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Psalms

About this book
Psalm 105

1 Give thanks to the Lord. Call on his name. Make known his accomplishments among the nations. 2 Sing to him. Make music to him. Tell about all his miraculous deeds. 3 Boast about his holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 4 Seek the Lord and the strength he gives. Seek his presence continually. 5 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed, his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed, 6 O children of Abraham, God’s servant, you descendants of Jacob, God’s chosen ones. 7 He is the Lord our God; he carries out judgment throughout the earth. 8 He always remembers his covenantal decree, the promise he made to a thousand generations— 9 the promise he made to Abraham, the promise he made by oath to Isaac. 10 He gave it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as a lasting promise, 11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance.”⁠ 12 When they were few in number, just a very few, and resident foreigners within it, 13 they wandered from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another. 14 He let no one oppress them; he disciplined kings for their sake, 15 saying, “Don’t touch my chosen ones. Don’t harm my prophets.”⁠ 16 He called down a famine upon the earth; he cut off all the food supply. 17 He sent a man ahead of them—Joseph was sold as a servant.⁠ 18 The shackles hurt his feet; his neck was placed in an iron collar, 19 until the time when his prediction came true. The Lord’s word proved him right. 20 The king authorized his release; the ruler of nations set him free. 21 He put him in charge of his palace, and made him manager of all his property, 22 giving him authority to imprison his officials and to teach his advisers. 23 Israel moved to Egypt; Jacob lived for a time in the land of Ham. 24 The Lord made his people very fruitful and made them more numerous than their enemies. 25 He caused the Egyptians to hate his people and to mistreat his servants. 26 He sent his servant Moses, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27 They executed his miraculous signs among them and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham. 28 He made it dark; Moses and Aaron did not disobey his orders. 29 He turned the Egyptians’ water into blood and killed their fish. 30 Their land was overrun by frogs, which even got into the rooms of their kings.⁠ 31 He ordered flies to come; gnats invaded their whole territory. 32 He sent hail along with the rain; there was lightning in their land. 33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees and broke the trees throughout their territory. 34 He ordered locusts to come, innumerable grasshoppers. 35 They ate all the vegetation in their land and devoured the crops of their fields. 36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of their reproductive power. 37 He brought his people out enriched with silver and gold; none of his tribes stumbled. 38 Egypt was happy when they left, for they were afraid of them. 39 He spread out a cloud for a cover, and provided a fire to light up the night. 40 They asked for food, and he sent quail; he satisfied them with food from the sky.⁠ 41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out; a river ran through dry regions. 42 Yes, he remembered the sacred promise he made to Abraham his servant.⁠ 43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced; his chosen ones shouted with joy. 44 He handed the territory of nations over to them, and they took possession of what other peoples had produced, 45 so that they might keep his commands and obey his laws. Praise the Lord.

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 2:24 and Psalm 105:42

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Exodus describes God hearing Israel’s groaning in Egypt and remembering the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which is why he rescues them. Psalm 105 echoes this, describing how God remembered the covenant when acting in Israel’s history.

Passages

Exodus 2:24

Hebrew Bible
22 When she bore a son, Moses named him Gershom, for he said, “I have become a resident foreigner in a foreign land.” 23 During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning; God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the Israelites, and God understood.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Psalm 105:42

Hebrew Bible
40 They asked for food, and he sent quail; he satisfied them with food from the sky. 41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out; a river ran through dry regions. 42 Yes, he remembered the sacred promise he made to Abraham his servant. 43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced; his chosen ones shouted with joy. 44 He handed the territory of nations over to them, and they took possession of what other peoples had produced,
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... Baruch has an explanation for God’s compassion ... Tears and weeping are often mentioned in connection with the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile. Baruch’s appeal to the covenant with the forefathers is conventional in three ways. First, the expression, “the covenant he established with our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” is a variation of a well-known if not precisely fixed formula; see Exodus 2:24; Deuteronomy 9:5; LXX 4 Kings 13:23; 2 Maccabees 1:2. Second, references to God “remembering” a covenant are numerous in the literature. (Compare Genesis 9:15–16; Exodus 2:24; 6:5; Leviticus 26:42, 45; Psalm 105:8; 106:45; Ezekiel 16:60; CD 6:2; 4Q370 1:7; 4Q509 fragments 97–98 7; 1 Maccabees 4:10; 2 Maccabees 1:2; Testament of Moses 3:9; Philo Biblical Antiquities 19:2; Luke 1:72; t. Berakhot 6:5; etc.) Third, God remembering in particular the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is elsewhere explanation of or the ground of hope for God’s deliverance of oppressed Israel; compare esp. 2 Kings 13:23 ..."
Dale C. Allison, 4 Baruch: Paraleipomena Jeremiou (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2019), 369.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Exodus 2:24 and Psalm 105:42

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