Once more the psalmist stresses the fickleness, the faithlessness, of the Hebrews. They rebelled against him (see verse 17b) and tested him (see verse 18a); they grieved him and provoked him. The latter verb occurs only here in the Old Testament; Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, and New English Bible have provoked (which connotes anger, not grief); New Jerusalem Bible “vexed”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, New International Version, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “grieved”; Bible en français courant “offended.” It seems that the idea of sadness is the one intended. They rebelled against him is sometimes rendered idiomatically as “they made their hearts hard against God” or “they said ‘No’ to God.”

In verse 40 Good News Translation has used the one word “desert” for the two synonymous words in lines a and b, wilderness and desert.

For comments on the Holy One of Israel, see 71.22.

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 .