Psalm 106

The Hebrew word is hallelujah, which is often translated as “praise the LORD.”

God’s “kindness” probably refers to his freeing the Hebrew ancestors of the Jews from slavery in Egypt in the time of Moses.

That’s not a typo. Many Bibles say “Red Sea.” But the Hebrew words are yam suph, “sea reeds.” Scholars usually track Moses and the Hebrews escaping Egypt by walking southeast, out of the Nile Delta fields and toward the Red Sea and the Sinai Peninsula. They would have passed through lake regions along what is now the Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. These lakes and ponds reportedly had reeds growing along the banks, like the ones the Bible says grew along the Nile River and helped anchor Baby Moses in a basket (Exodus 2:3).

More literally, it was a “wasting disease.” Sounds like this might have been a polite way of describing the vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue someone feels after food poisoning. The songwriter may have been describing what is reported in Numbers 11:33, “While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very severe plague” (New American Standard Bible).

This revolt was known as Korah’s Rebellion, which is reported in Numbers 16. Abiram, along with Korah, was one of the leaders who fell in the hole along an earthquake prone region called the Great Rift Valley.

The rest of the rebels died in a fire that Numbers 16:35 says came from the LORD. It may have been lightning or an accident caused by the burning censers they were carrying.

Literally “Horeb,” a word that means “desert” and that became an alternate name for Mount Sinai.

Ham was one of Noah’s sons. “Egyptians…. All descended from Noah’s son, Ham” (Psalm 78:52; see also Genesis 10:6).

This may refer to Numbers 11, when the people were hungry in the barren Sinai, and wanted to go back to Egypt, where there was plenty of food and water.

This may refer to the event recorded in Numbers 25, when some women from Moab, in what is now the Arab country of Jordan, seduced some of the Hebrew men on the exodus out of Egypt to engage in ritual sex. Some scholars say the idea was to entertain Baal so he would make it rain. It’s a tad gross, but some taught that the rain was Baal’s semen. So if the sex of worshipers got Baal stimulated enough, he would make it rain. Baal was considered god of fertility in family, flocks, and fields.

Phineas, a priest in Aaron’s family, followed a man of Israel into a tent where the man was apparently getting up close and personal with a woman from Moab. Phineas brought a spear and with a single thrust, skibobbed them together. Not something we generally associate with priests. The story is in Numbers 24.

On the exodus out of Egypt, the Hebrew ancestors of the Jews complained to Moses about needing water. Moses broke open a rock to reveal a spring. He gave the place two names: Massah, meaning “test,” and Meribah, meaning “complaint” (Exodus 17:7).

It’s unclear what Moses did that upset God. God said Moses didn’t trust him. Maybe hitting the rock twice was the problem. After Moses hit it once and nothing happened he hit it a second time, as if God needed an extra tap. Who knows? The story appears in Numbers 20:8-13.

More literally, “demons.” A reference to Deuteronomy 32:17.

The Hebrew word also used in English is Amen. It means: yes, so be it, and that’s the truth.