Psalm 89/Notes/Phrasal.v. 2.59062

• The phrase לְדֹר וָדֹר (lit.: "for a generation and a generation"), occuring both in v. 2 and in v. 5, is a Hebrew figure of speech that essentially means "forever" (see e.g., Isa 34:17; Joel 4:20; Pss 10:6; 33:11; 77:9; 79:13; 85:6; 102:13; 106:31; 119:90; 135:13; 146:10; Lam 5:19). It is often paralleled in poetry with the adverbial עוֹלָם or לְעוֹלָם. The NLT's translation of this phrase ("young and old") is innaccurate, because the phrase does not refer to groups of people but to a measurement of time. The ESV's translation ("to all generations," so also KJV, CSB, NET) is also inaccurate in our view, because the lamed preposition does not indicate the recipient of the speech ("I will make known to all generations"), but the temporal frame of the speech ("for/through all generations"), as in the common phrase לְעוֹלָם (see uses of לְדֹר וָדֹר listed above; cf. Jenni 2000, 275). More accurate in this regard is the translation of the NIV: "through all generations."