Psalms 107:21
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he rescued them from the pits where they
were trapped.
107:21 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done
for people!
107:22 Let them present thank offerings,
and loudly proclaim what he has done!
107:23 Some traveled on the sea in
ships,
and carried cargo over the vast waters.
107:24 They witnessed the acts of the
Lord,
his amazing feats on the deep water.
107:25 He gave the order for a wind-
storm,
and it stirred up the waves of the sea.
107:26 They reached up to the sky,
then dropped into the depths.
The sailors’ strength10 left them11 because
the danger was so great.12
107:27 They swayed13 and staggered like
a drunk,
and all their skill proved ineffective.14
107:28 They cried out to the Lord in their
distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
107:29 He calmed the storm,15
and the waves16 grew silent.
 tn Heb “he rescued from their traps.” The Hebrew word
‫( ׁ ְש ִחית‬shekhit, “trap”) occurs only here and in Lam 4:20,
where it refers to a trap or pit in which one is captured. Be-
cause of the rarity of the term and the absence of an object
with the verb “rescued,” some prefer to emend the text of Ps
107:20, reading ‫( ִמ ׁ ַש ַחת ַח ּי ָָתם‬mishakhat khayyatam, “[he res-
cued] their lives from the pit”). Note also NIV “from the grave,”
which interprets the “pit” as Sheol or the grave.
 tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of
man.” See v. 8.
 tn Heb “and let them proclaim his works with a ringing
cry.”
 sn Verses 23-30, which depict the Lord rescuing sailors
from a storm at sea, do not seem to describe the exiles’ situ-
ation, unless the word picture is metaphorical. Perhaps the
psalmist here broadens his scope and offers an example of
God’s kindness to the needy beyond the covenant commu-
nity.
 tn Heb “those going down [into].”
 tn Heb “doers of work on the mighty waters.”
 tn Heb “he spoke and caused to stand a stormy wind.”
 tn Heb “and it stirred up its [i.e., the sea’s, see v. 23]
waves.”
 tn That is, the waves (see v. 25).
10 tn Heb “their being”; traditionally “their soul” (referring
to that of the sailors). This is sometimes translated “courage”
(cf. NIV, NRSV).
11 tn Or “melted.”
12 tn Heb “from danger.”
13 tn Only here does the Hebrew verb ‫( ָחגַג‬khagag; normally
meaning “to celebrate”) carry the nuance “to sway.”
14 tn The Hitpael of ‫( ָבלַ ע‬vala’) occurs only here in the OT.
Traditionally the form is derived from the verbal root ‫“( בלע‬to
swallow”), but HALOT 135 s.v. III ‫ בלע‬understands a homonym
here with the meaning “to be confused.”
15 tn Heb “he raised [the] storm to calm.”
16 tn Heb “their waves.” The antecedent of the third mascu-
line plural pronominal suffix is not readily apparent, unless it
refers back to “waters” in v. 23.
107:30 The sailors17 rejoiced because the
waves18 grew quiet,
and he led them to the harbor19 they desired.
107:31 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done
for people!20
107:32 Let them exalt him in the assembly
of the people!
Let them praise him in the place where
the leaders preside!21
107:33 He turned22 streams into a desert,
springs of water into arid land,
107:34 and a fruitful land into a barren
place,23
because of the sin of its inhabitants.
107:35 As for his people,24 he turned25 a
desert into a pool of water,
and a dry land into springs of water.
107:36 He allowed the hungry to settle there,
and they established a city in which to live.
107:37 They cultivated26 fields,
and planted vineyards,
which yielded a harvest of fruit.27
107:38 He blessed28 them so that they be-
came very numerous.
He would not allow their cattle to de-
crease in number.29
17 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the sailors) has been speci-
fied in the translation for clarity.
18 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the waves) has been specified
in the translation for clarity.
19 tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT.
20 tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.”
See v. 8.
21 tn Heb “in the seat of the elders.”
22 tn The verbal form appears to be a preterite, which is most
naturally taken as narrational. (The use of prefixed forms with
vav [‫ ]ו‬consecutive in vv. 36-37 favor this.) The psalmist may
return to the theme of God’s intervention for the exiles (see
vv. 4-22, especially vv. 4-9). However, many regard vv. 33-41
as a hymnic description which generalizes about God’s activi-
ties among men. In this case it would be preferable to use the
English present tense throughout (cf. NEB, NRSV).
23 tn Heb “a salty land.”
24 tn The words “As for his people” are not included in the
Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for the
sake of clarity. The psalmist contrasts God’s judgment on his
enemies with his blessing of his people. See the note on the
word “enemies” in v. 39 for further discussion.
25 tn The verbal form appears to be a preterite, which is
most naturally taken as narrational. See the note on the word
“turned” in v. 33.
26 tn Heb “sowed seed in.”
27 tn Heb “fruit [as] produce.”
28 tn “Bless” here carries the nuance “endue with sexual
potency, make fertile.” See Gen 1:28, where the statement
“he blessed them” directly precedes the command “be fruit-
ful and populate the earth” (see also 1:22). The verb “bless”
carries this same nuance in Gen 17:16 (where God’s blessing
of Sarai imparts to her the capacity to bear a child); 48:16
(where God’s blessing of Joseph’s sons is closely associated
with their having numerous descendants); and Deut 7:13
(where God’s blessing is associated with fertility in general, in-
cluding numerous descendants). See also Gen 49:25 (where
Jacob uses the noun derivative in referring to “blessings of
the breast and womb,” an obvious reference to fertility) and
Gen 27:27 (where the verb is used of a field to which God has
given the capacity to produce vegetation).
29 tn The verbal form in this line appears to be an imperfect,
which may be taken as customary (drawing attention to typi-