More of Israel’s calamities are cited as examples of God’s anger with his people. Verse 59 begins When God heard; Good News Translation substitutes “saw” as being less difficult for the reader (also Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). The main idea, in any case, is God’s awareness of what the Israelites were doing. New Jerusalem Bible has “God listened and…,” and Bible en français courant “When he became aware of this….”
The Hebrew full of wrath in verse 59a is the verb used in verses 21a, 62b. For comments on rejected see 15.4 (“despised”) and 53.5.
Shiloh was a city in the territory of the tribe of Ephraim, some 32 kilometers north of Jerusalem, where the Covenant Box was kept in the early days of Israel’s history (see Josh 18.1; 1 Sam 1.3). Verse 60b Good News Translation has “where he had lived among us”: the Hebrew word translated “us” is generic, ʾadam, “humankind, humanity,” but the reference is specifically to Israel, not to the human race as a whole (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). However, a translator may prefer to retain the idea of humankind and translate “the place where he had lived among human beings” or “the place where he had lived on earth.” New Jerusalem Bible avoids the problem by translating “the tent where he used to dwell on the earth.”
In verse 61 it is agreed that his power and his glory which God allowed to be taken captive refer to the Covenant Box, which the Philistines captured in battle (1 Sam 4.1-22). Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Bible en français courant name the Covenant Box; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says only “the symbol of his glory and power.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and New Jerusalem Bible have footnotes to indicate that the language refers to the Covenant Box. Glory here translates a word meaning “beauty, ornament” (see also comments at 71.8b). If the translator follows Good News Translation‘s “Covenant Box,” this expression may be rendered “the box that held God’s agreement with his people” or “the box containing the writing of the agreement between God and his people.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .