Mazmur 5:2

5:2 Pay attention to my cry for help,

my king and my God,

for I am praying to you!

Mazmur 9:8

9:8 He judges the world fairly;

he makes just legal decisions for the nations. ¹ 

Mazmur 18:44-45

18:44 When they hear of my exploits, they submit to me. ² 

Foreigners are powerless ³  before me;

18:45 foreigners lose their courage; ⁴ 

they shake with fear ⁵  as they leave ⁶  their strongholds. ⁷ 

Mazmur 19:8

19:8 The Lord’s precepts are fair ⁸ 

and make one joyful. ⁹ 

The Lord’s commands ¹⁰  are pure ¹¹ 

and give insight for life. ¹² 

Mazmur 22:4

22:4 In you our ancestors ¹³  trusted;

they trusted in you ¹⁴  and you rescued them.

Mazmur 22:11

22:11 Do not remain far away from me,

for trouble is near and I have no one to help me. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 31:6

31:6 I hate those who serve worthless idols, ¹⁶ 

but I trust in the Lord.

Mazmur 38:14

38:14 I am like a man who cannot hear

and is incapable of arguing his defense. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 45:11

45:11 Then ¹⁸  the king will be attracted by ¹⁹  your beauty.

After all, he is your master! Submit ²⁰  to him! ²¹ 

Mazmur 56:11

56:11 in God I trust, I am not afraid.

What can mere men ²²  do to me? ²³ 

Mazmur 58:5

58:5 that does not respond to ²⁴  the magicians,

or to a skilled snake-charmer.

Mazmur 60:5

60:5 Deliver by your power ²⁵  and answer me, ²⁶ 

so that the ones you love may be safe. ²⁷ 

Mazmur 64:2

64:2 Hide me from the plots of evil men,

from the crowd of evildoers. ²⁸ 

Mazmur 89:32

89:32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club, ²⁹ 

their sin by inflicting them with bruises. ³⁰ 

Mazmur 140:7-8

140:7 O sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, ³¹ 

you shield ³²  my head in the day of battle.

140:8 O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way! ³³ 

Do not allow their ³⁴  plan to succeed when they attack! ³⁵  (Selah)

[9:8]  ¹ tn Heb “the peoples.” The imperfect verbal forms in v. 8 either describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions (“will judge…”).

[18:44]  ² tn Heb “at a report of an ear they submit to me.” The report of the psalmist’s exploits is so impressive that those who hear it submit to his rulership without putting up a fight.

[18:44]  ³ tn For the meaning “be weak, powerless” for כָּחַשׁ (kakhash), see Ps 109:24. The next line (see v. 45a), in which “foreigners” are also mentioned, favors this interpretation. Another option is to translate “cower in fear” (see Deut 33:29; Pss 66:3; 81:15; cf. NIV “cringe”; NRSV “came cringing”).

[18:45]  ⁴ tn Heb “wither, wear out.”

[18:45]  ⁵ tn The meaning of חָרַג (kharag, “shake”) is established on the basis of cognates in Arabic and Aramaic. 2 Sam 22:46 reads חָגַר (khagar), which might mean here, “[they] come limping” (on the basis of a cognate in postbiblical Hebrew). The normal meaning for חָגַר (“gird”) makes little sense here.

[18:45]  ⁶ tn Heb “from.”

[18:45]  ⁷ tn Heb “their prisons.” The besieged cities of the foreigners are compared to prisons.

[19:8]  ⁸ tn Or “just.” Perhaps the idea is that they impart a knowledge of what is just and right.

[19:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “[they] make happy [the] heart.” Perhaps the point is that they bring a sense of joyful satisfaction to the one who knows and keeps them, for those who obey God’s law are richly rewarded. See v. 11b.

[19:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “command.” The singular here refers to the law as a whole.

[19:8]  ¹¹ tn Because they reflect God’s character, his commands provide a code of moral and ethical purity.

[19:8]  ¹² tn Heb [they] enlighten [the] eyes.

[22:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “fathers.”

[22:4]  ¹⁴ tn The words “in you” are supplied in the translation. They are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[22:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and there is no helper.”

[31:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the ones who observe vain things of falsehood.” See Jonah 2:9.

[38:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”

[45:11]  ¹⁸ tn After the preceding imperatives, the jussive verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive is best understood as introducing a purpose (“so that the king might desire your beauty”) or result clause (see the present translation and cf. also NASB). The point seems to be this: The bride might tend to be homesick, which in turn might cause her to mourn and diminish her attractiveness. She needs to overcome this temptation to unhappiness and enter into the marriage with joy. Then the king will be drawn to her natural beauty.

[45:11]  ¹⁹ tn Or “desire.”

[45:11]  ²⁰ tn Or “bow down.”

[45:11]  ²¹ sn Submit to him. The poet here makes the point that the young bride is obligated to bring pleasure to her new husband. Though a foreign concept to modern western culture, this was accepted as the cultural norm in the psalmist’s day.

[56:11]  ²² tn The statement is similar to that of v. 4, except “flesh” is used there instead of “man.”

[56:11]  ²³ tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.

[58:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “does not listen to the voice of.”

[60:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “right hand.”

[60:5]  ²⁶ tn The Qere (marginal reading) has “me,” while the Kethib (consonantal text) has “us.”

[60:5]  ²⁷ tn Or “may be rescued.” The lines are actually reversed in the Hebrew text, “So that the ones you love may be rescued, deliver by your power and answer me.”

[64:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “workers of wickedness.”

[89:32]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I will punish with a club their rebellion.”

[89:32]  sn Despite the harsh image of beating…with a club, the language reflects a father-son relationship (see v. 30; 2 Sam 7:14). According to Proverbs, a שֵׁבֶט (shevet, “club”) was sometimes utilized to administer corporal punishment to rebellious children (see Prov 13:24; 22:15; 23:13-14; 29:15).

[89:32]  ³⁰ tn Heb “with blows their sin.”

[140:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “the strength of my deliverance.”

[140:7]  ³² tn Heb “cover.”

[140:8]  ³³ tn Heb “do not grant the desires of the wicked.”

[140:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “his.” The singular is used in a representative sense (see v. 1).

[140:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “his plot do not promote, they rise up.” The translation understands the final verb as being an unmarked temporal clause. Another option is to revocalize the verb as a Hiphil and take the verb with the next verse, “those who surround me lift up [their] head,” which could refer to their proud attitude as they anticipate victory (see Ps 27:6).