Psa 74:5-6 | NET2full | STEP | They invade like lumberjacks swinging their axes in a thick forest .

‏ Psalms 74:5-6

5 They invade like lumberjacks
swinging their axes in a thick forest. ^{▼▼tn Heb “it is known like one bringing upwards, in a thicket of wood, axes.” The Babylonian invaders destroyed the woodwork in the temple.}
6 And now ^{▼▼tn This is the reading of the Qere (marginal reading). The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and a time.”} they are tearing down ^{▼▼tn The imperfect verbal form vividly describes the act as underway.} all its engravings ^{▼▼tn Heb “its engravings together.”}
with axes ^{▼▼tn This Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49-50).} and crowbars. ^{▼▼tn This Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. An Akkadian cognate refers to a “pickaxe” (cf. NEB “hatchet and pick”; NIV “axes and hatchets”; NRSV “hatchets and hammers”).}