Mazmur 114:3

114:3 The sea looked and fled; ¹ 

the Jordan River ²  turned back. ³ 

Mazmur 114:5

114:5 Why do you flee, O sea?

Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?

Mazmur 141:6

141:6 They will be thrown down the side of a cliff by their judges. ⁴ 

They ⁵  will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.

Mazmur 68:27

68:27 There is little Benjamin, their ruler, ⁶ 

and the princes of Judah in their robes, ⁷ 

along with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.

Mazmur 82:7

82:7 Yet you will die like mortals; ⁸ 

you will fall like all the other rulers.” ⁹ 

Mazmur 119:23

119:23 Though rulers plot and slander me, ¹⁰ 

your servant meditates on your statutes.

Mazmur 148:11

148:11 you kings of the earth and all you nations,

you princes and all you leaders ¹¹  on the earth,

Mazmur 2:2

2:2 The kings of the earth ¹²  form a united front; ¹³ 

the rulers collaborate ¹⁴ 

against the Lord and his anointed king. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 113:8

113:8 that he might seat him with princes,

with the princes of his people.

Mazmur 118:22

118:22 The stone which the builders discarded ¹⁶ 

has become the cornerstone. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 149:8

149:8 They bind ¹⁸  their kings in chains,

and their nobles in iron shackles,

Mazmur 78:51

78:51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,

the firstfruits of their reproductive power ¹⁹  in the tents of Ham.

Mazmur 105:22

105:22 giving him authority to imprison his officials ²⁰ 

and to teach his advisers. ²¹ 

Mazmur 105:36

105:36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,

the firstfruits of their reproductive power. ²² 

Mazmur 119:161

שׂ/שׁ (Sin/Shin)

119:161 Rulers pursue me for no reason,

yet I am more afraid of disobeying your instructions. ²³ 

Mazmur 45:16

45:16 Your ²⁴  sons will carry ²⁵  on the dynasty of your ancestors; ²⁶ 

you will make them princes throughout the land.

Mazmur 76:12

76:12 He humbles princes; ²⁷ 

the kings of the earth regard him as awesome. ²⁸ 

Mazmur 83:11

83:11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, ²⁹ 

and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna, ³⁰ 

Mazmur 18:43

18:43 You rescue me from a hostile army; ³¹ 

you make me ³²  a leader of nations;

people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects. ³³ 

Mazmur 47:9

47:9 The nobles of the nations assemble,

along with the people of the God of Abraham, ³⁴ 

for God has authority over the rulers ³⁵  of the earth.

He is highly exalted! ³⁶ 

[114:3]  ¹ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).

[114:3]  ² tn Heb “the Jordan” (also in v. 5). The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[114:3]  ³ sn The psalmist recalls the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh 3:13, 16).

[141:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “they are thrown down by the hands of a cliff, their judges.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult and the meaning uncertain. The perfect verbal form is understood as rhetorical; the psalmist describes the anticipated downfall of the wicked as if it had already occurred. “Their judges” could be taken as the subject of the verb, but this makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes the judges are the agents and that the wicked, mentioned earlier in the psalm, are the subjects of the verb.

[141:6]  ⁵ tn It is unclear how this statement relates to the preceding sentence. Perhaps the judges are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the verb “will listen,” and “my words” are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the phrase “are pleasant.” The psalmist may be affirming here his confidence that he will be vindicated when he presents his case before the judges, while the wicked will be punished.

[68:27]  ⁶ sn Little Benjamin, their ruler. This may allude to the fact that Israel’s first king, Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin.

[68:27]  ⁷ tc The MT reads רִגְמָתָם (rigmatam), which many derive from רָגַם (ragam, “to kill by stoning”) and translates, “[in] their heaps,” that is, in large numbers.

[82:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “men.” The point in the context is mortality, however, not maleness.

[82:7]  sn You will die like mortals. For the concept of a god losing immortality and dying, see Isa 14:12-15, which alludes to a pagan myth in which the petty god “Shining One, son of the Dawn,” is hurled into Sheol for his hubris.

[82:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “like one of the rulers.” The comparison does not necessarily imply that they are not rulers. The expression “like one of” can sometimes mean “as one of” (Gen 49:16; Obad 11) or “as any other of” (Judg 16:7, 11).

[119:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “though rulers sit, about me they talk together.” (For another example of the Niphal of דָּבַר (davar) used with a suffixed form of the preposition ב, see Ezek 33:30.)

[148:11]  ¹¹ tn Or “judges.”

[2:2]  ¹² sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.

[2:2]  ¹³ tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.

[2:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).

[2:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).

[118:22]  ¹⁶ tn Or “rejected.”

[118:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the head of the corner.”

[118:22]  sn The metaphor of the stone…the builders discarded describes the way in which God’s deliverance reversed the psalmist’s circumstances. When he was in distress, he was like a stone which was discarded by builders as useless, but now that he has been vindicated by God, all can see that he is of special importance to God, like the cornerstone of the building.

[149:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to bind.”

[78:51]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the beginning of strength.” If retained, the plural form אוֹנִים (’onim, “strength”) probably indicates degree (“great strength”), but many ancient witnesses read “their strength,” which presupposes an emendation to אֹנָם (’onam; singular form of the noun with third masculine plural pronominal suffix).

[105:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to bind his officials by his will.”

[105:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “and his elders he taught wisdom.”

[105:36]  ²² tn Heb “the beginning of all their strength,” that is, reproductive power (see Ps 78:51).

[105:36]  sn Verses 28-36 recall the plagues in a different order than the one presented in Exodus: v. 28 (plague 9), v. 29 (plague 1), v. 30 (plague 2), v. 31a (plague 4), v. 31b (plague 3), vv. 32-33 (plague 7), vv. 34-35 (plague 8), v. 36 (plague 10). No reference is made in Ps 105 to plagues 5 and 6.

[119:161]  ²³ tn Heb “and because of your instructions my heart trembles.” The psalmist’s healthy “fear” of the consequences of violating God’s instructions motivates him to obey them. See v. 120.

[45:16]  ²⁴ tn The pronoun is second masculine singular, indicating the king is being addressed from this point to the end of the psalm.

[45:16]  ²⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive and the statement interpreted as a prayer, “May your sons carry on the dynasty of your ancestors!” The next line could then be taken as a relative clause, “[your sons] whom you will make princes throughout the land.”

[45:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in place of your fathers will be your sons.”

[76:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he reduces the spirit of princes.” According to HALOT 148 s.v. II בצר, the Hebrew verb בָּצַר (batsar) is here a hapax legomenon meaning “reduce, humble.” The statement is generalizing, with the imperfect tense highlighting God’s typical behavior.

[76:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “[he is] awesome to the kings of the earth.”

[83:11]  ²⁹ sn Oreb and Zeeb were the generals of the Midianite army that was defeated by Gideon. The Ephraimites captured and executed both of them and sent their heads to Gideon (Judg 7:24-25).

[83:11]  ³⁰ sn Zebah and Zalmunna were the Midianite kings. Gideon captured them and executed them (Judg 8:1-21).

[18:43]  ³¹ tn Heb “from the strivings of a people.” In this context the Hebrew term רִיב (riv, “striving”) probably has a militaristic sense (as in Judg 12:2; Isa 41:11), and עָם (’am, “people”) probably refers more specifically to an army (for other examples, see the verses listed in BDB 766 s.v. I עַם, עָם 2.d). Some understand the phrase as referring to attacks by the psalmist’s own countrymen, the “nation” being Israel. However, foreign enemies appear to be in view; note the reference to “nations” in the following line.

[18:43]  ³² tn 2 Sam 22:44 reads, “you keep me.”

[18:43]  ³³ tn Heb “a people whom I did not know serve me.” In this context “know” (יָדַע, yada’) probably refers to formal recognition by treaty. People who were once not under the psalmist’s authority now willingly submit to his rulership to avoid being conquered militarily (see vv. 44-45). The language may recall the events recorded in 2 Sam 8:9-10 and 10:19.

[47:9]  ³⁴ tc The words “along with” do not appear in the MT. However, the LXX has “with,” suggesting that the original text may have read עִם עַם (’im ’am, “along with the people”). In this case the MT is haplographic (the consonantal sequence ayin-mem [עם] being written once instead of twice). Another option is that the LXX is simply and correctly interpreting “people” as an adverbial accusative and supplying the appropriate preposition.

[47:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “for to God [belong] the shields of the earth.” Perhaps the rulers are called “shields” because they are responsible for protecting their people. See Ps 84:9, where the Davidic king is called “our shield,” and perhaps also Hos 4:18.

[47:9]  ³⁶ tn The verb עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”) appears once more (see v. 5), though now in the Niphal stem.