Mazmur 28:2

28:2 Hear my plea for mercy when I cry out to you for help,

when I lift my hands ¹  toward your holy temple! ² 

Mazmur 63:4

63:4 For this reason ³  I will praise you while I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands. ⁴ 

Mazmur 68:31

68:31 They come with red cloth ⁵  from Egypt,

Ethiopia ⁶  voluntarily offers tribute ⁷  to God.

Mazmur 141:2

141:2 May you accept my prayer like incense,

my uplifted hands like the evening offering! ⁸ 

Mazmur 143:6

143:6 I spread my hands out to you in prayer; ⁹ 

my soul thirsts for you in a parched ¹⁰  land. ¹¹ 

[28:2]  ¹ sn I lift my hands. Lifting one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer.

[28:2]  ² tn The Hebrew term דְּבִיר (dÿvir, “temple”) actually refers to the most holy place within the sanctuary.

[63:4]  ³ tn Or perhaps “then.”

[63:4]  ⁴ sn I will lift up my hands. Lifting up one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19) or respect (Ps 119:48).

[68:31]  ⁵ tn This noun, which occurs only here in the OT, apparently means “red cloth” or “bronze articles” (see HALOT 362 s.v. חַשְׁמַן; cf. NEB “tribute”). Traditionally the word has been taken to refer to “nobles” (see BDB 365 s.v. חַשְׁמַן; cf. NIV “envoys”). Another option would be to emend the text to הַשְׁמַנִּים (hashmannim, “the robust ones,” i.e., leaders).

[68:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “Cush.”

[68:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “causes its hands to run,” which must mean “quickly stretches out its hands” (to present tribute).

[141:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “may my prayer be established [like] incense before you, the uplifting of my hands [like] an evening offering.”

[143:6]  ⁹ tn The words “in prayer” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the psalmist is referring to a posture of prayer.

[143:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” See Ps 63:1.

[143:6]  ¹¹ tc Heb “my soul like a faint land for you.” A verb (perhaps “thirsts”) is implied (see Ps 63:1). The translation assumes an emendation of the preposition -כְּ (kÿ, “like”) to -בְּ (bÿ, “in,” see Ps 63:1; cf. NEB “athirst for thee in a thirsty land”). If the MT is retained, one might translate, “my soul thirsts for you, as a parched land does for water/rain” (cf. NIV, NRSV).