Mazmur 12:7

12:7 You, Lord, will protect them; ¹ 

you will continually shelter each one from these evil people, ² 

Mazmur 21:6

21:6 For you grant him lasting blessings;

you give him great joy by allowing him into your presence. ³ 

Mazmur 30:3

30:3 O Lord, you pulled me ⁴  up from Sheol;

you rescued me from among those descending into the grave. ⁵ 

Mazmur 56:8

56:8 You keep track of my misery. ⁶ 

Put my tears in your leather container! ⁷ 

Are they not recorded in your scroll? ⁸ 

Mazmur 77:16

77:16 The waters ⁹  saw you, O God,

the waters saw you and trembled. ¹⁰ 

Yes, the depths of the sea ¹¹  shook with fear. ¹² 

Mazmur 139:5

139:5 You squeeze me in from behind and in front;

you place your hand on me.

[12:7]  ¹ tn The third person plural pronominal suffix on the verb is masculine, referring back to the “oppressed” and “needy” in v. 5 (both of those nouns are plural in form), suggesting that the verb means “protect” here. The suffix does not refer to אִמֲרוֹת (’imarot, “words”) in v. 6, because that term is feminine gender.

[12:7]  ² tn Heb “you will protect him from this generation permanently.” The third masculine singular suffix on the verb “protect” is probably used in a distributive sense, referring to each one within the group mentioned previously (the oppressed/needy, referred to as “them” in the preceding line). On this grammatical point see GKC 396 §123.f (where the present text is not cited). (Some Hebrew mss and ancient textual witnesses read “us,” both here and in the preceding line.) The noun דוֹר (dor, “generation”) refers here to the psalmist’s contemporaries, who were characterized by deceit and arrogance (see vv. 1-2). See BDB 189-90 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.

[21:6]  ³ tn Heb “you make him happy with joy with [i.e., “close by” or “in”] your face.” On the idiom “with your face” (i.e., “in your presence”) see Ps 16:11 and BDB 816 s.v. פָּנֻה II.2.a.

[30:3]  ⁴ tn Or “my life.”

[30:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “you kept me alive from those descending into the pit.” The Hebrew noun בוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib); the marginal reading (Qere) has, “you kept me alive so that I did not go down into the pit.”

[56:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “my wandering you count, you.” The Hebrew term נֹד (nod, “wandering,” derived from the verbal root נוֹד, nod, “to wander”; cf. NASB) here refers to the psalmist’s “changeable circumstances of life” and may be translated “misery.” The verb סָפַר (safar, “count”) probably carries the nuance “assess” here. Cf. NIV “my lament”; NRSV “my tossings.”

[56:8]  ⁷ tn Traditionally “your bottle.” Elsewhere the Hebrew word נֹאד (no’d, “leather container”) refers to a container made from animal skin which is used to hold wine or milk (see Josh 9:4, 13; Judg 4:19; 1 Sam 16:20). If such a container is metaphorically in view here, then the psalmist seems to be asking God to store up his tears as a reminder of his suffering.

[56:8]  ⁸ tn The word “recorded” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The rhetorical question assumes a positive response (see the first line of the verse).

[77:16]  ⁹ tn The waters of the Red Sea are here personified; they are portrayed as seeing God and fearing him.

[77:16]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

[77:16]  ¹¹ tn The words “of the sea” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[77:16]  ¹² tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.