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Psalm 81:5
He appointed it in Joseph for a covenant, when he went out over the land of Egypt, I heard a language that I didn’t know.
3Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.
5He appointed it in Joseph for a covenant, when he went out over the land of Egypt, I heard a language that I didn’t know.
6“I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were freed from the basket.
7You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters of Meribah.” Selah.
Notice
The covenant in Joseph roots Israel’s feast in God’s action in Egypt, while the unfamiliar language leaves a detail that takes care to read.
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Psalm 78:5For he established a covenant in Jacob, and appointed a teaching in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;Both passages describe God establishing a covenant among his people, named through Joseph in one and Jacob in the other.
Jeremiah 5:15Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, house of Israel,” says the LORD. “It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language …Both mention a language someone does not understand; Jeremiah identifies it as the language of a nation coming against Israel.
Psalm 114:1When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign language,Both passages mention Egypt and unfamiliar speech, with Psalm 114 naming Israel’s departure from a people of foreign language.
Deuteronomy 28:49The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not understand,The shared detail is an unknown language; Deuteronomy places it within a warning about a nation coming against Israel.
1 Corinthians 14:21–22In the law it is written, “By men of strange languages and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people. They won’t even listen to me that way, says …Both texts mention unfamiliar languages, though Corinthians describes God speaking through strangers and people refusing to listen.
Isaiah 28:11Both passages mention speech in an unfamiliar language, though Isaiah identifies it as a means of addressing the nation.
Exodus 13:8–9You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’Both connect Israel’s observance with events in Egypt, with Exodus directing a parent to tell a son what the LORD did.
Exodus 11:4Moses said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go out into the middle of Egypt,Egypt is the setting in both passages, and both use language of going out over or into the land.
Psalm 77:15You have redeemed your people with your arm, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.Both name Joseph in connection with God’s dealings with his people; Psalm 77 describes their redemption by God’s arm.
Exodus 12:27that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, …Both connect Israel’s worship with Egypt, while Exodus names the Passover and explains the sparing of Israel’s houses.
Exodus 12:12For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. I will execute judgments …Both describe movement through or over Egypt; Exodus makes explicit the LORD’s judgment against its firstborn and its gods.
Ezekiel 20:20Make my Sabbaths holy. They shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’Both connect an observance appointed by God with his relationship to his people: the psalm’s feast and Ezekiel’s Sabbaths.
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One step
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Encouragement
The unfamiliar language is hard to identify with certainty. The surrounding words are clear: God freed burdened hands and answered his people in trouble.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).