Psalms 124

If the LORD had not been on our side, let Israel say it now

1If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;

Note"LORD" in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew letters (YHWH) that Jewish readers did not pronounce aloud; where the text says "Lord" in ordinary letters, a different word meaning "master" is being used. "Israel" here means the nation as a whole, speaking as one voice, the line invites the assembled congregation to repeat the words that follow, so the psalm was probably sung antiphonally, a leader calling and the people answering.

2if the LORD had not been on our side when people rose up to attack us,

2If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

3then they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger blazed against us.

3Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

Note"Swallowed us alive" is a single vivid Hebrew image with two everyday sources: a beast gulping down prey whole, and the ground opening to take people down still living. The point is not being killed first and consumed after, but disappearing entirely and at once.

4Then the water would have covered us, and the rushing stream would have swept over us.

4Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:

NoteThe King James "the stream had gone over our soul" uses "soul" for the Hebrew *nephesh*, which means a person's life or self, sometimes the throat or neck, not an immaterial part separate from the body. "Gone over our soul" is closer to "risen over our neck," i.e. in over our heads. The flood picture was concrete for the first hearers: watercourses in that country lie dry most of the year and fill without warning after rain, sweeping away anything in the channel.

5Then the raging water would have swept right over us.

5Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

Note"The proud waters" does not mean arrogant. In 1611 "proud" could describe water that is swollen, surging and high, a raging torrent, not a haughty one.

6Give praise to the LORD, who did not let us be torn apart like an animal caught in their teeth.

6Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

Note"Blessed be the LORD" does not mean the speaker confers a benefit on God. When people bless God the word means to praise or thank him; when God blesses people it means he gives them good. The same Hebrew verb runs both directions.

7We got away like a bird out of a bird trapper's net. The net tore open, and we got away.

7Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

NoteA fowler trapped birds for food and for sale, using a net staked flat on the ground and sprung shut, or a snare of cord. The bird has no way out on its own: the escape in this verse happens because the net itself tears, not because the bird is strong.

8Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth.

8Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Note"In the name of the LORD" is a Hebrew way of saying "in the LORD himself", a person's name stood for their identity, character and authority, so calling on the name is calling on the one who bears it, not using a formula of words.