugt's (2014, 62) approach reflects our observations here and understands the two imperatives in vv. 1 and 6 to represent the beginning of the psalm's two sections. See the discussion in van der Lugt (2014, 66-69), which he prefaces as follows: "Mesmerized by the special character of vv. 8–11, exegetes generally take v. 7d as an independent colon introducing the divine speech ... I will argue that the main caesura in Psalm 95 is not to be found after v. 7c, but after v. 5. At the same time, there are no compelling reasons to separate v. 7d from the preceding strophe" (2014, 6). Further, we are in full agreement with his conclusion: "The bipartite structure of Psalm 95 is not based on the difference between a ‘hymn’ and an ‘oracle’, but between God as the Lord above the gods (vv. 1–5) and God as the Shepherd of the people of Israel (vv. 6–11), between ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’" (2014, 68).
↑ For full discussion, see Braulik 1986.
↑ See, for example, Genesis 37:20, 27; Judges 19:11, 13; 1 Samuel 9:5, 9; 11:14; 14:1, 6; 20:11; 2 Kings 7:4, 9; Isaiah 1:18; 2:3, 5; Jeremiah 18:18; 48:2; Hosea 6:1; Jonah 1:17; Micah 4:2; Psalm 83:5; Nehemiah 2:17; 6:2, 7.
↑ The final section of the psalm (vv. 7c-11) warns the people of irreverent worship today based on the ancestors' failures in putting YHWH to the test in the past, at the waters of Meribah/Massah (see v. 8). There, immediately following the Exodus, the people grumbled against Moses in the wilderness as they asked for water, and "tested the Lord saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'" (Exod 17:7, NIV). That entire episode was characterized by the rock: "I will stand there before you by the rock (הַצּוּר) at Horeb. Strike the rock (בַצּוּר), and water will come out of it for the people to drink" (Exod 17:6, NIV). Although "rock" (צוּר) is a common title for YHWH throughout the Bible, including the Psalms, it takes on a special significance and irony in Psalm 95. The opening reference to YHWH as "the rock of our salvation" highlights the irony in that, though their ancestors questioned "Is the Lord among us or not?" (Exod 17:7), the Lord does not reject their descendants, but invites them to trust him and enter the rest of his presence (v. 11b).
↑ See BHRG §39.6.(3e) and (4), respectively.
↑ Ḥakham paraphrases: "let us come to him and in our hands is an offering of thanksgiving and in our mouths is a song of thanksgiving" (1979, 198; נבוא אליו ובידינו קרבן תודה ובפינו שׁיר תודה).
↑ Atkinson 2026b, 127.
↑ See, however, the continuation of subjunctives in the LXX (ἀλαλάξωμεν), Symmachus (σημάνωμεν) and Jerome Hebr. (iubilemus). Nevertheless, the Masoretic tradition across both Tiberian and Babylonian manuscripts is quite consistent in intentionally lacking the he.
↑ See GKC §133i; cf. Mena 2012, 87. For the alternative relative clause, see the Peshitta's "a king who is great over all gods" (ܡܠܟܐ ܕܪܒ ܥܠ ܟܠܗܘܢ ܐ̈ܠܗܐ).
↑ See Mena 2012, 85-87 for discussion.
↑ Compare the מִן of comparison in Exodus 18:11 עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֔עְתִּי כִּֽי־גָד֥וֹל יְהוָ֖ה מִכָּל־הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods" (NIV).
↑ See the similar idea expressed in the New Testament: "even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God" (1 Cor 8:5-6, NIV).
↑ As evident in the other ancient versions, the LXX's rendering of אֲשֶׁר with causal ὅτι (NETS: "because in his hand are..."), while not impossible, is not necessary. Indeed, both Aquila and Symmachus have οὗ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ "in whose hand...", resuming "a God" from the previous verse, i.e., drawing attention to a particular feature of God, the noun that is being modified.
↑ For the alternative emendation of plural "hands" in place of the MT's "hand," see the Syr. ܐ̈ܝܕܘܗܝ.
↑ Lu (2025, 11 n. 45) suggests texts such as the following list deities, rather than simply landforms: "the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear" (Hab 3:10, NIV). See, however, similar phraseology in Psalm 77:17, which refers to the Reed Sea after the Exodus event: "The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed" (NIV). See further Job 38:16: "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?" (NIV; הֲבָאתָ עַד־נִבְכֵי־יָם וּבְחֵקֶר תְּהוֹם הִתְהַלָּכְתָּ).
↑ The ancient versions have τὰ ὕψη (LXX), excelsa (Jerome's Hebr.); ܪܘܡܐ (Syr.) "the heights" and תוקפי רום (TgPs) "the mighty heights."
↑ Compare Proverbs 25:3: "As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable" (NIV).
↑ Although the lexeme יַבֶּשֶׁת only occurs here and in Exodus 4:9 in the Bible, it is unambiguously derived from the common root √יבשׁ, "be dry." The more typical form for "dry land" is יַבָּשָׁה (as read also in 4Q94 of our present text), though the context both here and in Exodus 4:9 show יַבֶּשֶׁת simply to be a by-form with the same sense.
↑ The clause וְהוּא עָשָׂהוּ is subject-fronted in order to function as an explanatory thetic (see Sasse 2006, Atkinson 2026b), since it grounds the previous clause.
↑ See also Watson 1986, 128-144. Furthermore, Jerome’s iuxta Hebraeos supports the parenthetical reading as it provides the conjunction "for" (enim fecit illud), indicating a semantically non-at-issue remark with a speech act of justification, rather than the assertion of the host sentence.
↑ See Tsumura 2023, 53. In Psalm 18:42, however, the x’ (וְלֹ֣א עָנָם) is waw-conjoined, whereas here the parallel relationship is not as explicit, ידיו יצרו lacking a conjunction. Psalm 18:42 reads יְשַׁוְּעוּ וְאֵין־מוֹשִׁיעַ עַל־יְהוָה וְלֹא עָנָם׃, which could be interpreted as They cry out—but there is no one rescuing—to YHWH, but he does not answer them. See further Atkinson 2025.
↑ As in v. 1; see the second-person imperatives in Psalms 34:12; 46:9; 66:5, 16, and the first-person cohortative following—as in the present instance—in Psalm 83:5.
↑ See, however, 1 Kings 20:33; 2 Kings 10:25; Ezekiel 33:30; Joel 1:13; 4:13, and the first-person cohortative in Jeremiah 35:11; 50:5; 51:10.
↑ Note that the LXX reads "and let us weep before the Lord" (NETS; καὶ κλαύσωμεν ἐναντίον κυρίου) for the MT's let us kneel down נִבְרְכָה, apparently mistakenly overlooking the resh and reading נִבְכֶּה. The Peshitta seems to have read the correct letters, but has mistaken the root "kneel down" for "bless" (ܘܢܒܪܟܝܘܗܝ ܠܡܪܝܐ "and let us bless the Lord").
↑ Further structuring the psalm's two halves is the assonance between the final words of vv. 1 and 6, יִשְׁעֵנוּ (yish’enu) and עֹשֵֽנוּ (osenu), respectively.
↑ Compare the very similar formulation in Psalms 79:13 and 100:3 (assimilation to which has probably brought about the textual variant in the Peshitta, "for he is our God; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture," Taylor 2020, 395): דְּעוּ כִּי־יְהוָה הוּא אֱלֹהִים הוּא־עָשָׂנוּ (ולא) וְלוֹ אֲנַחְנוּ עַמּוֹ וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתוֹ׃.
↑ Adapted from Schniedewind 1995, 546-547.
↑ Our preferred interpretation of the clause הַיּוֹם אִם־בְּקֹלוֹ תִשְׁמָעוּ involves הַיּוֹם as a sentence adverb (see the full treatment of sentence adverbs in Blau 1982), in similar manner to וְעַתָּה, as expressed explicitly by Ḥakham (1979, 200): "כלומר: עתה" "that is to say, now." The effect of this sentence adverb has been picked up in the rhetorical heart of the argument of the writer to the Hebrews: "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Heb 3:12–13, ESV). There is also a poetic motivation for using הַיּוֹם instead of the more frequent sentence adverb וְעַתָּה, as it contrasts with "the day of Massah" (כְּיוֹם מַסָּה) in v. 8 (see Poetic Structure).
↑ Le sens du psaume se dégage justement de cette rupture [v. 7c] dans le texte (van Petegem 2008, 237).
↑ Prinsloo 1995, 403.
↑ So also GKC §151eAposiopesis is defined as a “Lapse into silence before the construction of a sentence is completed” (Matthews 2014). While the syntactic characteristic simply involves ‘an unfinished sentence’, the rhetorical motivations vary. See further Atkinson, 2026a.
↑ Si hoy escuchan ustedes mi voz. See also Briggs & Briggs 1906-7, 295.
↑ For the modality of agent-oriented desire in the protasis of the conditional, see Khan (forthcoming, "Yiqṭol," 147; cf. IBHS §31.4h), in which case the protasis and apodosis often contain similar semantics, so there is no tautology involved. For similar examples, cf. "But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it" (Judg 13:16, NET); "If you want to take it for yourself, then take it" (1 Sam 21:10, CSB); "If you want to ask, ask" (Isa 21:12, NET); "Israel, if you want to come back, then come back to me" (Jer 4:1, ERV); "if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you" (Ruth 3:13, NIV); "If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so" (Ruth 4:4, NET).
↑ See van der Merwe 2025, 85-87.
↑ The LXX translates the phrase according to their etymological sense: ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ ... κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ "as at the embittering ... like the day of the trial" (NETS). Likewise, Jerome (Hebr.) renders sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis "like in the conflict, like the day of trial"; TgPs היך במצותא היך יומא דנסיתון אלהא "as at Strife, as in the day when you tested God" (Stec 2004, 179); Syr. ܐܝܟ ܡܡܪ̈ܡܪܢܐ ܘܐܝܟ ܝܘܡܐ ܕܢܣܝܘܢܐ "like the rebellious and like the day of testing" (Taylor 2020, 395).
↑ See VTH: vol 4, 391. They have perhaps understood מְרִיבָה as its abstract sense (cf. Gen 13:8; Num 27:14), rather than the proper name it came to attain, so "with strife."
↑ So JM §133h: "After כְּ the expected preposition is often omitted" (cf. Isa 28:21, among other examples cited there). On the other hand, we occasionally find the preposition בְּ intended to communicate both comparative כְּ and locative בְּ, as in בְּחַרְבֹנֵי קַיִץ "as in the heat of summer" (NIV).
↑ See, also, the LXX "as at the embittering" (NETS, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ); Jerome's Hebr. sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis "as in the strife, as in the day of temptation" and TgPs, היך במצותא "as at Strife" (Stec 2004, 179). The other clause of TgPs and the entire verse of the Syr. employ a paraphrastic approach. Saadia's rendering is equally illuminating: כמא כאן פי ד׳את אלכ׳צומה וד׳את אלמחנה פי אלבר "as it was/happened in Meribah and in Massah in the desert" (Qafaḥ 1965, 216). In Modern Hebrew, this combination can be communicated by the combination of both כְּ and בְּ, which is precisely what we read in HaEdut: כמו במְרִיבָה, כמו ביום שהייתם במַסָה.
↑ So Ḥakham 1979, 200.
↑ οὗ ἐπείρασαν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν and ubi temptaverunt me patres vestri, respectively.
↑ Not only is the locative reading explicit in these ancient versions, but it is supported by the possible interpretation of "forty years" as modifying בְּחָנוּנִי גַּם־רָאוּ פָעֳלִי׃ in the Syr.: ܘܒܩܘ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ "They tried me and saw my works for forty years" (Taylor 2020, 395), which is not compatible with "the day... when." See v. 10 for further discussion.
↑ See, for example, the LXX's καὶ and Jerome's et.
↑ Contra Fassberg 2019, §346.
↑ These read εἴδοσαν τὰ ἔργα μου and ܘܒܩܘ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ, respectively (cf. also εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου in Heb 3:9).
↑ "Yhwh’s 'deed' may be specifically the exodus or the Red Sea deliverance, or the word may be a collective for Yhwh’s deeds of deliverance and protection in general" (Goldingay 2006, 96).
↑ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ; cf. de-Rossi (Variae Lectiones, vol. 4, 64).
↑ Walter et al. 1980, 112.
↑ Compare διὸ προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ⸀ταύτῃ and the LXX's προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ.
↑ Other evidence for this interpretation is found in Acts 7:36, speaking of Moses, through whom YHWH would have performed the works: "This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years (ἔτη τεσσεράκοντα)" (ESV). Nevertheless, the writer to the Hebrews was also aware of the MT and LXX's understanding of the syntax, when he later questions "And with whom was he provoked for forty years?" (3:17, ESV).
↑ After the spies disheartened the people due to their lack of faith, YHWH promised that the entire generation would wander the wilderness for forty years (Num 14:21-23). Despite YHWH's oath, the people tried to enter anyway, to their own peril (Num 14:29-35).
↑ SDBH defines it as "to experience a deep loathing for a person or condition." The LXX has προσώχθισα, from προσοχθίζω "be wroth" (LSJ, 1522), while Aquila and Symmachus read δυσηρεστήθην, from δυσαρεστέω "be displeased, annoyed" (CGL vol 1, 399; cf. LSJ, 454). TgPs has מאסית "I loathed," while Syr. reads ܡܐܢܬ ܠܝ "I was weary of."
↑ The past time context has led the LXX (προσώχθισα) and both Aquila and Symmachus (δυσηρεστήθην) to translate with aorists, and TgPs to employ a suffix conjugation (מאסית), as, also the Syr., with its impersonal ܡܐܢܬ ܠܝ "it was wearisome to me.
↑ See Lambert 1898.
↑ Delitzsch 1877, 88.
↑ Ḥakham 1979, 201.
↑ These read τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ "that generation" (LXX); ܒܕܪܐ ܗܘ "that generation" (Peshitta); τῇ γενεᾷ ⸀ταύτῃ "this generation" (Heb 3:10); generatio illa "that generation" (Jerome); דרא דמדברא "the generation which was in the wilderness" (TgPs). Similarly, Saadia provides only the definite article: ארבעין סנה אסתצגרת באלג׳יל, rendered by Qafaḥ as ארבעים שנה הקטנתי את הדור (Qafaḥ 1965, 217).
↑ The construct chain תֹּעֵי לֵבָב has a semantic relation of characteristic-specification, i.e., going astray [with regard to] their heart = thoughts/affections. See, similarly Isaiah 29:24: וְיָדְעוּ תֹעֵי־רוּחַ בִּינָה ("And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding," ESV). This interpretation is reflected in the NET, "These people desire to go astray" (cf. the CSB: "They are a people whose hearts go astray"). Likewise, the following paraphrases are illustrative: עמא דטעותא בלבהון "a people in whose heart is error" (TgPs); ܥܡܐ ܗܘ ܕܛܥܐ ܠܒܗܘܢ "it is a people whose heart goes astray" (Syr.). Ḥakham, similarly, paraphrases, הם עם שׁלבבם תועה "they are a people whose heart goes astray" (1979, 201).
↑ It reads Ἀεὶ "always."
↑ See VTH vol. 4, 391.
↑ Instead of עַד, Barthélemy et al. (2005, 671) actually suggest עֹלָם as the LXX's Vorlage.
↑ Cf. the Peshitta's ܐܝܟ ܕ and Christian Palestinian Aramaic ܗܝܟ ܕ, both of which perhaps reflect the LXX's ὡς.
↑ So Holmstedt (2016, 233). This is also the most probable reading of the LXX's ὡς (see Smyth 1956, §2193; cf. Vul. ut).
↑ Alternatively "unto whom" (KJV).
↑ Conklin 2011, 37-41.
↑ Compare Jerome (Hebr.) and the Peshitta, which render the introduction of the oath as ut non introirent and ܕܠܐ ܢܥܠܘܢ "so that ... not." In light of the instances of שׁבע with complementizer כִּי (see, e.g., Josh 2:12; 2 Sam 3:9; 1 Kgs 1:17; Jer 22:5; 49:13; Amos 4:2) or the quotative frame לֵאמֹר (see, e.g., 1 Kgs 1:13, 30), however, the interpretation of the final clause as direct speech is preferred.
↑ Meier 1992, 201.
↑ See also Targum Psalms and the Christian Palestinian Aramaic versions of our present verse: אם יעלון לנייח בית מקדשי "they should not come into the rest of the house of my sanctuary" (Stec 2004, 179); ܐܢ ܝܥܘܠܘܢ ܠܒܝܬ ܢܝܚܝ "if they will enter the house of my rest."
↑ Prinsloo 1995, 405.
↑ The Hebrew text comes from Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, which presents the text of the Leningrad Codex (the Masoretic text). The English text is our own "Close-but-clear" translation (CBC). The CBC is a “wooden” translation that exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text. It is essentially an interlinear that has been put into English word-order. It is also similar to a “back-translation” (of the Hebrew) often used in Bible translation checking. It is important to remember that the CBC is not intended to be a stand-alone translation, but is rather a tool for using the Layer by Layer materials. The CBC is used as the primary display text (along with the Hebrew) for most analytical visualisations. It is also used as the display text for most videos.
↑ A legend for the expanded paraphrase is available near the bottom of this page, in the section titled "Legends."
↑ Legends for both the grammatical diagram and the shapes and colours on the grammatical diagram are available near the bottom of this page, in the section titled "Legends."
↑ The liturgical flavor of these psalms and overt lexical mention of YHWH reigning is most evident in Psalms 93, 95, 96, 98, 100 (Hossfeld 2005, 450). Indeed, the lexical and thematic parallels with Psalm 100 are quite transparent (see Schniedewind 1995).
↑ Nevertheless, since Moses is the last mentioned author in Psalm 90 and another author is not mentioned until David in Psalm 101, a number of traditions hold that Moses is the author of Psalms 90–100, ranging from representatives of both Rabbinic Judaism (e.g., Rashi on Ps 90:1) and Karaites (e.g., Yefet Ben ʿAli; see Simon 1991, 85), and approved of by Church Fathers (see, e.g., Jerome's Homily on Ps 90).
↑ Since, "by recounting the rebellious actions of the earlier generation the speaker calls into question the sincerity of the present generation" (Savran 2003, 29). Further, the psalm "could also serve to explain to the post-exilic generation why the exile and loss of land took place" (Prinsloo 1995, 407). Hezekiah's period is a possible chronological provenance. His reminder seems to accommodate both possible readings of "rest": "Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the LORD. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 If you return to the LORD, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him." (2 Chr 30:8-9, NIV).
↑ While some scholarship considers the psalm's two major sections to be determined by the "prophetic" turn in v. 7c (see, e.g., Howard 1997, 53-54; Fokkelman 2003, 184), van der Lugt's (2014, 62) approach reflects our observations here and understands the two imperatives in vv. 1 and 6 to represent the beginning of the psalm's two sections. See the discussion in van der Lugt (2014, 66-69), which he prefaces as follows: "Mesmerized by the special character of vv. 8–11, exegetes generally take v. 7d as an independent colon introducing the divine speech ... I will argue that the main caesura in Psalm 95 is not to be found after v. 7c, but after v. 5. At the same time, there are no compelling reasons to separate v. 7d from the preceding strophe" (2014, 6). Further, we are in full agreement with his conclusion: "The bipartite structure of Psalm 95 is not based on the difference between a ‘hymn’ and an ‘oracle’, but between God as the Lord above the gods (vv. 1–5) and God as the Shepherd of the people of Israel (vv. 6–11), between ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’" (2014, 68).
↑ For full discussion, see Braulik 1986.
↑ See, for example, Genesis 37:20, 27; Judges 19:11, 13; 1 Samuel 9:5, 9; 11:14; 14:1, 6; 20:11; 2 Kings 7:4, 9; Isaiah 1:18; 2:3, 5; Jeremiah 18:18; 48:2; Hosea 6:1; Jonah 1:17; Micah 4:2; Psalm 83:5; Nehemiah 2:17; 6:2, 7.
↑ The final section of the psalm (vv. 7c-11) warns the people of irreverent worship today based on the ancestors' failures in putting YHWH to the test in the past, at the waters of Meribah/Massah (see v. 8). There, immediately following the Exodus, the people grumbled against Moses in the wilderness as they asked for water, and "tested the Lord saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'" (Exod 17:7, NIV). That entire episode was characterized by the rock: "I will stand there before you by the rock (הַצּוּר) at Horeb. Strike the rock (בַצּוּר), and water will come out of it for the people to drink" (Exod 17:6, NIV). Although "rock" (צוּר) is a common title for YHWH throughout the Bible, including the Psalms, it takes on a special significance and irony in Psalm 95. The opening reference to YHWH as "the rock of our salvation" highlights the irony in that, though their ancestors questioned "Is the Lord among us or not?" (Exod 17:7), the Lord does not reject their descendants, but invites them to trust him and enter the rest of his presence (v. 11b).
↑ See BHRG §39.6.(3e) and (4), respectively.
↑ Ḥakham paraphrases: "let us come to him and in our hands is an offering of thanksgiving and in our mouths is a song of thanksgiving" (1979, 198; נבוא אליו ובידינו קרבן תודה ובפינו שׁיר תודה).
↑ Atkinson 2026b, 127.
↑ See, however, the continuation of subjunctives in the LXX (ἀλαλάξωμεν), Symmachus (σημάνωμεν) and Jerome Hebr. (iubilemus). Nevertheless, the Masoretic tradition across both Tiberian and Babylonian manuscripts is quite consistent in intentionally lacking the he.
↑ See GKC §133i; cf. Mena 2012, 87. For the alternative relative clause, see the Peshitta's "a king who is great over all gods" (ܡܠܟܐ ܕܪܒ ܥܠ ܟܠܗܘܢ ܐ̈ܠܗܐ).
↑ See Mena 2012, 85-87 for discussion.
↑ Compare the מִן of comparison in Exodus 18:11 עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֔עְתִּי כִּֽי־גָד֥וֹל יְהוָ֖ה מִכָּל־הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods" (NIV).
↑ See the similar idea expressed in the New Testament: "even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God" (1 Cor 8:5-6, NIV).
↑ As evident in the other ancient versions, the LXX's rendering of אֲשֶׁר with causal ὅτι (NETS: "because in his hand are..."), while not impossible, is not necessary. Indeed, both Aquila and Symmachus have οὗ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ "in whose hand...", resuming "a God" from the previous verse, i.e., drawing attention to a particular feature of God, the noun that is being modified.
↑ For the alternative emendation of plural "hands" in place of the MT's "hand," see the Syr. ܐ̈ܝܕܘܗܝ.
↑ Lu (2025, 11 n. 45) suggests texts such as the following list deities, rather than simply landforms: "the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear" (Hab 3:10, NIV). See, however, similar phraseology in Psalm 77:17, which refers to the Reed Sea after the Exodus event: "The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed" (NIV). See further Job 38:16: "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?" (NIV; הֲבָאתָ עַד־נִבְכֵי־יָם וּבְחֵקֶר תְּהוֹם הִתְהַלָּכְתָּ).
↑ The ancient versions have τὰ ὕψη (LXX), excelsa (Jerome's Hebr.); ܪܘܡܐ (Syr.) "the heights" and תוקפי רום (TgPs) "the mighty heights."
↑ Compare Proverbs 25:3: "As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable" (NIV).
↑ Although the lexeme יַבֶּשֶׁת only occurs here and in Exodus 4:9 in the Bible, it is unambiguously derived from the common root √יבשׁ, "be dry." The more typical form for "dry land" is יַבָּשָׁה (as read also in 4Q94 of our present text), though the context both here and in Exodus 4:9 show יַבֶּשֶׁת simply to be a by-form with the same sense.
↑ The clause וְהוּא עָשָׂהוּ is subject-fronted in order to function as an explanatory thetic (see Sasse 2006, Atkinson 2026b), since it grounds the previous clause.
↑ See also Watson 1986, 128-144. Furthermore, Jerome’s iuxta Hebraeos supports the parenthetical reading as it provides the conjunction "for" (enim fecit illud), indicating a semantically non-at-issue remark with a speech act of justification, rather than the assertion of the host sentence.
↑ See Tsumura 2023, 53. In Psalm 18:42, however, the x’ (וְלֹ֣א עָנָם) is waw-conjoined, whereas here the parallel relationship is not as explicit, ידיו יצרו lacking a conjunction. Psalm 18:42 reads יְשַׁוְּעוּ וְאֵין־מוֹשִׁיעַ עַל־יְהוָה וְלֹא עָנָם׃, which could be interpreted as They cry out—but there is no one rescuing—to YHWH, but he does not answer them. See further Atkinson 2025.
↑ As in v. 1; see the second-person imperatives in Psalms 34:12; 46:9; 66:5, 16, and the first-person cohortative following—as in the present instance—in Psalm 83:5.
↑ See, however, 1 Kings 20:33; 2 Kings 10:25; Ezekiel 33:30; Joel 1:13; 4:13, and the first-person cohortative in Jeremiah 35:11; 50:5; 51:10.
↑ Note that the LXX reads "and let us weep before the Lord" (NETS; καὶ κλαύσωμεν ἐναντίον κυρίου) for the MT's let us kneel down נִבְרְכָה, apparently mistakenly overlooking the resh and reading נִבְכֶּה. The Peshitta seems to have read the correct letters, but has mistaken the root "kneel down" for "bless" (ܘܢܒܪܟܝܘܗܝ ܠܡܪܝܐ "and let us bless the Lord").
↑ Further structuring the psalm's two halves is the assonance between the final words of vv. 1 and 6, יִשְׁעֵנוּ (yish’enu) and עֹשֵֽנוּ (osenu), respectively.
↑ Compare the very similar formulation in Psalms 79:13 and 100:3 (assimilation to which has probably brought about the textual variant in the Peshitta, "for he is our God; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture," Taylor 2020, 395): דְּעוּ כִּי־יְהוָה הוּא אֱלֹהִים הוּא־עָשָׂנוּ (ולא) וְלוֹ אֲנַחְנוּ עַמּוֹ וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתוֹ׃.
↑ Adapted from Schniedewind 1995, 546-547.
↑ Our preferred interpretation of the clause הַיּוֹם אִם־בְּקֹלוֹ תִשְׁמָעוּ involves הַיּוֹם as a sentence adverb (see the full treatment of sentence adverbs in Blau 1982), in similar manner to וְעַתָּה, as expressed explicitly by Ḥakham (1979, 200): "כלומר: עתה" "that is to say, now." The effect of this sentence adverb has been picked up in the rhetorical heart of the argument of the writer to the Hebrews: "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Heb 3:12–13, ESV). There is also a poetic motivation for using הַיּוֹם instead of the more frequent sentence adverb וְעַתָּה, as it contrasts with "the day of Massah" (כְּיוֹם מַסָּה) in v. 8 (see Poetic Structure).
↑ Le sens du psaume se dégage justement de cette rupture [v. 7c] dans le texte (van Petegem 2008, 237).
↑ Prinsloo 1995, 403.
↑ So also GKC §151eAposiopesis is defined as a “Lapse into silence before the construction of a sentence is completed” (Matthews 2014). While the syntactic characteristic simply involves ‘an unfinished sentence’, the rhetorical motivations vary. See further Atkinson, 2026a.
↑ Si hoy escuchan ustedes mi voz. See also Briggs & Briggs 1906-7, 295.
↑ For the modality of agent-oriented desire in the protasis of the conditional, see Khan (forthcoming, "Yiqṭol," 147; cf. IBHS §31.4h), in which case the protasis and apodosis often contain similar semantics, so there is no tautology involved. For similar examples, cf. "But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it" (Judg 13:16, NET); "If you want to take it for yourself, then take it" (1 Sam 21:10, CSB); "If you want to ask, ask" (Isa 21:12, NET); "Israel, if you want to come back, then come back to me" (Jer 4:1, ERV); "if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you" (Ruth 3:13, NIV); "If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so" (Ruth 4:4, NET).
↑ See van der Merwe 2025, 85-87.
↑ The LXX translates the phrase according to their etymological sense: ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ ... κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ "as at the embittering ... like the day of the trial" (NETS). Likewise, Jerome (Hebr.) renders sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis "like in the conflict, like the day of trial"; TgPs היך במצותא היך יומא דנסיתון אלהא "as at Strife, as in the day when you tested God" (Stec 2004, 179); Syr. ܐܝܟ ܡܡܪ̈ܡܪܢܐ ܘܐܝܟ ܝܘܡܐ ܕܢܣܝܘܢܐ "like the rebellious and like the day of testing" (Taylor 2020, 395).
↑ See VTH: vol 4, 391. They have perhaps understood מְרִיבָה as its abstract sense (cf. Gen 13:8; Num 27:14), rather than the proper name it came to attain, so "with strife."
↑ So JM §133h: "After כְּ the expected preposition is often omitted" (cf. Isa 28:21, among other examples cited there). On the other hand, we occasionally find the preposition בְּ intended to communicate both comparative כְּ and locative בְּ, as in בְּחַרְבֹנֵי קַיִץ "as in the heat of summer" (NIV).
↑ See, also, the LXX "as at the embittering" (NETS, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ); Jerome's Hebr. sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis "as in the strife, as in the day of temptation" and TgPs, היך במצותא "as at Strife" (Stec 2004, 179). The other clause of TgPs and the entire verse of the Syr. employ a paraphrastic approach. Saadia's rendering is equally illuminating: כמא כאן פי ד׳את אלכ׳צומה וד׳את אלמחנה פי אלבר "as it was/happened in Meribah and in Massah in the desert" (Qafaḥ 1965, 216). In Modern Hebrew, this combination can be communicated by the combination of both כְּ and בְּ, which is precisely what we read in HaEdut: כמו במְרִיבָה, כמו ביום שהייתם במַסָה.
↑ So Ḥakham 1979, 200.
↑ οὗ ἐπείρασαν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν and ubi temptaverunt me patres vestri, respectively.
↑ Not only is the locative reading explicit in these ancient versions, but it is supported by the possible interpretation of "forty years" as modifying בְּחָנוּנִי גַּם־רָאוּ פָעֳלִי׃ in the Syr.: ܘܒܩܘ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ "They tried me and saw my works for forty years" (Taylor 2020, 395), which is not compatible with "the day... when." See v. 10 for further discussion.
↑ See, for example, the LXX's καὶ and Jerome's et.
↑ Contra Fassberg 2019, §346.
↑ These read εἴδοσαν τὰ ἔργα μου and ܘܒܩܘ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ, respectively (cf. also εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου in Heb 3:9).
↑ "Yhwh’s 'deed' may be specifically the exodus or the Red Sea deliverance, or the word may be a collective for Yhwh’s deeds of deliverance and protection in general" (Goldingay 2006, 96).
↑ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ; cf. de-Rossi (Variae Lectiones, vol. 4, 64).
↑ Walter et al. 1980, 112.
↑ Compare διὸ προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ⸀ταύτῃ and the LXX's προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ.
↑ Other evidence for this interpretation is found in Acts 7:36, speaking of Moses, through whom YHWH would have performed the works: "This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years (ἔτη τεσσεράκοντα)" (ESV). Nevertheless, the writer to the Hebrews was also aware of the MT and LXX's understanding of the syntax, when he later questions "And with whom was he provoked for forty years?" (3:17, ESV).
↑ After the spies disheartened the people due to their lack of faith, YHWH promised that the entire generation would wander the wilderness for forty years (Num 14:21-23). Despite YHWH's oath, the people tried to enter anyway, to their own peril (Num 14:29-35).
↑ SDBH defines it as "to experience a deep loathing for a person or condition." The LXX has προσώχθισα, from προσοχθίζω "be wroth" (LSJ, 1522), while Aquila and Symmachus read δυσηρεστήθην, from δυσαρεστέω "be displeased, annoyed" (CGL vol 1, 399; cf. LSJ, 454). TgPs has מאסית "I loathed," while Syr. reads ܡܐܢܬ ܠܝ "I was weary of."
↑ The past time context has led the LXX (προσώχθισα) and both Aquila and Symmachus (δυσηρεστήθην) to translate with aorists, and TgPs to employ a suffix conjugation (מאסית), as, also the Syr., with its impersonal ܡܐܢܬ ܠܝ "it was wearisome to me.
↑ See Lambert 1898.
↑ Delitzsch 1877, 88.
↑ Ḥakham 1979, 201.
↑ These read τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ "that generation" (LXX); ܒܕܪܐ ܗܘ "that generation" (Peshitta); τῇ γενεᾷ ⸀ταύτῃ "this generation" (Heb 3:10); generatio illa "that generation" (Jerome); דרא דמדברא "the generation which was in the wilderness" (TgPs). Similarly, Saadia provides only the definite article: ארבעין סנה אסתצגרת באלג׳יל, rendered by Qafaḥ as ארבעים שנה הקטנתי את הדור (Qafaḥ 1965, 217).
↑ The construct chain תֹּעֵי לֵבָב has a semantic relation of characteristic-specification, i.e., going astray [with regard to] their heart = thoughts/affections. See, similarly Isaiah 29:24: וְיָדְעוּ תֹעֵי־רוּחַ בִּינָה ("And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding," ESV). This interpretation is reflected in the NET, "These people desire to go astray" (cf. the CSB: "They are a people whose hearts go astray"). Likewise, the following paraphrases are illustrative: עמא דטעותא בלבהון "a people in whose heart is error" (TgPs); ܥܡܐ ܗܘ ܕܛܥܐ ܠܒܗܘܢ "it is a people whose heart goes astray" (Syr.). Ḥakham, similarly, paraphrases, הם עם שׁלבבם תועה "they are a people whose heart goes astray" (1979, 201).
↑ It reads Ἀεὶ "always."
↑ See VTH vol. 4, 391.
↑ Instead of עַד, Barthélemy et al. (2005, 671) actually suggest עֹלָם as the LXX's Vorlage.
↑ Cf. the Peshitta's ܐܝܟ ܕ and Christian Palestinian Aramaic ܗܝܟ ܕ, both of which perhaps reflect the LXX's ὡς.
↑ So Holmstedt (2016, 233). This is also the most probable reading of the LXX's ὡς (see Smyth 1956, §2193; cf. Vul. ut).
↑ Alternatively "unto whom" (KJV).
↑ Conklin 2011, 37-41.
↑ Compare Jerome (Hebr.) and the Peshitta, which render the introduction of the oath as ut non introirent and ܕܠܐ ܢܥܠܘܢ "so that ... not." In light of the instances of שׁבע with complementizer כִּי (see, e.g., Josh 2:12; 2 Sam 3:9; 1 Kgs 1:17; Jer 22:5; 49:13; Amos 4:2) or the quotative frame לֵאמֹר (see, e.g., 1 Kgs 1:13, 30), however, the interpretation of the final clause as direct speech is preferred.
↑ Meier 1992, 201.
↑ See also Targum Psalms and the Christian Palestinian Aramaic versions of our present verse: אם יעלון לנייח בית מקדשי "they should not come into the rest of the house of my sanctuary" (Stec 2004, 179); ܐܢ ܝܥܘܠܘܢ ܠܒܝܬ ܢܝܚܝ "if they will enter the house of my rest."
↑ Prinsloo 1995, 405.

[1] Common-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/ANE background - beliefs and practices that were widespread at this time and place. This is the background information necessary for understanding propositions that do not readily make sense to those who are so far removed from the culture in which the proposition was originally expressed.

[2] Local-ground assumptions are those propositions which are necessarily true if the text is true. They include both presuppositions and entailments. Presuppositions are those implicit propositions which are assumed to be true by an explicit proposition. Entailments are those propositions which are necessarily true if a proposition is true.

[3] Whereas local-ground assumptions are inferences which are necessarily true if the text is true, play-ground assumptions are those inferences which might be true if the text is true.

[4] Hossfeld 2005, 450.

[5] See Schniedewind 1995.

[6] Nevertheless, since Moses is the last mentioned author in Psalm 90 and another author is not mentioned until David in Psalm 101, a number of traditions hold that Moses is the author of Psalms 90–100, ranging from representatives of both Rabbinic Judaism (e.g., Rashi on Ps 90:1) and Karaites (e.g., Yefet Ben ʿAli; see Simon 1991, 85), and approved of by Church Fathers (see, e.g., Jerome's Homily on Ps 90).

[7] Since, "by recounting the rebellious actions of the earlier generation the speaker calls into question the sincerity of the present generation" (Savran 2003, 29). Further, the psalm "could also serve to explain to the post-exilic generation why the exile and loss of land took place" (Prinsloo 1995, 407). Hezekiah's period is a possible chronological provenance. His reminder seems to accommodate both possible readings of "rest": "Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the LORD. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 If you return to the LORD, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him." (2 Chr 30:8-9, NIV).

[8] While some scholarship considers the psalm's two major sections to be determined by the "prophetic" turn in v. 7c (see, e.g., Howard 1997, 53-54; Fokkelman 2003, 184), van der Lugt's (2014, 62) approach reflects our observations here and understands the two imperatives in vv. 1 and 6 to represent the beginning of the psalm's two sections. See the discussion in van der Lugt (2014, 66-69), which he prefaces as follows: "Mesmerized by the special character of vv. 8–11, exegetes generally take v. 7d as an independent colon introducing the divine speech ... I will argue that the main caesura in Psalm 95 is not to be found after v. 7c, but after v. 5. At the same time, there are no compelling reasons to separate v. 7d from the preceding strophe" (2014, 6). Further, we are in full agreement with his conclusion: "The bipartite structure of Psalm 95 is not based on the difference between a ‘hymn’ and an ‘oracle’, but between God as the Lord above the gods (vv. 1–5) and God as the Shepherd of the people of Israel (vv. 6–11), between ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’" (2014, 68).

[9] For full discussion, see Braulik 1986.

[10] See, for example, Genesis 37:20, 27; Judges 19:11, 13; 1 Samuel 9:5, 9; 11:14; 14:1, 6; 20:11; 2 Kings 7:4, 9; Isaiah 1:18; 2:3, 5; Jeremiah 18:18; 48:2; Hosea 6:1; Jonah 1:17; Micah 4:2; Psalm 83:5; Nehemiah 2:17; 6:2, 7.

[11] The final section of the psalm (vv. 7c-11) warns the people of irreverent worship today based on the ancestors' failures in putting YHWH to the test in the past, at the waters of Meribah/Massah (see v. 8). There, immediately following the Exodus, the people grumbled against Moses in the wilderness as they asked for water, and "tested the Lord saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'" (Exod 17:7, NIV). That entire episode was characterized by the rock: "I will stand there before you by the rock (הַצּוּר) at Horeb. Strike the rock (בַצּוּר), and water will come out of it for the people to drink" (Exod 17:6, NIV). Although "rock" (צוּר) is a common title for YHWH throughout the Bible, including the Psalms, it takes on a special significance and irony in Psalm 95. The opening reference to YHWH as "the rock of our salvation" highlights the irony in that, though their ancestors questioned "Is the Lord among us or not?" (Exod 17:7), the Lord does not reject their descendants, but invites them to trust him and enter the rest of his presence (v. 11b).

[12] See BHRG §39.6.(3e) and (4), respectively.

[13] Ḥakham paraphrases: "let us come to him and in our hands is an offering of thanksgiving and in our mouths is a song of thanksgiving" (1979, 198; נבוא אליו ובידינו קרבן תודה ובפינו שׁיר תודה).

[14] Atkinson 2026b, 127.

[15] See, however, the continuation of subjunctives in the LXX (ἀλαλάξωμεν), Symmachus (σημάνωμεν) and Jerome Hebr. (iubilemus). Nevertheless, the Masoretic tradition across both Tiberian and Babylonian manuscripts is quite consistent in intentionally lacking the he.

[16] See GKC §133i; cf. Mena 2012, 87. For the alternative relative clause, see the Peshitta's "a king who is great over all gods" (ܡܠܟܐ ܕܪܒ ܥܠ ܟܠܗܘܢ ܐ̈ܠܗܐ).

[17] See Mena 2012, 85-87 for discussion.

[18] Compare the מִן of comparison in Exodus 18:11 עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֔עְתִּי כִּֽי־גָד֥וֹל יְהוָ֖ה מִכָּל־הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods" (NIV).

[19] See the similar idea expressed in the New Testament: "even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God" (1 Cor 8:5-6, NIV).

[20] As evident in the other ancient versions, the LXX's rendering of אֲשֶׁר with causal ὅτι (NETS: "because in his hand are..."), while not impossible, is not necessary. Indeed, both Aquila and Symmachus have οὗ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ "in whose hand...", resuming "a God" from the previous verse, i.e., drawing attention to a particular feature of God, the noun that is being modified.

[21] For the alternative emendation of plural "hands" in place of the MT's "hand," see the Syr. ܐ̈ܝܕܘܗܝ.

[22] Lu (2025, 11 n. 45) suggests texts such as the following list deities, rather than simply landforms: "the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear" (Hab 3:10, NIV). See, however, similar phraseology in Psalm 77:17, which refers to the Reed Sea after the Exodus event: "The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed" (NIV). See further Job 38:16: "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?" (NIV; הֲבָאתָ עַד־נִבְכֵי־יָם וּבְחֵקֶר תְּהוֹם הִתְהַלָּכְתָּ).

[23] The ancient versions have τὰ ὕψη (LXX), excelsa (Jerome's Hebr.); ܪܘܡܐ (Syr.) "the heights" and תוקפי רום (TgPs) "the mighty heights."

[24] Compare Proverbs 25:3: "As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable" (NIV).

[25] Although the lexeme יַבֶּשֶׁת only occurs here and in Exodus 4:9 in the Bible, it is unambiguously derived from the common root √יבשׁ, "be dry." The more typical form for "dry land" is יַבָּשָׁה (as read also in 4Q94 of our present text), though the context both here and in Exodus 4:9 show יַבֶּשֶׁת simply to be a by-form with the same sense.

[26] The clause וְהוּא עָשָׂהוּ is subject-fronted in order to function as an explanatory thetic (see Sasse 2006, Atkinson 2026b), since it grounds the previous clause.

[27] See also Watson 1986, 128-144. Furthermore, Jerome’s iuxta Hebraeos supports the parenthetical reading as it provides the conjunction "for" (enim fecit illud), indicating a semantically non-at-issue remark with a speech act of justification, rather than the assertion of the host sentence.

[28] See Tsumura 2023, 53. In Psalm 18:42, however, the x’ (וְלֹ֣א עָנָם) is waw-conjoined, whereas here the parallel relationship is not as explicit, ידיו יצרו lacking a conjunction. Psalm 18:42 reads יְשַׁוְּעוּ וְאֵין־מוֹשִׁיעַ עַל־יְהוָה וְלֹא עָנָם׃, which could be interpreted as They cry out—but there is no one rescuing—to YHWH, but he does not answer them. See further Atkinson 2025.

[29] As in v. 1; see the second-person imperatives in Psalms 34:12; 46:9; 66:5, 16, and the first-person cohortative following—as in the present instance—in Psalm 83:5.

[30] See, however, 1 Kings 20:33; 2 Kings 10:25; Ezekiel 33:30; Joel 1:13; 4:13, and the first-person cohortative in Jeremiah 35:11; 50:5; 51:10.

[31] Note that the LXX reads "and let us weep before the Lord" (NETS; καὶ κλαύσωμεν ἐναντίον κυρίου) for the MT's let us kneel down נִבְרְכָה, apparently mistakenly overlooking the resh and reading נִבְכֶּה. The Peshitta seems to have read the correct letters, but has mistaken the root "kneel down" for "bless" (ܘܢܒܪܟܝܘܗܝ ܠܡܪܝܐ "and let us bless the Lord").

[32] Further structuring the psalm's two halves is the assonance between the final words of vv. 1 and 6, יִשְׁעֵנוּ (yish’enu) and עֹשֵֽנוּ (osenu), respectively.

[33] Compare the very similar formulation in Psalms 79:13 and 100:3 (assimilation to which has probably brought about the textual variant in the Peshitta, "for he is our God; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture," Taylor 2020, 395): דְּעוּ כִּי־יְהוָה הוּא אֱלֹהִים הוּא־עָשָׂנוּ (ולא) וְלוֹ אֲנַחְנוּ עַמּוֹ וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתוֹ׃.

[34] Adapted from Schniedewind 1995, 546-547.

[35] Our preferred interpretation of the clause הַיּוֹם אִם־בְּקֹלוֹ תִשְׁמָעוּ involves הַיּוֹם as a sentence adverb (see the full treatment of sentence adverbs in Blau 1982), in similar manner to וְעַתָּה, as expressed explicitly by Ḥakham (1979, 200): "כלומר: עתה" "that is to say, now." The effect of this sentence adverb has been picked up in the rhetorical heart of the argument of the writer to the Hebrews: "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Heb 3:12–13, ESV). There is also a poetic motivation for using הַיּוֹם instead of the more frequent sentence adverb וְעַתָּה, as it contrasts with "the day of Massah" (כְּיוֹם מַסָּה) in v. 8 (see Poetic Structure).

[36] Le sens du psaume se dégage justement de cette rupture [v. 7c] dans le texte (van Petegem 2008, 237).

[37] Prinsloo 1995, 403.

[38] So also GKC §151eAposiopesis is defined as a “Lapse into silence before the construction of a sentence is completed” (Matthews 2014). While the syntactic characteristic simply involves ‘an unfinished sentence’, the rhetorical motivations vary. See further Atkinson, 2026a.

[39] Si hoy escuchan ustedes mi voz. See also Briggs & Briggs 1906-7, 295.

[40] For the modality of agent-oriented desire in the protasis of the conditional, see Khan (forthcoming, "Yiqṭol," 147; cf. IBHS §31.4h), in which case the protasis and apodosis often contain similar semantics, so there is no tautology involved. For similar examples, cf. "But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it" (Judg 13:16, NET); "If you want to take it for yourself, then take it" (1 Sam 21:10, CSB); "If you want to ask, ask" (Isa 21:12, NET); "Israel, if you want to come back, then come back to me" (Jer 4:1, ERV); "if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you" (Ruth 3:13, NIV); "If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so" (Ruth 4:4, NET).

[41] See van der Merwe 2025, 85-87.

[42] The LXX translates the phrase according to their etymological sense: ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ ... κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ "as at the embittering ... like the day of the trial" (NETS). Likewise, Jerome (Hebr.) renders sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis "like in the conflict, like the day of trial"; TgPs היך במצותא היך יומא דנסיתון אלהא "as at Strife, as in the day when you tested God" (Stec 2004, 179); Syr. ܐܝܟ ܡܡܪ̈ܡܪܢܐ ܘܐܝܟ ܝܘܡܐ ܕܢܣܝܘܢܐ "like the rebellious and like the day of testing" (Taylor 2020, 395).

[43] See VTH: vol 4, 391. They have perhaps understood מְרִיבָה as its abstract sense (cf. Gen 13:8; Num 27:14), rather than the proper name it came to attain, so "with strife."

[44] So JM §133h: "After כְּ the expected preposition is often omitted" (cf. Isa 28:21, among other examples cited there). On the other hand, we occasionally find the preposition בְּ intended to communicate both comparative כְּ and locative בְּ, as in בְּחַרְבֹנֵי קַיִץ "as in the heat of summer" (NIV).

[45] See, also, the LXX "as at the embittering" (NETS, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ); Jerome's Hebr. sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis "as in the strife, as in the day of temptation" and TgPs, היך במצותא "as at Strife" (Stec 2004, 179). The other clause of TgPs and the entire verse of the Syr. employ a paraphrastic approach. Saadia's rendering is equally illuminating: כמא כאן פי ד׳את אלכ׳צומה וד׳את אלמחנה פי אלבר "as it was/happened in Meribah and in Massah in the desert" (Qafaḥ 1965, 216). In Modern Hebrew, this combination can be communicated by the combination of both כְּ and בְּ, which is precisely what we read in HaEdut: כמו במְרִיבָה, כמו ביום שהייתם במַסָה.

[46] So Ḥakham 1979, 200.

[47] οὗ ἐπείρασαν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν and ubi temptaverunt me patres vestri, respectively.

[48] Not only is the locative reading explicit in these ancient versions, but it is supported by the possible interpretation of "forty years" as modifying בְּחָנוּנִי גַּם־רָאוּ פָעֳלִי׃ in the Syr.: ܘܒܩܘ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ "They tried me and saw my works for forty years" (Taylor 2020, 395), which is not compatible with "the day... when." See v. 10 for further discussion.

[49] See, for example, the LXX's καὶ and Jerome's et.

[50] Contra Fassberg 2019, §346.

[51] These read εἴδοσαν τὰ ἔργα μου and ܘܒܩܘ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ, respectively (cf. also εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου in Heb 3:9).

[52] "Yhwh’s 'deed' may be specifically the exodus or the Red Sea deliverance, or the word may be a collective for Yhwh’s deeds of deliverance and protection in general" (Goldingay 2006, 96).

[53] ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ; cf. de-Rossi (Variae Lectiones, vol. 4, 64).

[54] Walter et al. 1980, 112.

[55] Compare διὸ προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ⸀ταύτῃ and the LXX's προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ.

[56] Other evidence for this interpretation is found in Acts 7:36, speaking of Moses, through whom YHWH would have performed the works: "This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years (ἔτη τεσσεράκοντα)" (ESV). Nevertheless, the writer to the Hebrews was also aware of the MT and LXX's understanding of the syntax, when he later questions "And with whom was he provoked for forty years?" (3:17, ESV).

[57] After the spies disheartened the people due to their lack of faith, YHWH promised that the entire generation would wander the wilderness for forty years (Num 14:21-23). Despite YHWH's oath, the people tried to enter anyway, to their own peril (Num 14:29-35).

[58] SDBH defines it as "to experience a deep loathing for a person or condition." The LXX has προσώχθισα, from προσοχθίζω "be wroth" (LSJ, 1522), while Aquila and Symmachus read δυσηρεστήθην, from δυσαρεστέω "be displeased, annoyed" (CGL vol 1, 399; cf. LSJ, 454). TgPs has מאסית "I loathed," while Syr. reads ܡܐܢܬ ܠܝ "I was weary of."

[59] The past time context has led the LXX (προσώχθισα) and both Aquila and Symmachus (δυσηρεστήθην) to translate with aorists, and TgPs to employ a suffix conjugation (מאסית), as, also the Syr., with its impersonal ܡܐܢܬ ܠܝ "it was wearisome to me.

[60] See Lambert 1898.

[61] Delitzsch 1877, 88.

[62] Ḥakham 1979, 201.

[63] These read τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ "that generation" (LXX); ܒܕܪܐ ܗܘ "that generation" (Peshitta); τῇ γενεᾷ ⸀ταύτῃ "this generation" (Heb 3:10); generatio illa "that generation" (Jerome); דרא דמדברא "the generation which was in the wilderness" (TgPs). Similarly, Saadia provides only the definite article: ארבעין סנה אסתצגרת באלג׳יל, rendered by Qafaḥ as ארבעים שנה הקטנתי את הדור (Qafaḥ 1965, 217).

[64] The construct chain תֹּעֵי לֵבָב has a semantic relation of characteristic-specification, i.e., going astray [with regard to] their heart = thoughts/affections. See, similarly Isaiah 29:24: וְיָדְעוּ תֹעֵי־רוּחַ בִּינָה ("And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding," ESV). This interpretation is reflected in the NET, "These people desire to go astray" (cf. the CSB: "They are a people whose hearts go astray"). Likewise, the following paraphrases are illustrative: עמא דטעותא בלבהון "a people in whose heart is error" (TgPs); ܥܡܐ ܗܘ ܕܛܥܐ ܠܒܗܘܢ "it is a people whose heart goes astray" (Syr.). Ḥakham, similarly, paraphrases, הם עם שׁלבבם תועה "they are a people whose heart goes astray" (1979, 201).

[65] It reads Ἀεὶ "always."

[66] See VTH vol. 4, 391.

[67] Instead of עַד, Barthélemy et al. (2005, 671) actually suggest עֹלָם as the LXX's Vorlage.

[68] Cf. the Peshitta's ܐܝܟ ܕ and Christian Palestinian Aramaic ܗܝܟ ܕ, both of which perhaps reflect the LXX's ὡς.

[69] So Holmstedt (2016, 233). This is also the most probable reading of the LXX's ὡς (see Smyth 1956, §2193; cf. Vul. ut).

[70] Alternatively "unto whom" (KJV).

[71] Conklin 2011, 37-41.

[72] Compare Jerome (Hebr.) and the Peshitta, which render the introduction of the oath as ut non introirent and ܕܠܐ ܢܥܠܘܢ "so that ... not." In light of the instances of שׁבע with complementizer כִּי (see, e.g., Josh 2:12; 2 Sam 3:9; 1 Kgs 1:17; Jer 22:5; 49:13; Amos 4:2) or the quotative frame לֵאמֹר (see, e.g., 1 Kgs 1:13, 30), however, the interpretation of the final clause as direct speech is preferred.

[73] Meier 1992, 201.

[74] See also Targum Psalms and the Christian Palestinian Aramaic versions of our present verse: אם יעלון לנייח בית מקדשי "they should not come into the rest of the house of my sanctuary" (Stec 2004, 179); ܐܢ ܝܥܘܠܘܢ ܠܒܝܬ ܢܝܚܝ "if they will enter the house of my rest."

[75] Prinsloo 1995, 405.

[76] Hossfeld 2005, 450.

[77] See Schniedewind 1995.

[78] Nevertheless, since Moses is the last mentioned author in Psalm 90 and another author is not mentioned until David in Psalm 101, a number of traditions hold that Moses is the author of Psalms 90–100, ranging from representatives of both Rabbinic Judaism (e.g., Rashi on Ps 90:1) and Karaites (e.g., Yefet Ben ʿAli; see Simon 1991, 85), and approved of by Church Fathers (see, e.g., Jerome's Homily on Ps 90).

[79] Since, "by recounting the rebellious actions of the earlier generation the speaker calls into question the sincerity of the present generation" (Savran 2003, 29). Further, the psalm "could also serve to explain to the post-exilic generation why the exile and loss of land took place" (Prinsloo 1995, 407). Hezekiah's period is a possible chronological provenance. His reminder seems to accommodate both possible readings of "rest": "Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the LORD. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 If you return to the LORD, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him." (2 Chr 30:8-9, NIV).

[80] While some scholarship considers the psalm's two major sections to be determined by the "prophetic" turn in v. 7c (see, e.g., Howard 1997, 53-54; Fokkelman 2003, 184), van der Lugt's (2014, 62) approach reflects our observations here and understands the two imperatives in vv. 1 and 6 to represent the beginning of the psalm's two sections. See the discussion in van der Lugt (2014, 66-69), which he prefaces as follows: "Mesmerized by the special character of vv. 8–11, exegetes generally take v. 7d as an independent colon introducing the divine speech ... I will argue that the main caesura in Psalm 95 is not to be found after v. 7c, but after v. 5. At the same time, there are no compelling reasons to separate v. 7d from the preceding strophe" (2014, 6). Further, we are in full agreement with his conclusion: "The bipartite structure of Psalm 95 is not based on the difference between a ‘hymn’ and an ‘oracle’, but between God as the Lord above the gods (vv. 1–5) and God as the Shepherd of the people of Israel (vv. 6–11), between ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’" (2014, 68).

[81] For full discussion, see Braulik 1986.

[82] See, for example, Genesis 37:20, 27; Judges 19:11, 13; 1 Samuel 9:5, 9; 11:14; 14:1, 6; 20:11; 2 Kings 7:4, 9; Isaiah 1:18; 2:3, 5; Jeremiah 18:18; 48:2; Hosea 6:1; Jonah 1:17; Micah 4:2; Psalm 83:5; Nehemiah 2:17; 6:2, 7.

[83] The final section of the psalm (vv. 7c-11) warns the people of irreverent worship today based on the ancestors' failures in putting YHWH to the test in the past, at the waters of Meribah/Massah (see v. 8). There, immediately following the Exodus, the people grumbled against Moses in the wilderness as they asked for water, and "tested the Lord saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'" (Exod 17:7, NIV). That entire episode was characterized by the rock: "I will stand there before you by the rock (הַצּוּר) at Horeb. Strike the rock (בַצּוּר), and water will come out of it for the people to drink" (Exod 17:6, NIV). Although "rock" (צוּר) is a common title for YHWH throughout the Bible, including the Psalms, it takes on a special significance and irony in Psalm 95. The opening reference to YHWH as "the rock of our salvation" highlights the irony in that, though their ancestors questioned "Is the Lord among us or not?" (Exod 17:7), the Lord does not reject their descendants, but invites them to trust him and enter the rest of his presence (v. 11b).

[84] See BHRG §39.6.(3e) and (4), respectively.

[85] Ḥakham paraphrases: "let us come to him and in our hands is an offering of thanksgiving and in our mouths is a song of thanksgiving" (1979, 198; נבוא אליו ובידינו קרבן תודה ובפינו שׁיר תודה).

[86] Atkinson 2026b, 127.

[87] See, however, the continuation of subjunctives in the LXX (ἀλαλάξωμεν), Symmachus (σημάνωμεν) and Jerome Hebr. (iubilemus). Nevertheless, the Masoretic tradition across both Tiberian and Babylonian manuscripts is quite consistent in intentionally lacking the he.

[88] See GKC §133i; cf. Mena 2012, 87. For the alternative relative clause, see the Peshitta's "a king who is great over all gods" (ܡܠܟܐ ܕܪܒ ܥܠ ܟܠܗܘܢ ܐ̈ܠܗܐ).

[89] See Mena 2012, 85-87 for discussion.

[90] Compare the מִן of comparison in Exodus 18:11 עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֔עְתִּי כִּֽי־גָד֥וֹל יְהוָ֖ה מִכָּל־הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods" (NIV).

[91] See the similar idea expressed in the New Testament: "even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God" (1 Cor 8:5-6, NIV).

[92] As evident in the other ancient versions, the LXX's rendering of אֲשֶׁר with causal ὅτι (NETS: "because in his hand are..."), while not impossible, is not necessary. Indeed, both Aquila and Symmachus have οὗ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ "in whose hand...", resuming "a God" from the previous verse, i.e., drawing attention to a particular feature of God, the noun that is being modified.

[93] For the alternative emendation of plural "hands" in place of the MT's "hand," see the Syr. ܐ̈ܝܕܘܗܝ.

[94] Lu (2025, 11 n. 45) suggests texts such as the following list deities, rather than simply landforms: "the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear" (Hab 3:10, NIV). See, however, similar phraseology in Psalm 77:17, which refers to the Reed Sea after the Exodus event: "The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed" (NIV). See further Job 38:16: "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?" (NIV; הֲבָאתָ עַד־נִבְכֵי־יָם וּבְחֵקֶר תְּהוֹם הִתְהַלָּכְתָּ).

[95] The ancient versions have τὰ ὕψη (LXX), excelsa (Jerome's Hebr.); ܪܘܡܐ (Syr.) "the heights" and תוקפי רום (TgPs) "the mighty heights."

[96] Compare Proverbs 25:3: "As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable" (NIV).

[97] Although the lexeme יַבֶּשֶׁת only occurs here and in Exodus 4:9 in the Bible, it is unambiguously derived from the common root √יבשׁ, "be dry." The more typical form for "dry land" is יַבָּשָׁה (as read also in 4Q94 of our present text), though the context both here and in Exodus 4:9 show יַבֶּשֶׁת simply to be a by-form with the same sense.

[98] The clause וְהוּא עָשָׂהוּ is subject-fronted in order to function as an explanatory thetic (see Sasse 2006, Atkinson 2026b), since it grounds the previous clause.

[99] See also Watson 1986, 128-144. Furthermore, Jerome’s iuxta Hebraeos supports the parenthetical reading as it provides the conjunction "for" (enim fecit illud), indicating a semantically non-at-issue remark with a speech act of justification, rather than the assertion of the host sentence.

[100] See Tsumura 2023, 53. In Psalm 18:42, however, the x’ (וְלֹ֣א עָנָם) is waw-conjoined, whereas here the parallel relationship is not as explicit, ידיו יצרו lacking a conjunction. Psalm 18:42 reads יְשַׁוְּעוּ וְאֵין־מוֹשִׁיעַ עַל־יְהוָה וְלֹא עָנָם׃, which could be interpreted as They cry out—but there is no one rescuing—to YHWH, but he does not answer them. See further Atkinson 2025.

[101] As in v. 1; see the second-person imperatives in Psalms 34:12; 46:9; 66:5, 16, and the first-person cohortative following—as in the present instance—in Psalm 83:5.

[102] See, however, 1 Kings 20:33; 2 Kings 10:25; Ezekiel 33:30; Joel 1:13; 4:13, and the first-person cohortative in Jeremiah 35:11; 50:5; 51:10.

[103] Note that the LXX reads "and let us weep before the Lord" (NETS; καὶ κλαύσωμεν ἐναντίον κυρίου) for the MT's let us kneel down נִבְרְכָה, apparently mistakenly overlooking the resh and reading נִבְכֶּה. The Peshitta seems to have read the correct letters, but has mistaken the root "kneel down" for "bless" (ܘܢܒܪܟܝܘܗܝ ܠܡܪܝܐ "and let us bless the Lord").

[104] Further structuring the psalm's two halves is the assonance between the final words of vv. 1 and 6, יִשְׁעֵנוּ (yish’enu) and עֹשֵֽנוּ (osenu), respectively.

[105] Compare the very similar formulation in Psalms 79:13 and 100:3 (assimilation to which has probably brought about the textual variant in the Peshitta, "for he is our God; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture," Taylor 2020, 395): דְּעוּ כִּי־יְהוָה הוּא אֱלֹהִים הוּא־עָשָׂנוּ (ולא) וְלוֹ אֲנַחְנוּ עַמּוֹ וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתוֹ׃.

[106] Adapted from Schniedewind 1995, 546-547.

[107] Our preferred interpretation of the clause הַיּוֹם אִם־בְּקֹלוֹ תִשְׁמָעוּ involves הַיּוֹם as a sentence adverb (see the full treatment of sentence adverbs in Blau 1982), in similar manner to וְעַתָּה, as expressed explicitly by Ḥakham (1979, 200): "כלומר: עתה" "that is to say, now." The effect of this sentence adverb has been picked up in the rhetorical heart of the argument of the writer to the Hebrews: "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Heb 3:12–13, ESV). There is also a poetic motivation for using הַיּוֹם instead of the more frequent sentence adverb וְעַתָּה, as it contrasts with "the day of Massah" (כְּיוֹם מַסָּה) in v. 8 (see Poetic Structure).

[108] Le sens du psaume se dégage justement de cette rupture [v. 7c] dans le texte (van Petegem 2008, 237).

[109] Prinsloo 1995, 403.

[110] So also GKC §151eAposiopesis is defined as a “Lapse into silence before the construction of a sentence is completed” (Matthews 2014). While the syntactic characteristic simply involves ‘an unfinished sentence’, the rhetorical motivations vary. See further Atkinson, 2026a.

[111] Si hoy escuchan ustedes mi voz. See also Briggs & Briggs 1906-7, 295.

[112] For the modality of agent-oriented desire in the protasis of the conditional, see Khan (forthcoming, "Yiqṭol," 147; cf. IBHS §31.4h), in which case the protasis and apodosis often contain similar semantics, so there is no tautology involved. For similar examples, cf. "But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it" (Judg 13:16, NET); "If you want to take it for yourself, then take it" (1 Sam 21:10, CSB); "If you want to ask, ask" (Isa 21:12, NET); "Israel, if you want to come back, then come back to me" (Jer 4:1, ERV); "if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you" (Ruth 3:13, NIV); "If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so" (Ruth 4:4, NET).

[113] See van der Merwe 2025, 85-87.

[114] The LXX translates the phrase according to their etymological sense: ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ ... κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ "as at the embittering ... like the day of the trial" (NETS). Likewise, Jerome (Hebr.) renders sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis "like in the conflict, like the day of trial"; TgPs היך במצותא היך יומא דנסיתון אלהא "as at Strife, as in the day when you tested God" (Stec 2004, 179); Syr. ܐܝܟ ܡܡܪ̈ܡܪܢܐ ܘܐܝܟ ܝܘܡܐ ܕܢܣܝܘܢܐ "like the rebellious and like the day of testing" (Taylor 2020, 395).

[115] See VTH: vol 4, 391. They have perhaps understood מְרִיבָה as its abstract sense (cf. Gen 13:8; Num 27:14), rather than the proper name it came to attain, so "with strife."

[116] So JM §133h: "After כְּ the expected preposition is often omitted" (cf. Isa 28:21, among other examples cited there). On the other hand, we occasionally find the preposition בְּ intended to communicate both comparative כְּ and locative בְּ, as in בְּחַרְבֹנֵי קַיִץ "as in the heat of summer" (NIV).

[117] See, also, the LXX "as at the embittering" (NETS, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ); Jerome's Hebr. sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis "as in the strife, as in the day of temptation" and TgPs, היך במצותא "as at Strife" (Stec 2004, 179). The other clause of TgPs and the entire verse of the Syr. employ a paraphrastic approach. Saadia's rendering is equally illuminating: כמא כאן פי ד׳את אלכ׳צומה וד׳את אלמחנה פי אלבר "as it was/happened in Meribah and in Massah in the desert" (Qafaḥ 1965, 216). In Modern Hebrew, this combination can be communicated by the combination of both כְּ and בְּ, which is precisely what we read in HaEdut: כמו במְרִיבָה, כמו ביום שהייתם במַסָה.

[118] So Ḥakham 1979, 200.

[119] οὗ ἐπείρασαν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν and ubi temptaverunt me patres vestri, respectively.

[120] Not only is the locative reading explicit in these ancient versions, but it is supported by the possible interpretation of "forty years" as modifying בְּחָנוּנִי גַּם־רָאוּ פָעֳלִי׃ in the Syr.: ܘܒܩܘ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ "They tried me and saw my works for forty years" (Taylor 2020, 395), which is not compatible with "the day... when." See v. 10 for further discussion.

[121] See, for example, the LXX's καὶ and Jerome's et.

[122] Contra Fassberg 2019, §346.

[123] These read εἴδοσαν τὰ ἔργα μου and ܘܒܩܘ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ, respectively (cf. also εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου in Heb 3:9).

[124] "Yhwh’s 'deed' may be specifically the exodus or the Red Sea deliverance, or the word may be a collective for Yhwh’s deeds of deliverance and protection in general" (Goldingay 2006, 96).

[125] ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ; cf. de-Rossi (Variae Lectiones, vol. 4, 64).

[126] Walter et al. 1980, 112.

[127] Compare διὸ προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ⸀ταύτῃ and the LXX's προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ.

[128] Other evidence for this interpretation is found in Acts 7:36, speaking of Moses, through whom YHWH would have performed the works: "This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years (ἔτη τεσσεράκοντα)" (ESV). Nevertheless, the writer to the Hebrews was also aware of the MT and LXX's understanding of the syntax, when he later questions "And with whom was he provoked for forty years?" (3:17, ESV).

[129] After the spies disheartened the people due to their lack of faith, YHWH promised that the entire generation would wander the wilderness for forty years (Num 14:21-23). Despite YHWH's oath, the people tried to enter anyway, to their own peril (Num 14:29-35).

[130] SDBH defines it as "to experience a deep loathing for a person or condition." The LXX has προσώχθισα, from προσοχθίζω "be wroth" (LSJ, 1522), while Aquila and Symmachus read δυσηρεστήθην, from δυσαρεστέω "be displeased, annoyed" (CGL vol 1, 399; cf. LSJ, 454). TgPs has מאסית "I loathed," while Syr. reads ܡܐܢܬ ܠܝ "I was weary of."

[131] The past time context has led the LXX (προσώχθισα) and both Aquila and Symmachus (δυσηρεστήθην) to translate with aorists, and TgPs to employ a suffix conjugation (מאסית), as, also the Syr., with its impersonal ܡܐܢܬ ܠܝ "it was wearisome to me.

[132] See Lambert 1898.

[133] Delitzsch 1877, 88.

[134] Ḥakham 1979, 201.

[135] These read τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ "that generation" (LXX); ܒܕܪܐ ܗܘ "that generation" (Peshitta); τῇ γενεᾷ ⸀ταύτῃ "this generation" (Heb 3:10); generatio illa "that generation" (Jerome); דרא דמדברא "the generation which was in the wilderness" (TgPs). Similarly, Saadia provides only the definite article: ארבעין סנה אסתצגרת באלג׳יל, rendered by Qafaḥ as ארבעים שנה הקטנתי את הדור (Qafaḥ 1965, 217).

[136] The construct chain תֹּעֵי לֵבָב has a semantic relation of characteristic-specification, i.e., going astray [with regard to] their heart = thoughts/affections. See, similarly Isaiah 29:24: וְיָדְעוּ תֹעֵי־רוּחַ בִּינָה ("And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding," ESV). This interpretation is reflected in the NET, "These people desire to go astray" (cf. the CSB: "They are a people whose hearts go astray"). Likewise, the following paraphrases are illustrative: עמא דטעותא בלבהון "a people in whose heart is error" (TgPs); ܥܡܐ ܗܘ ܕܛܥܐ ܠܒܗܘܢ "it is a people whose heart goes astray" (Syr.). Ḥakham, similarly, paraphrases, הם עם שׁלבבם תועה "they are a people whose heart goes astray" (1979, 201).

[137] It reads Ἀεὶ "always."

[138] See VTH vol. 4, 391.

[139] Instead of עַד, Barthélemy et al. (2005, 671) actually suggest עֹלָם as the LXX's Vorlage.

[140] Cf. the Peshitta's ܐܝܟ ܕ and Christian Palestinian Aramaic ܗܝܟ ܕ, both of which perhaps reflect the LXX's ὡς.

[141] So Holmstedt (2016, 233). This is also the most probable reading of the LXX's ὡς (see Smyth 1956, §2193; cf. Vul. ut).

[142] Alternatively "unto whom" (KJV).

[143] Conklin 2011, 37-41.

[144] Compare Jerome (Hebr.) and the Peshitta, which render the introduction of the oath as ut non introirent and ܕܠܐ ܢܥܠܘܢ "so that ... not." In light of the instances of שׁבע with complementizer כִּי (see, e.g., Josh 2:12; 2 Sam 3:9; 1 Kgs 1:17; Jer 22:5; 49:13; Amos 4:2) or the quotative frame לֵאמֹר (see, e.g., 1 Kgs 1:13, 30), however, the interpretation of the final clause as direct speech is preferred.

[145] Meier 1992, 201.

[146] See also Targum Psalms and the Christian Palestinian Aramaic versions of our present verse: אם יעלון לנייח בית מקדשי "they should not come into the rest of the house of my sanctuary" (Stec 2004, 179); ܐܢ ܝܥܘܠܘܢ ܠܒܝܬ ܢܝܚܝ "if they will enter the house of my rest."

[147] Prinsloo 1995, 405.

[148] The Hebrew text comes from Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, which presents the text of the Leningrad Codex (the Masoretic text). The English text is our own "Close-but-clear" translation (CBC). The CBC is a “wooden” translation that exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text. It is essentially an interlinear that has been put into English word-order. It is also similar to a “back-translation” (of the Hebrew) often used in Bible translation checking. It is important to remember that the CBC is not intended to be a stand-alone translation, but is rather a tool for using the Layer by Layer materials. The CBC is used as the primary display text (along with the Hebrew) for most analytical visualisations. It is also used as the display text for most videos.

[149] A legend for the expanded paraphrase is available near the bottom of this page, in the section titled "Legends."

[150] Legends for both the grammatical diagram and the shapes and colours on the grammatical diagram are available near the bottom of this page, in the section titled "Legends."

[151] The liturgical flavor of these psalms and overt lexical mention of YHWH reigning is most evident in Psalms 93, 95, 96, 98, 100 (Hossfeld 2005, 450). Indeed, the lexical and thematic parallels with Psalm 100 are quite transparent (see Schniedewind 1995).

[152] Nevertheless, since Moses is the last mentioned author in Psalm 90 and another author is not mentioned until David in Psalm 101, a number of traditions hold that Moses is the author of Psalms 90–100, ranging from representatives of both Rabbinic Judaism (e.g., Rashi on Ps 90:1) and Karaites (e.g., Yefet Ben ʿAli; see Simon 1991, 85), and approved of by Church Fathers (see, e.g., Jerome's Homily on Ps 90).

[153] Since, "by recounting the rebellious actions of the earlier generation the speaker calls into question the sincerity of the present generation" (Savran 2003, 29). Further, the psalm "could also serve to explain to the post-exilic generation why the exile and loss of land took place" (Prinsloo 1995, 407). Hezekiah's period is a possible chronological provenance. His reminder seems to accommodate both possible readings of "rest": "Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the LORD. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 If you return to the LORD, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him." (2 Chr 30:8-9, NIV).

[154] While some scholarship considers the psalm's two major sections to be determined by the "prophetic" turn in v. 7c (see, e.g., Howard 1997, 53-54; Fokkelman 2003, 184), van der Lugt's (2014, 62) approach reflects our observations here and understands the two imperatives in vv. 1 and 6 to represent the beginning of the psalm's two sections. See the discussion in van der Lugt (2014, 66-69), which he prefaces as follows: "Mesmerized by the special character of vv. 8–11, exegetes generally take v. 7d as an independent colon introducing the divine speech ... I will argue that the main caesura in Psalm 95 is not to be found after v. 7c, but after v. 5. At the same time, there are no compelling reasons to separate v. 7d from the preceding strophe" (2014, 6). Further, we are in full agreement with his conclusion: "The bipartite structure of Psalm 95 is not based on the difference between a ‘hymn’ and an ‘oracle’, but between God as the Lord above the gods (vv. 1–5) and God as the Shepherd of the people of Israel (vv. 6–11), between ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’" (2014, 68).

[155] For full discussion, see Braulik 1986.

[156] See, for example, Genesis 37:20, 27; Judges 19:11, 13; 1 Samuel 9:5, 9; 11:14; 14:1, 6; 20:11; 2 Kings 7:4, 9; Isaiah 1:18; 2:3, 5; Jeremiah 18:18; 48:2; Hosea 6:1; Jonah 1:17; Micah 4:2; Psalm 83:5; Nehemiah 2:17; 6:2, 7.

[157] The final section of the psalm (vv. 7c-11) warns the people of irreverent worship today based on the ancestors' failures in putting YHWH to the test in the past, at the waters of Meribah/Massah (see v. 8). There, immediately following the Exodus, the people grumbled against Moses in the wilderness as they asked for water, and "tested the Lord saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'" (Exod 17:7, NIV). That entire episode was characterized by the rock: "I will stand there before you by the rock (הַצּוּר) at Horeb. Strike the rock (בַצּוּר), and water will come out of it for the people to drink" (Exod 17:6, NIV). Although "rock" (צוּר) is a common title for YHWH throughout the Bible, including the Psalms, it takes on a special significance and irony in Psalm 95. The opening reference to YHWH as "the rock of our salvation" highlights the irony in that, though their ancestors questioned "Is the Lord among us or not?" (Exod 17:7), the Lord does not reject their descendants, but invites them to trust him and enter the rest of his presence (v. 11b).

[158] See BHRG §39.6.(3e) and (4), respectively.

[159] Ḥakham paraphrases: "let us come to him and in our hands is an offering of thanksgiving and in our mouths is a song of thanksgiving" (1979, 198; נבוא אליו ובידינו קרבן תודה ובפינו שׁיר תודה).

[160] Atkinson 2026b, 127.

[161] See, however, the continuation of subjunctives in the LXX (ἀλαλάξωμεν), Symmachus (σημάνωμεν) and Jerome Hebr. (iubilemus). Nevertheless, the Masoretic tradition across both Tiberian and Babylonian manuscripts is quite consistent in intentionally lacking the he.

[162] See GKC §133i; cf. Mena 2012, 87. For the alternative relative clause, see the Peshitta's "a king who is great over all gods" (ܡܠܟܐ ܕܪܒ ܥܠ ܟܠܗܘܢ ܐ̈ܠܗܐ).

[163] See Mena 2012, 85-87 for discussion.

[164] Compare the מִן of comparison in Exodus 18:11 עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֔עְתִּי כִּֽי־גָד֥וֹל יְהוָ֖ה מִכָּל־הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods" (NIV).

[165] See the similar idea expressed in the New Testament: "even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God" (1 Cor 8:5-6, NIV).

[166] As evident in the other ancient versions, the LXX's rendering of אֲשֶׁר with causal ὅτι (NETS: "because in his hand are..."), while not impossible, is not necessary. Indeed, both Aquila and Symmachus have οὗ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ "in whose hand...", resuming "a God" from the previous verse, i.e., drawing attention to a particular feature of God, the noun that is being modified.

[167] For the alternative emendation of plural "hands" in place of the MT's "hand," see the Syr. ܐ̈ܝܕܘܗܝ.

[168] Lu (2025, 11 n. 45) suggests texts such as the following list deities, rather than simply landforms: "the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear" (Hab 3:10, NIV). See, however, similar phraseology in Psalm 77:17, which refers to the Reed Sea after the Exodus event: "The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed" (NIV). See further Job 38:16: "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?" (NIV; הֲבָאתָ עַד־נִבְכֵי־יָם וּבְחֵקֶר תְּהוֹם הִתְהַלָּכְתָּ).

[169] The ancient versions have τὰ ὕψη (LXX), excelsa (Jerome's Hebr.); ܪܘܡܐ (Syr.) "the heights" and תוקפי רום (TgPs) "the mighty heights."

[170] Compare Proverbs 25:3: "As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable" (NIV).

[171] Although the lexeme יַבֶּשֶׁת only occurs here and in Exodus 4:9 in the Bible, it is unambiguously derived from the common root √יבשׁ, "be dry." The more typical form for "dry land" is יַבָּשָׁה (as read also in 4Q94 of our present text), though the context both here and in Exodus 4:9 show יַבֶּשֶׁת simply to be a by-form with the same sense.

[172] The clause וְהוּא עָשָׂהוּ is subject-fronted in order to function as an explanatory thetic (see Sasse 2006, Atkinson 2026b), since it grounds the previous clause.

[173] See also Watson 1986, 128-144. Furthermore, Jerome’s iuxta Hebraeos supports the parenthetical reading as it provides the conjunction "for" (enim fecit illud), indicating a semantically non-at-issue remark with a speech act of justification, rather than the assertion of the host sentence.

[174] See Tsumura 2023, 53. In Psalm 18:42, however, the x’ (וְלֹ֣א עָנָם) is waw-conjoined, whereas here the parallel relationship is not as explicit, ידיו יצרו lacking a conjunction. Psalm 18:42 reads יְשַׁוְּעוּ וְאֵין־מוֹשִׁיעַ עַל־יְהוָה וְלֹא עָנָם׃, which could be interpreted as They cry out—but there is no one rescuing—to YHWH, but he does not answer them. See further Atkinson 2025.

[175] As in v. 1; see the second-person imperatives in Psalms 34:12; 46:9; 66:5, 16, and the first-person cohortative following—as in the present instance—in Psalm 83:5.

[176] See, however, 1 Kings 20:33; 2 Kings 10:25; Ezekiel 33:30; Joel 1:13; 4:13, and the first-person cohortative in Jeremiah 35:11; 50:5; 51:10.

[177] Note that the LXX reads "and let us weep before the Lord" (NETS; καὶ κλαύσωμεν ἐναντίον κυρίου) for the MT's let us kneel down נִבְרְכָה, apparently mistakenly overlooking the resh and reading נִבְכֶּה. The Peshitta seems to have read the correct letters, but has mistaken the root "kneel down" for "bless" (ܘܢܒܪܟܝܘܗܝ ܠܡܪܝܐ "and let us bless the Lord").

[178] Further structuring the psalm's two halves is the assonance between the final words of vv. 1 and 6, יִשְׁעֵנוּ (yish’enu) and עֹשֵֽנוּ (osenu), respectively.

[179] Compare the very similar formulation in Psalms 79:13 and 100:3 (assimilation to which has probably brought about the textual variant in the Peshitta, "for he is our God; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture," Taylor 2020, 395): דְּעוּ כִּי־יְהוָה הוּא אֱלֹהִים הוּא־עָשָׂנוּ (ולא) וְלוֹ אֲנַחְנוּ עַמּוֹ וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתוֹ׃.

[180] Adapted from Schniedewind 1995, 546-547.

[181] Our preferred interpretation of the clause הַיּוֹם אִם־בְּקֹלוֹ תִשְׁמָעוּ involves הַיּוֹם as a sentence adverb (see the full treatment of sentence adverbs in Blau 1982), in similar manner to וְעַתָּה, as expressed explicitly by Ḥakham (1979, 200): "כלומר: עתה" "that is to say, now." The effect of this sentence adverb has been picked up in the rhetorical heart of the argument of the writer to the Hebrews: "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Heb 3:12–13, ESV). There is also a poetic motivation for using הַיּוֹם instead of the more frequent sentence adverb וְעַתָּה, as it contrasts with "the day of Massah" (כְּיוֹם מַסָּה) in v. 8 (see Poetic Structure).

[182] Le sens du psaume se dégage justement de cette rupture [v. 7c] dans le texte (van Petegem 2008, 237).

[183] Prinsloo 1995, 403.

[184] So also GKC §151eAposiopesis is defined as a “Lapse into silence before the construction of a sentence is completed” (Matthews 2014). While the syntactic characteristic simply involves ‘an unfinished sentence’, the rhetorical motivations vary. See further Atkinson, 2026a.

[185] Si hoy escuchan ustedes mi voz. See also Briggs & Briggs 1906-7, 295.

[186] For the modality of agent-oriented desire in the protasis of the conditional, see Khan (forthcoming, "Yiqṭol," 147; cf. IBHS §31.4h), in which case the protasis and apodosis often contain similar semantics, so there is no tautology involved. For similar examples, cf. "But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it" (Judg 13:16, NET); "If you want to take it for yourself, then take it" (1 Sam 21:10, CSB); "If you want to ask, ask" (Isa 21:12, NET); "Israel, if you want to come back, then come back to me" (Jer 4:1, ERV); "if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you" (Ruth 3:13, NIV); "If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so" (Ruth 4:4, NET).

[187] See van der Merwe 2025, 85-87.

[188] The LXX translates the phrase according to their etymological sense: ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ ... κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ "as at the embittering ... like the day of the trial" (NETS). Likewise, Jerome (Hebr.) renders sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis "like in the conflict, like the day of trial"; TgPs היך במצותא היך יומא דנסיתון אלהא "as at Strife, as in the day when you tested God" (Stec 2004, 179); Syr. ܐܝܟ ܡܡܪ̈ܡܪܢܐ ܘܐܝܟ ܝܘܡܐ ܕܢܣܝܘܢܐ "like the rebellious and like the day of testing" (Taylor 2020, 395).

[189] See VTH: vol 4, 391. They have perhaps understood מְרִיבָה as its abstract sense (cf. Gen 13:8; Num 27:14), rather than the proper name it came to attain, so "with strife."

[190] So JM §133h: "After כְּ the expected preposition is often omitted" (cf. Isa 28:21, among other examples cited there). On the other hand, we occasionally find the preposition בְּ intended to communicate both comparative כְּ and locative בְּ, as in בְּחַרְבֹנֵי קַיִץ "as in the heat of summer" (NIV).

[191] See, also, the LXX "as at the embittering" (NETS, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ); Jerome's Hebr. sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis "as in the strife, as in the day of temptation" and TgPs, היך במצותא "as at Strife" (Stec 2004, 179). The other clause of TgPs and the entire verse of the Syr. employ a paraphrastic approach. Saadia's rendering is equally illuminating: כמא כאן פי ד׳את אלכ׳צומה וד׳את אלמחנה פי אלבר "as it was/happened in Meribah and in Massah in the desert" (Qafaḥ 1965, 216). In Modern Hebrew, this combination can be communicated by the combination of both כְּ and בְּ, which is precisely what we read in HaEdut: כמו במְרִיבָה, כמו ביום שהייתם במַסָה.

[192] So Ḥakham 1979, 200.

[193] οὗ ἐπείρασαν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν and ubi temptaverunt me patres vestri, respectively.

[194] Not only is the locative reading explicit in these ancient versions, but it is supported by the possible interpretation of "forty years" as modifying בְּחָנוּנִי גַּם־רָאוּ פָעֳלִי׃ in the Syr.: ܘܒܩܘ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ "They tried me and saw my works for forty years" (Taylor 2020, 395), which is not compatible with "the day... when." See v. 10 for further discussion.

[195] See, for example, the LXX's καὶ and Jerome's et.

[196] Contra Fassberg 2019, §346.

[197] These read εἴδοσαν τὰ ἔργα μου and ܘܒܩܘ ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ, respectively (cf. also εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου in Heb 3:9).

[198] "Yhwh’s 'deed' may be specifically the exodus or the Red Sea deliverance, or the word may be a collective for Yhwh’s deeds of deliverance and protection in general" (Goldingay 2006, 96).

[199] ܚܙܘ ܥܒ̈ܕܝ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܫܢܝ̈ܢ; cf. de-Rossi (Variae Lectiones, vol. 4, 64).

[200] Walter et al. 1980, 112.

[201] Compare διὸ προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ⸀ταύτῃ and the LXX's προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ.

[202] Other evidence for this interpretation is found in Acts 7:36, speaking of Moses, through whom YHWH would have performed the works: "This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years (ἔτη τεσσεράκοντα)" (ESV). Nevertheless, the writer to the Hebrews was also aware of the MT and LXX's understanding of the syntax, when he later questions "And with whom was he provoked for forty years?" (3:17, ESV).

[203] After the spies disheartened the people due to their lack of faith, YHWH promised that the entire generation would wander the wilderness for forty years (Num 14:21-23). Despite YHWH's oath, the people tried to enter anyway, to their own peril (Num 14:29-35).

[204] SDBH defines it as "to experience a deep loathing for a person or condition." The LXX has προσώχθισα, from προσοχθίζω "be wroth" (LSJ, 1522), while Aquila and Symmachus read δυσηρεστήθην, from δυσαρεστέω "be displeased, annoyed" (CGL vol 1, 399; cf. LSJ, 454). TgPs has מאסית "I loathed," while Syr. reads ܡܐܢܬ ܠܝ "I was weary of."

[205] The past time context has led the LXX (προσώχθισα) and both Aquila and Symmachus (δυσηρεστήθην) to translate with aorists, and TgPs to employ a suffix conjugation (מאסית), as, also the Syr., with its impersonal ܡܐܢܬ ܠܝ "it was wearisome to me.

[206] See Lambert 1898.

[207] Delitzsch 1877, 88.

[208] Ḥakham 1979, 201.

[209] These read τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ "that generation" (LXX); ܒܕܪܐ ܗܘ "that generation" (Peshitta); τῇ γενεᾷ ⸀ταύτῃ "this generation" (Heb 3:10); generatio illa "that generation" (Jerome); דרא דמדברא "the generation which was in the wilderness" (TgPs). Similarly, Saadia provides only the definite article: ארבעין סנה אסתצגרת באלג׳יל, rendered by Qafaḥ as ארבעים שנה הקטנתי את הדור (Qafaḥ 1965, 217).

[210] The construct chain תֹּעֵי לֵבָב has a semantic relation of characteristic-specification, i.e., going astray [with regard to] their heart = thoughts/affections. See, similarly Isaiah 29:24: וְיָדְעוּ תֹעֵי־רוּחַ בִּינָה ("And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding," ESV). This interpretation is reflected in the NET, "These people desire to go astray" (cf. the CSB: "They are a people whose hearts go astray"). Likewise, the following paraphrases are illustrative: עמא דטעותא בלבהון "a people in whose heart is error" (TgPs); ܥܡܐ ܗܘ ܕܛܥܐ ܠܒܗܘܢ "it is a people whose heart goes astray" (Syr.). Ḥakham, similarly, paraphrases, הם עם שׁלבבם תועה "they are a people whose heart goes astray" (1979, 201).

[211] It reads Ἀεὶ "always."

[212] See VTH vol. 4, 391.

[213] Instead of עַד, Barthélemy et al. (2005, 671) actually suggest עֹלָם as the LXX's Vorlage.

[214] Cf. the Peshitta's ܐܝܟ ܕ and Christian Palestinian Aramaic ܗܝܟ ܕ, both of which perhaps reflect the LXX's ὡς.

[215] So Holmstedt (2016, 233). This is also the most probable reading of the LXX's ὡς (see Smyth 1956, §2193; cf. Vul. ut).

[216] Alternatively "unto whom" (KJV).

[217] Conklin 2011, 37-41.

[218] Compare Jerome (Hebr.) and the Peshitta, which render the introduction of the oath as ut non introirent and ܕܠܐ ܢܥܠܘܢ "so that ... not." In light of the instances of שׁבע with complementizer כִּי (see, e.g., Josh 2:12; 2 Sam 3:9; 1 Kgs 1:17; Jer 22:5; 49:13; Amos 4:2) or the quotative frame לֵאמֹר (see, e.g., 1 Kgs 1:13, 30), however, the interpretation of the final clause as direct speech is preferred.

[219] Meier 1992, 201.

[220] See also Targum Psalms and the Christian Palestinian Aramaic versions of our present verse: אם יעלון לנייח בית מקדשי "they should not come into the rest of the house of my sanctuary" (Stec 2004, 179); ܐܢ ܝܥܘܠܘܢ ܠܒܝܬ ܢܝܚܝ "if they will enter the house of my rest."

[221] Prinsloo 1995, 405.