Mazmur 30:12

30:12 So now ¹  my heart ²  will sing to you and not be silent;

O Lord my God, I will always ³  give thanks to you.

Yesaya 51:11

51:11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;

they will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ⁴ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ⁵  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ⁶ 

[30:12]  ¹ tn Heb “so that”; or “in order that.”

[30:12]  ² tn Heb “glory.” Some view כָבוֹד (khavod, “glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 57:9; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.” “Heart” is used in the translation above for the sake of English idiom; the expression “my liver sings” would seem odd indeed to the modern reader.

[30:12]  ³ tn Or “forever.”

[51:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[51:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “overtake” (so NIV); NASB “they will obtain.”

[51:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee.”