Psalms 71:20

Thou which haat shewed us many and sore troubles,

Shalt quicken us again,

And shalt bring us up again from the depths of the earth.

So R.V., with marg. note, -Another reading is, me." The Kthîbhor written text (p. lxvii) has us; but the Qrç, or accepted reading of the Jewish textual tradition, is me. The latter reading is supported in the first line by all the Versions except Aquila: in the second and third lines the LXX and Syr. read me, Targ. and Jer. us. The plural, whether it is the original reading or not, points to the correct interpretation. The Psalmist's hopes are not merely personal; he speaks on behalf of the nation whose representative he is; he looks for its restoration from its present state of humiliation. It is as it were dead and sunk in the depths of Sheol, but God can and will recall it to life. Cp. Hosea 6:1-2; Ezekiel 37:12 ff.; Psalms 80:18: Psalms 85:6. Againhardly expresses the full meaning: lit. thou wilt turn, or, return(and) quicken us. Cp. Psalms 6:4; Psalms 80:14; Psalms 85:4; Isaiah 63:17.

the depths of the earth The -depths" denote (1) the vast masses of water stored away in the earth (Psalms 33:7), and hence (2) the subterranean abysses where Sheol was supposed to be situated. Cp. "the lower parts of the earth" (Psalms 63:9), and Job 26:5-6.