Mazmur 89:4

89:4 ‘I will give you an eternal dynasty ¹ 

and establish your throne throughout future generations.’” ²  (Selah)

Mazmur 89:37

89:37 it will remain stable, like the moon, ³ 

his throne will endure like the skies.” ⁴  (Selah)

Mazmur 89:45

89:45 You have cut short his youth, ⁵ 

and have covered him with shame. (Selah)

Mazmur 89:48

89:48 No man can live on without experiencing death,

or deliver his life from the power of Sheol. ⁶  (Selah)

[89:4]  ¹ tn Heb “forever I will establish your offspring.”

[89:4]  ² tn Heb “and I will build to a generation and a generation your throne.”

[89:37]  ³ tn Heb “like the moon it will be established forever.”

[89:37]  ⁴ tn Heb “and a witness in the sky, secure.” Scholars have offered a variety of opinions as to the identity of the “witness” referred to here, none of which is very convincing. It is preferable to join וְעֵד (vÿ’ed) to עוֹלָם (’olam) in the preceding line and translate the commonly attested phrase עוֹלָם וְעֵד (“forever”). In this case one may translate the second line, “[it] will be secure like the skies.” Another option (the one reflected in the present translation) is to take עד as a rare noun meaning “throne” or “dais.” This noun is attested in Ugaritic; see, for example, CTA 16 vi 22-23, where ksi (= כִּסֵּא, kisse’, “throne”) and ’d (= עד, “dais”) appear as synonyms in the poetic parallelism (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 91). Emending בַּשַּׁחַק (bashakhaq, “in the heavens”) to כַּשַׁחַק (kashakhaq, “like the heavens”) – bet/kaf (כ/ב) confusion is widely attested – one can then read “[his] throne like the heavens [is] firm/stable.” Verse 29 refers to the enduring nature of the heavens, while Job 37:18 speaks of God spreading out the heavens (שְׁחָקִים, shÿkhaqim) and compares their strength to a bronze mirror. Ps 89:29 uses the term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim, “skies”) which frequently appears in parallelism to שְׁחָקִים.

[89:45]  ⁵ tn Heb “the days of his youth” (see as well Job 33:25).

[89:48]  ⁶ tn Heb “Who [is] the man [who] can live and not see death, [who] can deliver his life from the hand of Sheol?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”