Mazmur 79:1--80:18
KonteksA psalm of Asaph.
79:1 O God, foreigners 2 have invaded your chosen land; 3
they have polluted your holy temple
and turned Jerusalem 4 into a heap of ruins.
79:2 They have given the corpses of your servants
to the birds of the sky; 5
the flesh of your loyal followers
to the beasts of the earth.
79:3 They have made their blood flow like water
all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them. 6
79:4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. 7
79:5 How long will this go on, O Lord? 8
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage 9 burn like fire?
79:6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you, 10
on the kingdoms that do not pray to you! 11
79:7 For they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his home.
79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! 12
Quickly send your compassion our way, 13
for we are in serious trouble! 14
79:9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!
For the sake of your glorious reputation, 15 rescue us!
Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation! 16
79:10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants
be avenged among the nations! 17
79:11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners! 18
Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die! 19
79:12 Pay back our neighbors in full! 20
May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord! 21
79:13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will continually thank you. 22
We will tell coming generations of your praiseworthy acts. 23
For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; 25 a psalm of Asaph.
80:1 O shepherd of Israel, pay attention,
you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep!
You who sit enthroned above the winged angels, 26 reveal your splendor! 27
80:2 In the sight of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh reveal 28 your power!
Come and deliver us! 29
80:3 O God, restore us!
Smile on us! 30 Then we will be delivered! 31
80:4 O Lord God, invincible warrior! 32
How long will you remain angry at your people while they pray to you? 33
80:5 You have given them tears as food; 34
you have made them drink tears by the measure. 35
80:6 You have made our neighbors dislike us, 36
and our enemies insult us.
80:7 O God, invincible warrior, 37 restore us!
Smile on us! 38 Then we will be delivered! 39
80:8 You uprooted a vine 40 from Egypt;
you drove out nations and transplanted it.
80:9 You cleared the ground for it; 41
it took root, 42
and filled the land.
80:10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,
the highest cedars 43 by its branches.
80:11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea, 44
and its shoots the Euphrates River. 45
80:12 Why did you break down its walls, 46
so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? 47
80:13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; 48
the insects 49 of the field feed on it.
80:14 O God, invincible warrior, 50 come back!
Look down from heaven and take notice!
Take care of this vine,
80:15 the root 51 your right hand planted,
the shoot you made to grow! 52
80:16 It is burned 53 and cut down.
They die because you are displeased with them. 54
80:17 May you give support to the one you have chosen, 55
to the one whom you raised up for yourself! 56
80:18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Revive us and we will pray to you! 57
Mazmur 83:1-17
KonteksA song, a psalm of Asaph.
83:1 O God, do not be silent!
Do not ignore us! 59 Do not be inactive, O God!
83:2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion;
those who hate you are hostile. 60
83:3 They carefully plot 61 against your people,
and make plans to harm 62 the ones you cherish. 63
83:4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! 64
Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
83:5 Yes, 65 they devise a unified strategy; 66
they form an alliance 67 against you.
83:6 It includes 68 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites, 69
83:7 Gebal, 70 Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre. 71
83:8 Even Assyria has allied with them,
lending its strength to the descendants of Lot. 72 (Selah)
83:9 Do to them as you did to Midian 73 –
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River! 74
83:10 They were destroyed at Endor; 75
their corpses were like manure 76 on the ground.
83:11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, 77
and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna, 78
83:12 who said, 79 “Let’s take over 80 the pastures of God!”
83:13 O my God, make them like dead thistles, 81
like dead weeds blown away by 82 the wind!
83:14 Like the fire that burns down the forest,
or the flames that consume the mountainsides, 83
83:15 chase them with your gale winds,
and terrify 84 them with your windstorm.
83:16 Cover 85 their faces with shame,
so they might seek 86 you, 87 O Lord.
83:17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified! 88
May they die in shame! 89
Mazmur 85:1-12
KonteksFor the music director; written by the Korahites, a psalm.
85:1 O Lord, you showed favor to your land;
you restored the well-being of Jacob. 91
85:2 You pardoned 92 the wrongdoing of your people;
you forgave 93 all their sin. (Selah)
85:3 You withdrew all your fury;
you turned back from your raging anger. 94
85:4 Restore us, O God our deliverer!
Do not be displeased with us! 95
85:5 Will you stay mad at us forever?
Will you remain angry throughout future generations? 96
85:6 Will you not revive us once more?
Then your people will rejoice in you!
85:7 O Lord, show us your loyal love!
Bestow on us your deliverance!
85:8 I will listen to what God the Lord says. 97
For he will make 98 peace with his people, his faithful followers. 99
Yet they must not 100 return to their foolish ways.
85:9 Certainly his loyal followers will soon experience his deliverance; 101
then his splendor will again appear in our land. 102
85:10 Loyal love and faithfulness meet; 103
deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. 104
85:11 Faithfulness grows from the ground,
and deliverance looks down from the sky. 105
85:12 Yes, the Lord will bestow his good blessings, 106
and our land will yield 107 its crops.
Mazmur 86:1-17
KonteksA prayer of David.
86:1 Listen 109 O Lord! Answer me!
For I am oppressed and needy.
86:2 Protect me, 110 for I am loyal!
O my God, deliver your servant, who trusts in you!
86:3 Have mercy on me, 111 O Lord,
for I cry out to you all day long!
86:4 Make your servant 112 glad,
for to you, O Lord, I pray! 113
86:5 Certainly 114 O Lord, you are kind 115 and forgiving,
and show great faithfulness to all who cry out to you.
86:6 O Lord, hear my prayer!
Pay attention to my plea for mercy!
86:7 In my time of trouble I cry out to you,
for you will answer me.
86:8 None can compare to you among the gods, O Lord!
Your exploits are incomparable! 116
86:9 All the nations, whom you created,
will come and worship you, 117 O Lord.
They will honor your name.
86:10 For you are great and do amazing things.
You alone are God.
86:11 O Lord, teach me how you want me to live! 118
Then I will obey your commands. 119
Make me wholeheartedly committed to you! 120
86:12 O Lord, my God, I will give you thanks with my whole heart!
I will honor your name continually! 121
86:13 For you will extend your great loyal love to me, 122
and will deliver my life 123 from the depths of Sheol. 124
86:14 O God, arrogant men attack me; 125
a gang 126 of ruthless men, who do not respect you, seek my life. 127
86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.
You are patient 128 and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness. 129
86:16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me!
Give your servant your strength!
Deliver your slave! 130
86:17 Show me evidence of your favor! 131
Then those who hate me will see it and be ashamed, 132
for you, O Lord, will help me and comfort me. 133
[79:1] 1 sn Psalm 79. The author laments how the invading nations have destroyed the temple and city of Jerusalem. He asks God to forgive his people and to pour out his vengeance on those who have mistreated them.
[79:1] 3 tn Heb “have come into your inheritance.”
[79:1] 4 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[79:2] 5 tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”
[79:3] 6 tn Heb “they have poured out their blood like water, all around Jerusalem, and there is no one burying.”
[79:4] 7 tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.
[79:5] 8 tn Heb “How long, O
[79:5] 9 tn Or “jealous anger.”
[79:6] 10 tn Heb “which do not know you.” Here the Hebrew term “know” means “acknowledge the authority of.”
[79:6] 11 sn The kingdoms that do not pray to you. The people of these kingdoms pray to other gods, not the Lord, because they do not recognize his authority over them.
[79:8] 12 tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.
[79:8] 13 tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.
[79:8] 14 tn Heb “for we are very low.”
[79:9] 15 tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
[79:10] 17 tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”
[79:11] 18 tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”
[79:11] 19 tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
[79:12] 20 tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
[79:12] 21 tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”
[79:13] 22 tn Or (hyperbolically) “will thank you forever.”
[79:13] 23 tn Heb “to a generation and a generation we will report your praise.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.
[80:1] 24 sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.
[80:1] 25 tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.
[80:1] 26 sn Winged angels (Heb “cherubs”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.
[80:1] 27 tn Heb “shine forth.”
[80:1] sn Reveal your splendor. The psalmist may allude to Deut 33:2, where God “shines forth” from Sinai and comes to superintend Moses’ blessing of the tribes.
[80:2] 28 tn Heb “stir up”; “arouse.”
[80:2] 29 tn Heb “come for our deliverance.”
[80:3] 30 tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
[80:3] 31 tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
[80:4] 32 tn Heb “
[80:4] 33 tn Heb “How long will you remain angry during the prayer of your people.” Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) in an adversative sense here (“at/against the prayer of your people”), but the temporal sense is preferable. The psalmist expects persistent prayer to pacify God.
[80:5] 34 tn Heb “you have fed them the food of tears.”
[80:5] 35 tn Heb “[by] the third part [of a measure].” The Hebrew term שָׁלִישׁ (shalish, “third part [of a measure]”) occurs only here and in Isa 40:12.
[80:6] 36 tn Heb “you have made us an object of contention to our neighbors.”
[80:7] 37 tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also v. 4 for a similar construction.
[80:7] 38 tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
[80:7] 39 tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
[80:8] 40 sn The vine is here a metaphor for Israel (see Ezek 17:6-10; Hos 10:1).
[80:9] 41 tn Heb “you cleared away before it.”
[80:9] 42 tn Heb “and it took root [with] its roots.”
[80:10] 43 tn Heb “cedars of God.” The divine name אֵל (’al, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.
[80:11] 44 tn Heb “to [the] sea.” The “sea” refers here to the Mediterranean Sea.
[80:11] 45 tn Heb “to [the] river.” The “river” is the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. Israel expanded both to the west and to the east.
[80:12] 46 sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).
[80:13] 48 tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.
[80:13] 49 tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word translated “insects,” which occurs only here and in Ps 50:11, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic, and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.
[80:14] 50 tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also vv. 4, 7 for a similar construction.
[80:15] 51 tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן emends the form to כַּנָּהּ (kannah, “its shoot”).
[80:15] 52 tn Heb “and upon a son you strengthened for yourself.” In this context, where the extended metaphor of the vine dominates, בֵּן (ben, “son”) probably refers to the shoots that grow from the vine. Cf. Gen 49:22.
[80:16] 53 tn Heb “burned with fire.”
[80:16] 54 tn Heb “because of the rebuke of your face they perish.”
[80:17] 55 tn Heb “may your hand be upon the man of your right hand.” The referent of the otherwise unattested phrase “man of your right hand,” is unclear. It may refer to the nation collectively as a man. (See the note on the word “yourself” in v. 17b.)
[80:17] 56 tn Heb “upon the son of man you strengthened for yourself.” In its only other use in the Book of Psalms, the phrase “son of man” refers to the human race in general (see Ps 8:4). Here the phrase may refer to the nation collectively as a man. Note the use of the statement “you strengthened for yourself” both here and in v. 15, where the “son” (i.e., the branch of the vine) refers to Israel.
[80:18] 57 tn Heb “and in your name we will call.”
[83:1] 58 sn Psalm 83. The psalmist asks God to deliver Israel from the attacks of foreign nations. Recalling how God defeated Israel’s enemies in the days of Deborah and Gideon, he prays that the hostile nations would be humiliated.
[83:1] 59 tn Heb “do not be deaf.”
[83:2] 60 tn Heb “lift up [their] head[s].” The phrase “lift up [the] head” here means “to threaten; to be hostile,” as in Judg 8:28.
[83:3] 61 tn Heb “they make crafty a plot.”
[83:3] 62 tn Heb “and consult together against.”
[83:3] 63 tn The passive participle of the Hebrew verb צָפַן (tsafan, “to hide”) is used here in the sense of “treasured; cherished.”
[83:4] 64 tn Heb “we will cause them to disappear from [being] a nation.”
[83:5] 66 tn Heb “they consult [with] a heart together.”
[83:5] 67 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[83:6] 68 tn The words “it includes” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[83:6] 69 sn The Hagrites are also mentioned in 1 Chr 5:10, 19-20.
[83:7] 70 sn Some identify Gebal with the Phoenician coastal city of Byblos (see Ezek 27:9, where the name is spelled differently), though others locate this site south of the Dead Sea (see BDB 148 s.v. גְּבַל; HALOT 174 s.v. גְּבַל).
[83:7] 71 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[83:8] 72 tn Heb “they are an arm for the sons of Lot.” The “arm” is here a symbol of military might.
[83:8] sn The descendants of Lot were the Moabites and Ammonites.
[83:9] 73 tn Heb “do to them like Midian.”
[83:9] 74 sn The psalmist alludes here to Gideon’s victory over the Midianites (see Judg 7-8) and to Barak’s victory over Jabin’s army, which was led by his general Sisera (Judg 4-5).
[83:10] 75 sn Endor is not mentioned in the accounts of Gideon’s or Barak’s victories, but both battles took place in the general vicinity of the town. (See Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas, 46, 54.) Because Sisera and Jabin are mentioned in v. 9b, many understand them to be the subject of the verbs in v. 10, though they relate v. 10 to Gideon’s victory, which is referred to in v. 9a, 11. (See, for example, Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 263.)
[83:10] 76 tn Heb “they were manure.” In addition to this passage, corpses are compared to manure in 2 Kgs 9:37; Jer 8:2; 9:21; 16:4; 25:33.
[83:11] 77 sn Oreb and Zeeb were the generals of the Midianite army that was defeated by Gideon. The Ephraimites captured and executed both of them and sent their heads to Gideon (Judg 7:24-25).
[83:11] 78 sn Zebah and Zalmunna were the Midianite kings. Gideon captured them and executed them (Judg 8:1-21).
[83:12] 79 tn The translation assumes that “Zebah and Zalmunna” are the antecedents of the relative pronoun (“who [said]”). Another option is to take “their nobles…all their rulers” as the antecedent and to translate, “those who say.”
[83:12] 80 tn Heb “let’s take possession for ourselves.”
[83:13] 81 tn Or “tumbleweed.” The Hebrew noun גַּלְגַּל (galgal) refers to a “wheel” or, metaphorically, to a whirling wind (see Ps 77:18). If taken in the latter sense here, one could understand the term as a metonymical reference to dust blown by a whirlwind (cf. NRSV “like whirling dust”). However, HALOT 190 s.v. II גַּלְגַּל understands the noun as a homonym referring to a “dead thistle” here and in Isa 17:13. The parallel line, which refers to קַשׁ (qash, “chaff”), favors this interpretation.
[83:14] 83 sn The imagery of fire and flames suggests unrelenting, destructive judgment.
[83:15] 84 tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 15 express the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
[83:16] 86 tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose or result (“then they will seek”).
[83:16] 87 tn Heb “your name,” which stands here for God’s person.
[83:17] 88 tn Heb “and may they be terrified to perpetuity.” The Hebrew expression עֲדֵי־עַד (’adey-’ad, “to perpetuity”) can mean “forevermore” (see Pss 92:7; 132:12, 14), but here it may be used hyperbolically, for the psalmist asks that the experience of judgment might lead the nations to recognize (v. 18) and even to seek (v. 16) God.
[83:17] 89 tn Heb “may they be ashamed and perish.” The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling severe judgment down on his enemies. The strong language of the imprecation seems to run contrary to the positive outcome of divine judgment envisioned in v. 16b. Perhaps the language of v. 17 is overstated for effect. Another option is that v. 16b expresses an ideal, while the strong imprecation of vv. 17-18 anticipates reality. It would be nice if the defeated nations actually pursued a relationship with God, but if judgment does not bring them to that point, the psalmist asks that they be annihilated so that they might at least be forced to acknowledge God’s power.
[85:1] 90 sn Psalm 85. God’s people recall how he forgave their sins in the past, pray that he might now restore them to his favor, and anticipate renewed blessings.
[85:1] 91 tn Heb “you turned with a turning [toward] Jacob.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv). See Pss 14:7; 53:6.
[85:2] 93 tn Heb “covered over.”
[85:3] 94 tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81. See Pss 69:24; 78:49.
[85:4] 95 tn Heb “break your displeasure with us.” Some prefer to emend הָפֵר (hafer, “break”) to הָסֵר (haser, “turn aside”).
[85:5] 96 tn Heb “Will your anger stretch to a generation and a generation?”
[85:8] 97 sn I will listen. Having asked for the Lord’s favor, the psalmist (who here represents the nation) anticipates a divine word of assurance.
[85:8] 98 tn Heb “speak.” The idiom “speak peace” refers to establishing or maintaining peaceful relations with someone (see Gen 37:4; Zech 9:10; cf. Ps 122:8).
[85:8] 99 tn Heb “to his people and to his faithful followers.” The translation assumes that “his people” and “his faithful followers” are viewed as identical here.
[85:8] 100 tn Or “yet let them not.” After the negative particle אֵל (’el), the prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating the speaker’s desire or wish.
[85:9] 101 tn Heb “certainly his deliverance [is] near to those who fear him.”
[85:9] 102 tn Heb “to dwell, glory, in our land.” “Glory” is the subject of the infinitive. The infinitive with -לְ (lÿ), “to dwell,” probably indicates result here (“then”). When God delivers his people and renews his relationship with them, he will once more reveal his royal splendor in the land.
[85:10] 103 tn The psalmist probably uses the perfect verbal forms in v. 10 in a dramatic or rhetorical manner, describing what he anticipates as if it were already occurring or had already occurred.
[85:10] 104 sn Deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. The psalmist personifies these abstract qualities to emphasize that God’s loyal love and faithfulness will yield deliverance and peace for his people.
[85:11] 105 sn The psalmist already sees undeniable signs of God’s faithfulness and expects deliverance to arrive soon.
[85:12] 106 tn Heb “what is good.”
[85:12] 107 tn Both “bestow” and “yield” translate the same Hebrew verb (נָתַן, natan). The repetition of the word emphasizes that agricultural prosperity is the direct result of divine blessing.
[86:1] 108 sn Psalm 86. The psalmist appeals to God’s mercy as he asks for deliverance from his enemies.
[86:1] 109 tn Heb “turn your ear.”
[86:3] 111 tn Or “show me favor.”
[86:4] 112 tn Heb “the soul of your servant.”
[86:4] 113 tn Heb “I lift up my soul.”
[86:8] 116 tn Heb “and there are none like your acts.”
[86:9] 117 tn Or “bow down before you.”
[86:11] 118 tn Heb “teach me your way.” The
[86:11] 119 tn Heb “I will walk in your truth.” The
[86:11] 120 tn Heb “Bind my heart to the fearing of your name.” The verb translated “bind” occurs only here in the Piel stem. It appears twice in the Qal, meaning “be joined” in both cases (Gen 49:6; Isa 14:20). To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for him which in turn motivates one to obey his commands (see Pss 61:5; 102:15).
[86:13] 122 tn Heb “for your loyal love [is] great over me.”
[86:13] 123 tn Or “for he will have delivered my life.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here.
[86:13] 124 tn Or “lower Sheol.”
[86:14] 125 tn Heb “rise up against me.”
[86:14] 127 tn Heb “seek my life and do not set you before them.” See Ps 54:3.
[86:15] 128 tn Heb “slow to anger.”
[86:15] 129 tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”
[86:15] sn The psalmist’s confession of faith in this verse echoes Exod 34:6.
[86:16] 130 tn Heb “the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 116:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here certainly does not imply that the
[86:17] 131 tn Heb “Work with me a sign for good.” The expression “work a sign” also occurs in Judg 6:17.
[86:17] 132 tn After the imperative in the preceding line (“work”), the prefixed verb forms with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose or result.
[86:17] 133 tn The perfect verbal forms are understood here as dramatic/rhetorical, expressing the psalmist’s certitude that such a sign from the
