Psalms 105:17
1034
105:17 He sent a man ahead of them – 
Joseph was sold as a servant.
105:18 The shackles hurt his feet;
his neck was placed in an iron collar,
105:19 until the time when his prediction
came true.
The Lord’s word proved him right.
105:20 The king authorized his release;
the ruler of nations set him free.
105:21 He put him in charge of his palace,
and made him manager of all his property,
105:22 giving him authority to imprison
his officials
and to teach his advisers.10
105:23 Israel moved to11 Egypt;
Jacob lived for a time12 in the land of Ham.
105:24 The Lord13 made his people very
fruitful,
and made them14 more numerous than
their15 enemies.
105:25 He caused them16 to hate his people,
and to mistreat17 his servants.
105:26 He sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
105:27 They executed his miraculous signs
among them,18
and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.
105:28 He made it dark;19
they did not disobey his orders.20
105:29 He turned their water into blood,
and killed their fish.
 tn After the reference to the famine in v. 16, v. 17 flashes
back to events that preceded the famine (see Gen 37).
 tn Heb “they afflicted his feet with shackles.”
 tn Heb “his neck came [into] iron.” The Hebrew term ‫נֶפֶ ׁש‬
(nefesh) with the suffix could mean simply “he” or “his life.”
But the nuance “neck” makes good sense here (note the
reference to his “feet” in the preceding line). See L. C. Allen,
Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 38.
 tn Heb “word,” probably referring to Joseph’s prediction
about the fate of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker (see Gen
41:9-14).
 tn This line may refer to Joseph’s prediction of the fam-
ine in response to Pharaoh’s dream. Joseph emphasized to
Pharaoh that the interpretation of the dream came from God
(see Gen 41:16, 25, 28, 32, 39).
 tn Heb “refined him.”
 tn Heb “[the] king sent and set him free.”
 tn Heb “he made him master of his house.”
 tn Heb “to bind his officials by his will.”
10 tn Heb “and his elders he taught wisdom.”
11 tn Heb “entered.”
12 tn Heb “lived as a resident foreigner.”
13 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been speci-
fied in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “him,” referring to “his people.”
15 tn Heb “his,” referring to “his people.”
16 tn Heb “their heart.”
17 tn Or “to deal deceptively.” The Hitpael of ‫( נָכַ ל‬nakhal) oc-
curs only here and in Gen 37:18, where it is used of Joseph’s
brothers “plotting” to kill him.
18 tn Apparently the pronoun refers to “his servants” (i.e.,
the Israelites, see v. 25).
19 tn Heb “he sent darkness and made it dark.”
sn He made it dark. The psalmist begins with the ninth
plague (see Exod 10:21-29).
20 tn Heb “they did not rebel against his words.” Apparently
this refers to Moses and Aaron, who obediently carried out
God’s orders.
105:30 Their land was overrun by frogs,
which even got into the rooms of their
kings.
105:31 He ordered flies to come;21
gnats invaded their whole territory.
105:32 He sent hail along with the rain;22
there was lightning in their land.23
105:33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees,
and broke the trees throughout their ter-
ritory.
105:34 He ordered locusts to come,24
innumerable grasshoppers.
105:35 They ate all the vegetation in their
land,
and devoured the crops of their fields.25
105:36 He struck down all the firstborn in
their land,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power.26
105:37 He brought his people27 out en-
riched28 with silver and gold;
none of his tribes stumbled.
105:38 Egypt was happy when they left,
for they were afraid of them.29
105:39 He spread out a cloud for a cover,30
and provided a fire to light up the night.
105:40 They asked for food,31 and he sent
quails;
he satisfied them with food from the sky.32
105:41 He opened up a rock and water
flowed out;
a river ran through dry regions.
105:42 Yes,33 he remembered the sacred
promise34
he made to Abraham his servant.
105:43 When he led his people out, they
rejoiced;
his chosen ones shouted with joy.35
105:44 He handed the territory of nations
over to them,
21 tn Heb “he spoke and flies came.”
22 tn Heb “he gave their rains hail.”
23 tn Heb “fire of flames [was] in their land.”
24 tn Heb “he spoke and locusts came.”
25 tn Heb “the fruit of their ground.”
26 tn Heb “the beginning of all their strength,” that is, repro-
ductive power (see Ps 78:51).
sn Verses 28-36 recall the plagues in a different order than
the one presented in Exodus: v. 28 (plague 9), v. 29 (plague
1), v. 30 (plague 2), v. 31a (plague 4), v. 31b (plague 3), vv.
32-33 (plague 7), vv. 34-35 (plague 8), v. 36 (plague 10). No
reference is made in Ps 105 to plagues 5 and 6.
27 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Lord’s people) has been
supplied in the translation for clarity.
28 tn The word “enriched” is supplied in the translation for
clarification and for stylistic reasons.
29 tn Heb “for fear of them had fallen upon them.”
30 tn Or “curtain.”
31 tn Heb “he [i.e., his people] asked.” The singular form
should probably be emended to a plural ּ‫( ׁ ָשאֲ לו‬sha’alu, “they
asked”), the vav (‫ )ו‬having fallen off by haplography (note the
vav at the beginning of the following form).
32 tn Or “bread of heaven.” The reference is to manna (see
Exod 16:4, 13-15).
33 tn Or “for.”
34 tn Heb “his holy word.”
35 tn Heb “and he led his people out with joy, with a ringing
cry, his chosen ones.”