Mazmur 106:19

106:19 They made an image of a calf at Horeb,

and worshiped a metal idol.

Mazmur 69:31

69:31 That will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull

with horns and hooves.

Mazmur 68:30

68:30 Sound your battle cry ¹  against the wild beast of the reeds, ² 

and the nations that assemble like a herd of calves led by bulls! ³ 

They humble themselves ⁴  and offer gold and silver as tribute. ⁵ 

God ⁶  scatters ⁷  the nations that like to do battle.

Mazmur 50:9

50:9 I do not need to take ⁸  a bull from your household

or goats from your sheepfolds.

Mazmur 22:12

22:12 Many bulls ⁹  surround me;

powerful bulls of Bashan ¹⁰  hem me in.

Mazmur 8:7

8:7 including all the sheep and cattle,

as well as the wild animals, ¹¹ 

Mazmur 29:6

29:6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf

and Sirion ¹²  like a young ox. ¹³ 

Mazmur 50:13

50:13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls?

Do I drink the blood of goats? ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 106:20

106:20 They traded their majestic God ¹⁵ 

for the image of an ox that eats grass.

Mazmur 144:14

144:14 Our cattle will be weighted down with produce. ¹⁶ 

No one will break through our walls,

no one will be taken captive,

and there will be no terrified cries in our city squares. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 51:19

51:19 Then you will accept ¹⁸  the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;

then bulls will be sacrificed ¹⁹  on your altar. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 66:15

66:15 I will offer up to you fattened animals as burnt sacrifices,

along with the smell of sacrificial rams.

I will offer cattle and goats. (Selah)

Mazmur 22:15

22:15 The roof of my mouth ²¹  is as dry as a piece of pottery;

my tongue sticks to my gums. ²² 

You ²³  set me in the dust of death. ²⁴ 

Mazmur 144:12

144:12 Then ²⁵  our sons will be like plants,

that quickly grow to full size. ²⁶ 

Our daughters will be like corner pillars, ²⁷ 

carved like those in a palace. ²⁸ 

[68:30]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts such as Ps 68 this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Ps 106:9 and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 18:15; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[68:30]  ² sn The wild beast of the reeds probably refers to a hippopotamus, which in turn symbolizes the nation of Egypt.

[68:30]  ³ tn Heb “an assembly of bulls, with calves of the nations.”

[68:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “humbling himself.” The verb form is a Hitpael participle from the root רָפַס (rafas, “to trample”). The Hitpael of this verb appears only here and in Prov 6:3, where it seems to mean, “humble oneself,” a nuance that fits nicely in this context. The apparent subject is “wild beast” or “assembly,” though both of these nouns are grammatically feminine, while the participle is a masculine form. Perhaps one should emend the participial form to a masculine plural (מִתְרַפִּם, mitrapim) and understand “bulls” or “calves” as the subject.

[68:30]  ⁵ tc Heb “with pieces [?] of silver.” The meaning of the Hebrew term רַצֵּי (ratsey) is unclear. It is probably best to emend the text to בֶּצֶר וְכָסֶף (betser vÿkhasef, “[with] gold and silver”).

[68:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[68:30]  ⁷ tn The verb בָּזַר (bazar) is an alternative form of פָּזַר (pazar, “scatter”).

[50:9]  ⁸ tn Or “I will not take.”

[22:12]  ⁹ sn The psalmist figuratively compares his enemies to dangerous bulls.

[22:12]  ¹⁰ sn Bashan, located east of the Jordan River, was well-known for its cattle. See Ezek 39:18; Amos 4:1.

[8:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and also the beasts of the field.”

[29:6]  ¹² sn Sirion is another name for Mount Hermon (Deut 3:9).

[29:6]  ¹³ sn Lebanon and Sirion are compared to frisky young animals (a calf…a young ox) who skip and jump. The thunderous shout of the Lord is so powerful, one can see the very mountains shake on the horizon.

[50:13]  ¹⁴ tn The rhetorical questions assume an emphatic negative response, “Of course not!”

[106:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “their glory.” According to an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition, the text originally read “his glory” or “my glory.” In Jer 2:11 the Lord states that his people (Israel) exchanged “their glory” (a reference to the Lord) for worthless idols.

[144:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “weighted down.” This probably refers (1) to the cattle having the produce from the harvest placed on their backs to be transported to the storehouses (see BDB 687 s.v. סָבַל). Other options are (2) to take this as reference to the cattle being pregnant (see HALOT 741 s.v. סבל pu) or (3) to their being well-fed or fattened (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 288).

[144:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “there [will be] no breach, and there [will be] no going out, and there [will be] no crying out in our broad places.”

[51:19]  ¹⁸ tn Or “desire, take delight in.”

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

[51:19]  ²⁰ 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.

[22:15]  ²¹ tc Heb “my strength” (כֹּחִי, kokhiy), but many prefer to emend the text to חִכִּי (khikiy, “my palate”; cf. NEB, NRSV “my mouth”) assuming that an error of transposition has occurred in the traditional Hebrew text.

[22:15]  ²² tn Cf. NEB “my jaw”; NASB, NRSV “my jaws”; NIV “the roof of my mouth.”

[22:15]  ²³ sn Here the psalmist addresses God and suggests that God is ultimately responsible for what is happening because of his failure to intervene (see vv. 1-2, 11).

[22:15]  ²⁴ sn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the progressive nature of the action. The psalmist is in the process of dying.

[144:12]  ²⁵ tn Some consider אֲשֶׁר (’asher) problematic, but here it probably indicates the anticipated consequence of the preceding request. (For other examples of אֲשֶׁר indicating purpose/result, see BDB 83 s.v. and HALOT 99 s.v.) If the psalmist – who appears to be a Davidic king preparing to fight a battle (see vv. 10-11) – is victorious, the whole nation will be spared invasion and defeat (see v. 14) and can flourish. Some prefer to emend the form to אַשְׁרֵי (“how blessed [are our sons]”). A suffixed noun sometimes follows אַשְׁרֵי (’ashrey; see 1 Kgs 10:8; Prov 20:7), but the presence of a comparative element (see “like plants”) after the suffixed noun makes the proposed reading too awkward syntactically.

[144:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “grown up in their youth.” The translation assumes that “grown up” modifies “plants” (just as “carved” modifies “corner pillars” in the second half of the verse). Another option is to take “grown up” as a predicate in relation to “our sons,” in which case one might translate, “they will be strapping youths.”

[144:12]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here and in Zech 9:15, where it refers to the corners of an altar.

[144:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “carved [in] the pattern of a palace.”