Mazmur 16:5

16:5 Lord, you give me stability and prosperity; ¹ 

you make my future secure. ² 

Mazmur 44:12

44:12 You sold ³  your people for a pittance; ⁴ 

you did not ask a high price for them. ⁵ 

Mazmur 66:10

66:10 For ⁶  you, O God, tested us;

you purified us like refined silver.

Mazmur 74:13

74:13 You destroyed ⁷  the sea by your strength;

you shattered the heads of the sea monster ⁸  in the water.

Mazmur 89:17

89:17 For you give them splendor and strength. ⁹ 

By your favor we are victorious. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 89:43

89:43 You turn back ¹¹  his sword from the adversary, ¹² 

and have not sustained him in battle. ¹³ 

Mazmur 89:45

89:45 You have cut short his youth, ¹⁴ 

and have covered him with shame. (Selah)

Mazmur 91:12

91:12 They will lift you up in their hands,

so you will not slip and fall on a stone. ¹⁵ 

[16:5]  ¹ tn Heb “O Lord, the portion of my possession and my cup”; or “the Lord [is] the portion of my possession and my cup.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel, and to a cup of wine, which may symbolize a reward (in Ps 11:6 it symbolizes the judgment one deserves) or divine blessing (see Ps 23:5). The metaphor highlights the fact that God is the psalmist’s source of security and prosperity.

[16:5]  ² tc Heb “you take hold of my lot.” The form תּוֹמִיךְ (tomikh) should be emended to a participle, תוֹמֵךְ (tomekh). The psalmist pictures the Lord as casting his lot (a method used to allot landed property) for him, thus assuring that he will receive a fertile piece of land (see v. 6). As in the previous line, land represents security and economic stability, thus “you make my future secure.”

[44:12]  ³ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “for what is not wealth.”

[44:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “you did not multiply their purchase prices.”

[66:10]  ⁶ tn Or “indeed.”

[74:13]  ⁷ tn The derivation and meaning of the Polel verb form פּוֹרַרְתָּ (porarta) are uncertain. The form may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning “break, shatter,” though the biblical Hebrew cognate of this verb always appears in the Hiphil or Hophal stem. BDB 830 s.v. II פָּרַר suggests a homonym here, meaning “to split; to divide.” A Hitpolel form of a root פָּרַר (parar) appears in Isa 24:19 with the meaning “to shake violently.”

[74:13]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text has the plural form, “sea monsters” (cf. NRSV “dragons”), but it is likely that an original enclitic mem has been misunderstood as a plural ending. The imagery of the mythological sea monster is utilized here. See the note on “Leviathan” in v. 14.

[89:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “for the splendor of their strength [is] you.”

[89:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you lift up our horn,” or if one follows the marginal reading (Qere), “our horn is lifted up.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).

[89:43]  ¹¹ tn The perfect verbal form predominates in vv. 38-45. The use of the imperfect in this one instance may be for rhetorical effect. The psalmist briefly lapses into dramatic mode, describing the king’s military defeat as if it were happening before his very eyes.

[89:43]  ¹² tc Heb “you turn back, rocky summit, his sword.” The Hebrew term צוּר (tsur, “rocky summit”) makes no sense here, unless it is a divine title understood as vocative, “you turn back, O Rocky Summit, his sword.” Some emend the form to צֹר (tsor, “flint”) on the basis of Josh 5:2, which uses the phrase חַרְבוֹת צֻרִים (kharvot tsurim, “flint knives”). The noun צֹר (tsor, “flint”) can then be taken as “flint-like edge,” indicating the sharpness of the sword. Others emend the form to אָחוֹר (’akhor, “backward”) or to מִצַּר (mitsar, “from the adversary”). The present translation reflects the latter, assuming an original reading תָּשִׁיב מִצָּר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv mitsar kharbo), which was corrupted to תָּשִׁיב צָר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv tsar kharbo) by virtual haplography (confusion of bet/mem is well-attested) with צָר (tsar, “adversary”) then being misinterpreted as צוּר in the later tradition.

[89:43]  ¹³ tn Heb “and you have not caused him to stand in the battle.”

[89:45]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the days of his youth” (see as well Job 33:25).

[91:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “so your foot will not strike a stone.”