Mazmur 18:32

18:32 The one true God ¹  gives ²  me strength; ³ 

he removes ⁴  the obstacles in my way. ⁵ 

Mazmur 29:2

29:2 Acknowledge the majesty of the Lord’s reputation! ⁶ 

Worship the Lord in holy attire! ⁷ 

Mazmur 33:3

33:3 Sing to him a new song! ⁸ 

Play skillfully as you shout out your praises to him! ⁹ 

Mazmur 50:5

50:5 He says: ¹⁰ 

“Assemble my covenant people before me, ¹¹ 

those who ratified a covenant with me by sacrifice!” ¹² 

Mazmur 74:13

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

you shattered the heads of the sea monster ¹⁴  in the water.

Mazmur 78:33

78:33 So he caused them to die unsatisfied ¹⁵ 

and filled with terror. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 103:4-5

103:4 who delivers ¹⁷  your life from the Pit, ¹⁸ 

who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,

103:5 who satisfies your life with good things, ¹⁹ 

so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 107:22

107:22 Let them present thank offerings,

and loudly proclaim what he has done! ²¹ 

Mazmur 109:29

109:29 My accusers will be covered ²²  with shame,

and draped in humiliation as if it were a robe.

Mazmur 147:14

147:14 He ²³  brings peace to your territory. ²⁴ 

He abundantly provides for you ²⁵  the best grain.

[18:32]  ¹ tn Heb “the God.” The prefixed article emphasizes the Lord’s distinctiveness as the one true God (cf. Deut 33:26). See v. 30.

[18:32]  ² tn Heb “is the one who clothes.” For similar language see 1 Sam 2:4; Pss 65:6; 93:1. The psalmist employs a generalizing hymnic style in vv. 32-34; he uses participles in vv. 32a, 33a, and 34a to describe what God characteristically does on his behalf.

[18:32]  ³ tn 2 Sam 22:33 reads, “the God is my strong refuge.”

[18:32]  sn Gives me strength. As the following context makes clear, this refers to physical and emotional strength for battle (see especially v. 39).

[18:32]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries along the generalizing force of the preceding participle.

[18:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “he made my path smooth.” The Hebrew term תָּמִים (tamim, “smooth”) usually carries a moral or ethical connotation, “blameless, innocent.” However, in Ps 18:33 it refers to a pathway free of obstacles. The reality underlying the metaphor is the psalmist’s ability to charge into battle without tripping (see vv. 33, 36).

[29:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name.” The Hebrew term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) refers here to the Lord’s reputation. (The English term “name” is often used the same way.)

[29:2]  ⁷ tn That is, properly dressed for the occasion.

[33:3]  ⁸ sn A new song is appropriate because the Lord is constantly intervening in the lives of his people in fresh and exciting ways.

[33:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “play skillfully with a loud shout.”

[50:5]  ¹⁰ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. God’s summons to the defendant follows.

[50:5]  ¹¹ tn Or “Gather to me my covenant people.” The Hebrew term חָסִיד (khasid, “covenant people”) elsewhere in the psalms is used in a positive sense of God’s loyal followers (see the note at Ps 4:3), but here, as the following line makes clear, the term has a neutral sense and simply refers to those who have outwardly sworn allegiance to God, not necessarily to those whose loyalty is genuine.

[50:5]  ¹² tn Heb “the cutters of my covenant according to sacrifice.” A sacrifice accompanied the covenant-making ceremony and formally ratified the agreement (see Exod 24:3-8).

[74:13]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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.

[78:33]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he ended in vanity their days.”

[78:33]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and their years in terror.”

[103:4]  ¹⁷ tn Or “redeems.”

[103:4]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 55:24.

[103:5]  ¹⁹ tc Heb “who satisfies with the good of your ornaments.” The text as it stands makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes an emendation of עֶדְיֵךְ (’ed’ekh, “your ornaments”) to עֹדֵכִי (’odekhiy, “your duration; your continuance”) that is, “your life” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 18).

[103:5]  ²⁰ sn The expression your youth is renewed like an eagle’s may allude to the phenomenon of molting, whereby the eagle grows new feathers.

[107:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “and let them proclaim his works with a ringing cry.”

[109:29]  ²² tn Heb “clothed.” Another option is to translate the prefixed verbal forms in this line and the next as jussives (“may my accusers be covered with shame”).

[147:14]  ²³ tn Heb “the one who.”

[147:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he makes your boundary peace.”

[147:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “satisfies you with.”