Mazmur 31:11

31:11 Because of all my enemies, people disdain me; ¹ 

my neighbors are appalled by my suffering ²  –

those who know me are horrified by my condition; ³ 

those who see me in the street run away from me.

Mazmur 40:2

40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit, ⁴ 

out of the slimy mud. ⁵ 

He placed my feet on a rock

and gave me secure footing. ⁶ 

Mazmur 51:19

51:19 Then you will accept ⁷  the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;

then bulls will be sacrificed ⁸  on your altar. ⁹ 

Mazmur 57:4

57:4 I am surrounded by lions;

I lie down ¹⁰  among those who want to devour me; ¹¹ 

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are a sharp sword. ¹² 

Mazmur 57:6

57:6 They have prepared a net to trap me; ¹³ 

I am discouraged. ¹⁴ 

They have dug a pit for me. ¹⁵ 

They will fall ¹⁶  into it! (Selah)

Mazmur 31:19

31:19 How great is your favor, ¹⁷ 

which you store up for your loyal followers! ¹⁸ 

In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter ¹⁹  in you. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 42:6

42:6 I am depressed, ²¹ 

so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, ²² 

from Hermon, ²³  from Mount Mizar. ²⁴ 

Mazmur 48:10

48:10 The praise you receive as far away as the ends of the earth

is worthy of your reputation, O God. ²⁵ 

You execute justice! ²⁶ 

Mazmur 62:8

62:8 Trust in him at all times, you people!

Pour out your hearts before him! ²⁷ 

God is our shelter! (Selah)

Mazmur 65:5

65:5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,

O God, our savior. ²⁸ 

All the ends of the earth trust in you, ²⁹ 

as well as those living across the wide seas. ³⁰ 

Mazmur 67:4

67:4 Let foreigners ³¹  rejoice and celebrate!

For you execute justice among the nations,

and govern the people living on earth. ³²  (Selah)

Mazmur 84:3

84:3 Even the birds find a home there,

and the swallow ³³  builds a nest,

where she can protect her young ³⁴ 

near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,

my king and my God.

Mazmur 88:5

88:5 adrift ³⁵  among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

and who are cut off from your power. ³⁶ 

Mazmur 38:6

38:6 I am dazed ³⁷  and completely humiliated; ³⁸ 

all day long I walk around mourning.

Mazmur 40:15

40:15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”

be humiliated ³⁹  and disgraced! ⁴⁰ 

Mazmur 49:2

49:2 Pay attention, all you people, ⁴¹ 

both rich and poor!

Mazmur 49:9

49:9 so that he might continue to live ⁴²  forever

and not experience death. ⁴³ 

Mazmur 51:15

51:15 O Lord, give me the words! ⁴⁴ 

Then my mouth will praise you. ⁴⁵ 

Mazmur 70:3

70:3 May those who say, “Aha! Aha!”

be driven back ⁴⁶  and disgraced! ⁴⁷ 

Mazmur 89:4

89:4 ‘I will give you an eternal dynasty ⁴⁸ 

and establish your throne throughout future generations.’” ⁴⁹  (Selah)

Mazmur 89:31

89:31 if they break ⁵⁰  my rules

and do not keep my commandments,

Mazmur 102:22

102:22 when the nations gather together,

and the kingdoms pay tribute to the Lord. ⁵¹ 

[31:11]  ¹ tn Heb “because of all my enemies I am a reproach.”

[31:11]  ² tc Heb “and to my neighbors, exceedingly.” If the MT is retained, then these words probably go with what precedes. However the syntactical awkwardness of the text suggests it is textually corrupt. P. C. Craigie (Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 258) suggests that the initial mem (מ) on מְאֹד (me’od, “exceedingly”) be understood as an enclitic mem (ם) which was originally suffixed to the preceding form and then later misinterpreted. The resulting form אֵד (’ed) can then be taken as a defectively written form of אֵיד (’ed, “calamity”). If one follows this emendation, then the text reads literally, “and to my neighbors [I am one who experiences] calamity.” The noun פַחַד (fakhad, “[object of] horror”) occurs in the next line; אֵיד and פַחַד appear in parallelism elsewhere (see Prov 1:26-27).

[31:11]  ³ tn Heb “and [an object of ] horror to those known by me.”

[40:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (sha’on, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).

[40:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two 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.

[40:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”

[51:19]  ⁷ tn Or “desire, take delight in.”

[51:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “then they will offer up bulls.” The third plural subject is indefinite.

[51:19]  ⁹ sn Verses 18-19 appear to reflect the exilic period, when the city’s walls lay in ruins and the sacrificial system had been disrupted.

[57:4]  ¹⁰ tn The cohortative form אֶשְׁכְּבָה (’eshkÿvah, “I lie down”) is problematic, for it does not seem to carry one of the normal functions of the cohortative (resolve or request). One possibility is that the form here is a “pseudo-cohortative” used here in a gnomic sense (IBHS 576-77 §34.5.3b).

[57:4]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew verb לָהַט (lahat) is here understood as a hapax legomenon meaning “devour” (see HALOT 521 s.v. II להט), a homonym of the more common verb meaning “to burn.” A more traditional interpretation takes the verb from this latter root and translates, “those who are aflame” (see BDB 529 s.v.; cf. NASB “those who breathe forth fire”).

[57:4]  ¹² tn Heb “my life, in the midst of lions, I lie down, devouring ones, sons of mankind, their teeth a spear and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword.” The syntax of the verse is difficult. Another option is to take “my life” with the preceding verse. For this to make sense, one must add a verb, perhaps “and may he deliver” (cf. the LXX), before the phrase. One might then translate, “May God send his loyal love and faithfulness and deliver my life.” If one does take “my life” with v. 4, then the parallelism of v. 5 is altered and one might translate: “in the midst of lions I lie down, [among] men who want to devour me, whose teeth….”

[57:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “for my feet.”

[57:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my life bends low.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[57:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “before me.”

[57:6]  ¹⁶ tn The perfect form is used rhetorically here to express the psalmist’s certitude. The demise of the enemies is so certain that he can speak of it as already accomplished.

[31:19]  ¹⁷ tn Or “How abundant are your blessings!”

[31:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for those who fear you.”

[31:19]  ¹⁹ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 34:21-22).

[31:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “you work [your favor] for the ones seeking shelter in you before the sons of men.”

[42:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “my God, upon me my soul bows down.” As noted earlier, “my God” belongs with the end of v. 6.

[42:6]  ²² tn Heb “therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan.” “Remember” is here used metonymically for prayer (see vv. 8-9). As the next line indicates, the region of the upper Jordan, where the river originates, is in view.

[42:6]  ²³ tc Heb “Hermons.” The plural form of the name occurs only here in the OT. Some suggest the plural refers to multiple mountain peaks (cf. NASB) or simply retain the plural in the translation (cf. NEB), but the final mem (ם) is probably dittographic (note that the next form in the text begins with the letter mem) or enclitic. At a later time it was misinterpreted as a plural marker and vocalized accordingly.

[42:6]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew term מִצְעָר (mits’ar) is probably a proper name (“Mizar”), designating a particular mountain in the Hermon region. The name appears only here in the OT.

[48:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “like your name, O God, so [is] your praise to the ends of the earth.” Here “name” refers to God’s reputation and revealed character.

[48:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “your right hand is full of justice.” The “right hand” suggests activity and power.

[62:8]  ²⁷ tn To “pour out one’s heart” means to offer up to God intense, emotional lamentation and petitionary prayers (see Lam 2:19).

[65:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “[with] awesome acts in deliverance you answer us, O God of our salvation.”

[65:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a source of confidence [for] all the ends of the earth.”

[65:5]  sn All the ends of the earth trust in you. This idealistic portrayal of universal worship is typical hymnic hyperbole, though it does anticipate eschatological reality.

[65:5]  ³⁰ tc Heb “and [the] distant sea.” The plural adjective is problematic after the singular form “sea.” One could emend יָם (yam, “sea”) to יָמִים (yamim, “seas”), or emend the plural form רְחֹקִים (rÿkhoqim, “far”) to the singular רָחֹק (rakhoq). In this case the final mem (ם) could be treated as dittographic; note the mem on the beginning of the first word in v. 6.

[67:4]  ³¹ tn Or “peoples.”

[67:4]  ³² tn Heb “for you judge nations fairly, and [as for the] peoples in the earth, you lead them.” The imperfects are translated with the present tense because the statement is understood as a generalization about God’s providential control of the world. Another option is to understand the statement as anticipating God’s future rule (“for you will rule…and govern”).

[84:3]  ³³ tn The word translated “swallow” occurs only here and in Prov 26:2.

[84:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, [in] which she places her young.”

[84:3]  sn The psalmist here romanticizes the temple as a place of refuge and safety. As he thinks of the birds nesting near its roof, he envisions them finding protection in God’s presence.

[88:5]  ³⁵ tn Heb “set free.”

[88:5]  ³⁶ tn Heb “from your hand.”

[38:6]  ³⁷ tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”

[38:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[40:15]  ³⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive in this imprecation.

[40:15]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “May they be humiliated according to their shame, those who say to me, ‘Aha! Aha!’”

[49:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “even the sons of mankind, even the sons of man.” Because of the parallel line, where “rich and poor” are mentioned, some treat these expressions as polar opposites, with בְּנֵי אָדָם (bÿney ’adam) referring to the lower classes and בְּנֵי אִישׁ (bÿney ’ish) to higher classes (cf. NIV, NRSV). But usage does not support such a view. The rare phrase בְּנֵי אִישׁ (“sons of man”) appears to refer to human beings in general in its other uses (see Pss 4:2; 62:9; Lam 3:33). It is better to understand “even the sons of mankind” and “even the sons of man” as synonymous expressions (cf. NEB “all mankind, every living man”). The repetition emphasizes the need for all people to pay attention, for the psalmist’s message is relevant to everyone.

[49:9]  ⁴² tn The jussive verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive is taken as indicating purpose/result in relation to the statement made in v. 8. (On this use of the jussive after an imperfect, see GKC 322 §109.f.) In this case v. 8 is understood as a parenthetical comment.

[49:9]  ⁴³ tn Heb “see the Pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 55:24; 103:4).

[51:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “open my lips.” The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and my mouth will declare your praise.”

[70:3]  ⁴⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive in this imprecation.

[70:3]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “May they be turned back according to their shame, those who say, ‘Aha! Aha!’” Ps 40:15 has the verb “humiliated” instead of “turned back” and adds “to me” after “say.”

[89:4]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “forever I will establish your offspring.”

[89:4]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and I will build to a generation and a generation your throne.”

[89:31]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “desecrate.”

[102:22]  ⁵¹ tn “and the kingdoms to serve the Lord.”