Keluaran 33:13

33:13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me ¹  your way, that I may know you, ²  that I may continue to find ³  favor in your sight. And see ⁴  that this nation is your people.”

Ayub 35:11

35:11 who teaches us ⁵  more than ⁶  the wild animals of the earth,

and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’

Ayub 38:36

38:36 Who has put wisdom in the heart, ⁷ 

or has imparted understanding to the mind?

Mazmur 15:2

15:2 Whoever lives a blameless life, ⁸ 

does what is right,

and speaks honestly. ⁹ 

Mazmur 25:4

25:4 Make me understand your ways, O Lord!

Teach me your paths! ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 27:11

27:11 Teach me how you want me to live; ¹¹ 

lead me along a level path ¹²  because of those who wait to ambush me! ¹³ 

Mazmur 51:8

51:8 Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven! ¹⁴ 

May the bones ¹⁵  you crushed rejoice! ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 86:11

86:11 O Lord, teach me how you want me to live! ¹⁷ 

Then I will obey your commands. ¹⁸ 

Make me wholeheartedly committed to you! ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 139:23-24

139:23 Examine me, and probe my thoughts! ²⁰ 

Test me, and know my concerns! ²¹ 

139:24 See if there is any idolatrous tendency ²²  in me,

and lead me in the reliable ancient path! ²³ 

Mazmur 143:8

143:8 May I hear about your loyal love in the morning, ²⁴ 

for I trust in you.

Show me the way I should go, ²⁵ 

because I long for you. ²⁶ 

[33:13]  ¹ tn The prayer uses the Hiphil imperative of the verb “to know.” “Cause me to know” is “show me, reveal to me, teach or inform me.” Moses wanted to know more of God’s dealings with people, especially after all that has happened in the preceding chapter.

[33:13]  ² tn The imperfect tense of the verb “to know” with the vav follows the imperative of this root, and so this indicates the purpose clause (final imperfect): “in order that I may know you.” S. R. Driver summarizes it this way: that I may understand what your nature and character is, and shape my petitions accordingly, so that I may find grace in your sight, and my future prayers may be answered (Exodus, 361).

[33:13]  ³ tn The purpose clause simply uses the imperfect, “that I may find.” But since he already has found favor in God’s eyes, he is clearly praying that it be so in the future as well as now.

[33:13]  ⁴ tn The verb “see” (an imperative) is a request for God to acknowledge Israel as his people by providing the divine leadership needed. So his main appeal will be for the people and not himself. To underscore this, he repeats “see” the way the section opened.

[35:11]  ⁵ tn The form in the text, the Piel participle from אָלַף (’alaf, “teach”) is written in a contracted form; the full form is מְאַלְּפֵנוּ (mÿ’allÿfenu).

[35:11]  ⁶ tn Some would render this “teaches us by the beasts.” But Elihu is stressing the unique privilege humans have.

[38:36]  ⁷ tn This verse is difficult because of the two words, טֻחוֹת (tukhot, rendered here “heart”) and שֶׂכְוִי (sekhvi, here “mind”). They have been translated a number of ways: “meteor” and “celestial appearance”; the stars “Procyon” and “Sirius”; “inward part” and “mind”; even as birds, “ibis” and “cock.” One expects them to have something to do with nature – clouds and the like. The RSV accordingly took them to mean “meteor” (from a verb “to wander”) and “a celestial appearance.” But these meanings are not well-attested.

[15:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “one who walks blamelessly.”

[15:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “one who speaks truth in his heart”; or “one who speaks truth [that is] in his heart.” This apparently refers to formulating a truthful statement in one’s mind and then honestly revealing that statement in one’s speech.

[25:4]  ¹⁰ sn Teach me your paths. In this context the Lord’s “ways” and “paths” refer to the moral principles which the Lord prescribes for his followers. See vv. 8-10.

[27:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “teach me your way.” The Lord’s “way” refers here to the moral principles which he expects the psalmist to follow. See Ps 25:4.

[27:11]  ¹² sn The level path refers to God’s moral principles (see the parallel line), which, if followed, will keep the psalmist blameless before his accusers (see v. 12).

[27:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “because of those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 54:5; 56:2.

[51:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “cause me to hear happiness and joy.” The language is metonymic: the effect of forgiveness (joy) has been substituted for its cause. The psalmist probably alludes here to an assuring word from God announcing that his sins are forgiven (a so-called oracle of forgiveness). The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request. The synonyms “happiness” and “joy” are joined together as a hendiadys to emphasize the degree of joy he anticipates.

[51:8]  ¹⁵ sn May the bones you crushed rejoice. The psalmist compares his sinful condition to that of a person who has been physically battered and crushed. Within this metaphorical framework, his “bones” are the seat of his emotional strength.

[51:8]  ¹⁶ tn In this context of petitionary prayer, the prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, expressing the psalmist’s wish or request.

[86:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “teach me your way.” The Lord’s “way” refers here to the moral principles he expects the psalmist to follow. See Pss 25:4; 27:11.

[86:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I will walk in your truth.” The Lord’s commandments are referred to as “truth” here because they are a trustworthy and accurate expression of the divine will. See Ps 25:5.

[86:11]  ¹⁹ 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).

[139:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and know my heart.”

[139:23]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew noun שַׂרְעַפַּי (sar’apay, “concerns”) is used of “worries” in Ps 94:19.

[139:24]  ²² tn Many understand the Hebrew term עֹצֶב (’otsev) as a noun meaning “pain,” and translate the phrase דֶּרֶךְ עֹצֶב (derekh ’otsev) as “of pain,” but this makes little sense here. (Some interpret it to refer to actions which bring pain to others.) It is preferable to take עֹצֶב as “idol” (see HALOT 865 s.v. I עֹצֶב) and understand “way of an idol” to refer to idolatrous actions or tendency. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.

[139:24]  ²³ tn Heb “in the path of antiquity.” This probably refers to the moral path prescribed by the Lord at the beginning of Israel’s history. See Jer 6:16; 18:15, as well as L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.

[143:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “cause me to hear in the morning your loyal love.” Here “loyal love” probably stands metonymically for an oracle of assurance promising God’s intervention as an expression of his loyal love.

[143:8]  sn The morning is sometimes viewed as the time of divine intervention (see Pss 30:5; 59:16; 90:14).

[143:8]  ²⁵ sn The way probably refers here to God’s moral and ethical standards and requirements (see v. 10).

[143:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “for to you I lift up my life.” The Hebrew expression נָאָשׂ נֶפֶשׁ (na’as nefesh, “to lift up [one’s] life”) means “to desire; to long for” (see Deut 24:15; Prov 19:18; Jer 22:27; 44:14; Hos 4:8, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 16).