Mazmur 103:3-16
Konteks103:3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
who heals all your diseases, 1
103:4 who delivers 2 your life from the Pit, 3
who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
103:5 who satisfies your life with good things, 4
so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s. 5
103:6 The Lord does what is fair,
and executes justice for all the oppressed. 6
103:7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts 7 to Moses,
his deeds to the Israelites.
103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient 8 and demonstrates great loyal love. 9
103:9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry. 10
103:10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; 11
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. 12
103:11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers 13 over his faithful followers. 14
103:12 As far as the eastern horizon 15 is from the west, 16
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions 17 from us.
103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, 18
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. 19
103:14 For he knows what we are made of; 20
he realizes 21 we are made of clay. 22
103:15 A person’s life is like grass. 23
Like a flower in the field it flourishes,
103:16 but when the hot wind 24 blows by, it disappears,
and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.
[103:3] 1 tn This relatively rare noun refers to deadly diseases (see Deut 29:22; Jer 14:18; 16:4; 2 Chr 21:19).
[103:4] 3 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] 4 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] 5 sn The expression your youth is renewed like an eagle’s may allude to the phenomenon of molting, whereby the eagle grows new feathers.
[103:6] 6 tn Heb “the
[103:7] 7 tn Heb “made known his ways.” God’s “ways” in this context are his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 18:30; 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 138:5; 145:17).
[103:8] 8 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).
[103:8] 9 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).
[103:9] 10 tn The Hebrew verb נָטַר (natar) is usually taken to mean “to keep; to guard,” with “anger” being understood by ellipsis. The idiom “to guard anger” is then understood to mean “to remain angry” (see Lev 19:18; Jer 3:5, 12; Nah 1:2). However, it is possible that this is a homonymic root meaning “to be angry” (see HALOT 695 s.v. נטר).
[103:10] 11 tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”
[103:10] 12 tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”
[103:11] 13 tn For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.
[103:11] 14 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
[103:12] 17 tn The Hebrew term פֶּשַׁע (pesha’, rebellious act”) is here used metonymically for the guilt such actions produce.
[103:13] 18 tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.
[103:13] 19 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
[103:14] 20 tn Heb “our form.”
[103:14] 21 tn Heb “remembers.”
[103:14] 22 tn Heb “we [are] clay.”
[103:15] 23 tn Heb “[as for] mankind, like grass [are] his days.” The Hebrew noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) is used here generically of human beings. What is said is true of all mankind.
[103:16] 24 tn Heb “[the] wind.” The word “hot” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
