Mazmur 103:6-10

103:6 The Lord does what is fair,

and executes justice for all the oppressed. ¹ 

103:7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts ²  to Moses,

his deeds to the Israelites.

103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;

he is patient ³  and demonstrates great loyal love. ⁴ 

103:9 He does not always accuse,

and does not stay angry. ⁵ 

103:10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; ⁶ 

he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. ⁷ 

[103:6]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord does fairness, and [acts of] justice for all the oppressed.”

[103:7]  ² tn Heb “made known his ways.” God’s “ways” in this context are his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 18:30; 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 138:5; 145:17).

[103:8]  ³ tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).

[103:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).

[103:9]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb נָטַר (natar) is usually taken to mean “to keep; to guard,” with “anger” being understood by ellipsis. The idiom “to guard anger” is then understood to mean “to remain angry” (see Lev 19:18; Jer 3:5, 12; Nah 1:2). However, it is possible that this is a homonymic root meaning “to be angry” (see HALOT 695 s.v. נטר).

[103:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”

[103:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”