Mazmur 18:15

18:15 The depths ¹  of the sea ²  were exposed;

the inner regions ³  of the world were uncovered

by ⁴  your battle cry, ⁵  Lord,

by the powerful breath from your nose. ⁶ 

Mazmur 20:6

20:6 Now I am sure ⁷  that the Lord will deliver ⁸  his chosen king; ⁹ 

he will intervene for him ¹⁰  from his holy heavenly temple, ¹¹ 

and display his mighty ability to deliver. ¹² 

Mazmur 22:24

22:24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering ¹³  of the oppressed; ¹⁴ 

he did not ignore him; ¹⁵ 

when he cried out to him, he responded. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 22:26

22:26 Let the oppressed eat and be filled! ¹⁷ 

Let those who seek his help praise the Lord!

May you ¹⁸  live forever!

Mazmur 47:9

47:9 The nobles of the nations assemble,

along with the people of the God of Abraham, ¹⁹ 

for God has authority over the rulers ²⁰  of the earth.

He is highly exalted! ²¹ 

Mazmur 67:1

Psalm 67 ²² 

For the music director; to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm, a song.

67:1 May God show us his favor ²³  and bless us! ²⁴ 

May he smile on us! ²⁵  (Selah)

Mazmur 68:1

Psalm 68 ²⁶ 

For the music director; by David, a psalm, a song.

68:1 God springs into action! ²⁷ 

His enemies scatter;

his adversaries ²⁸  run from him. ²⁹ 

[18:15]  ¹ tn Or “channels.”

[18:15]  ² tc Ps 18:15 reads “water” (cf. Ps 42:1); “sea” is the reading of 2 Sam 22:16.

[18:15]  ³ tn Or “foundations.”

[18:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “from.” The preposition has a causal sense here.

[18:15]  ⁵ tn The noun is derived from the verb גָּעַר (ga’ar), which is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Pss 68:30; 106:9; and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 9:5; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[18:15]  ⁶ tn 2 Sam 22:16 reads “by the battle cry of the Lord, by the blast of the breath of his nose.” The phrase “blast of the breath” (Heb “breath of breath”) employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[20:6]  ⁷ tn Or “know.”

[20:6]  sn Now I am sure. The speaker is not identified. It is likely that the king, referring to himself in the third person (note “his chosen king”), responds to the people’s prayer. Perhaps his confidence is due to the reception of a divine oracle of salvation.

[20:6]  ⁸ tn The perfect verbal form is probably used rhetorically to state that the deliverance is as good as done. In this way the speaker emphasizes the certainty of the deliverance. Another option is to take the statement as generalizing; the psalmist affirms that the Lord typically delivers the king.

[20:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “his anointed one.” This title refers to the Davidic king. See Pss 2:2 and 18:50.

[20:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he will answer him.”

[20:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from his holy heavens.”

[20:6]  ¹² tn Heb “with mighty acts of deliverance of his right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver (see Ps 17:7).

[22:24]  ¹³ tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”

[22:24]  ¹⁴ sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.

[22:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he did not hide his face from him.” For other uses of the idiom “hide the face” meaning “ignore,” see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9. Sometimes the idiom carries the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 27:9; 88:14).

[22:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “heard.”

[22:26]  ¹⁷ sn Eat and be filled. In addition to praising the Lord, the psalmist also offers a thank offering to the Lord and invites others to share in a communal meal.

[22:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “may your heart[s].”

[47:9]  ¹⁹ tc The words “along with” do not appear in the MT. However, the LXX has “with,” suggesting that the original text may have read עִם עַם (’im ’am, “along with the people”). In this case the MT is haplographic (the consonantal sequence ayin-mem [עם] being written once instead of twice). Another option is that the LXX is simply and correctly interpreting “people” as an adverbial accusative and supplying the appropriate preposition.

[47:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for to God [belong] the shields of the earth.” Perhaps the rulers are called “shields” because they are responsible for protecting their people. See Ps 84:9, where the Davidic king is called “our shield,” and perhaps also Hos 4:18.

[47:9]  ²¹ tn The verb עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”) appears once more (see v. 5), though now in the Niphal stem.

[67:1]  ²² sn Psalm 67. The psalmist prays for God’s blessing upon his people and urges the nations to praise him for he is the just ruler of the world.

[67:1]  ²³ tn Or “have mercy on us.”

[67:1]  ²⁴ tn The prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives expressing the psalmist’s prayer. Note the jussive form יָאֵר (ya’er) in the next line.

[67:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “may he cause his face to shine with us.”

[68:1]  ²⁶ sn Psalm 68. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior and celebrates the fact that God exerts his power on behalf of his people.

[68:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “rises up.” The verb form is an imperfect, not a jussive. The psalmist is describing God’s appearance in battle in a dramatic fashion.

[68:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “those who hate him.”

[68:1]  ²⁹ sn The wording of v. 1 echoes the prayer in Num 10:35: “Spring into action, Lord! Then your enemies will be scattered and your adversaries will run from you.”