In spite of God’s care and providence, the people still rebelled against him. Here the two basic themes are repeated: Israel has always been faithless, though God is always faithful. For the repeated accusation of rebellion, see verses 8, 40, 56.

Exodus 16.1-3 and Numbers 11.4-6 tell how the Hebrews rebelled in the desert against God and demanded food. In verse 17a it is better, with Good News Translation, New English Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, to translate “continued to sin” or “sinned again,” rather than sinned still more, which has the idea of a greater number of sins than before. For comments on the Most High, see 7.17. As in other cases of parallelism, it should be clear to the reader that him in verse 17a and the Most High in verse 17b are the same one.

They tested God: they demanded that he prove that he cared for them and was able and willing to provide for their needs. Good News Translation “deliberately” (also New Jerusalem Bible) translates in their heart. It is not that their sin was inward, hidden; rather, it was a conscious, deliberate act. See New International Version and New English Bible “wilfully”; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “consciously.”

The food they craved (verse 18b) translates “food for their nefesh”; here nefesh (see 3.2) has the meaning of craving, desire, appetite. New Jerusalem Bible, however, has “food for themselves.” Some languages have special terms for food cravings, depending on the desire for sweet, sour, salty, and other tastes. Here the most generic of these may be used.

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 .