Mazmur 119:88

119:88 Revive me with ¹  your loyal love,

that I might keep ²  the rules you have revealed. ³ 

Mazmur 19:7

19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect

and preserves one’s life. ⁴ 

The rules set down by the Lord ⁵  are reliable ⁶ 

and impart wisdom to the inexperienced. ⁷ 

Mazmur 78:5

78:5 He established a rule ⁸  in Jacob;

he set up a law in Israel.

He commanded our ancestors

to make his deeds known to their descendants, ⁹ 

Mazmur 81:5

81:5 He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph,

when he attacked the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ 

I heard a voice I did not recognize. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 122:4

122:4 The tribes go up ¹²  there, ¹³ 

the tribes of the Lord,

where it is required that Israel

give thanks to the name of the Lord. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 80:1

Psalm 80 ¹⁵ 

For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; ¹⁶  a psalm of Asaph.

80:1 O shepherd of Israel, pay attention,

you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep!

You who sit enthroned above the winged angels, ¹⁷  reveal your splendor! ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 60:1

Psalm 60 ¹⁹ 

For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; ²⁰  a prayer ²¹  of David written to instruct others. ²²  It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram-Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down ²³  12,000 Edomites ²⁴  in the Valley of Salt. ²⁵ 

60:1 O God, you have rejected us. ²⁶ 

You suddenly turned on us in your anger. ²⁷ 

Please restore us! ²⁸ 

[119:88]  ¹ tn Heb “according to.”

[119:88]  ² tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:88]  ³ tn Heb “of your mouth.”

[19:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “[it] restores life.” Elsewhere the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) when used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”) as object, means to “rescue or preserve one’s life” (Job 33:30; Ps 35:17) or to “revive one’s strength” (emotionally or physically; cf. Ruth 4:15; Lam 1:11, 16, 19). Here the point seems to be that the law preserves the life of the one who studies it by making known God’s will. Those who know God’s will know how to please him and can avoid offending him. See v. 11a.

[19:7]  ⁵ tn Traditionally, “the testimony of the Lord.” The noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to the demands of God’s covenant law.

[19:7]  ⁶ tn God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.

[19:7]  ⁷ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly.

[78:5]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to God’s command that the older generation teach their children about God’s mighty deeds in the nation’s history (see Exod 10:2; Deut 4:9; 6:20-25).

[78:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “which he commanded our fathers to make them known to their sons.” The plural suffix “them” probably refers back to the Lord’s mighty deeds (see vv. 3-4).

[81:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in his going out against the land of Egypt.” This apparently refers to the general time period of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The LXX reads, “from Egypt,” in which case “Joseph” (see the preceding line) would be the subject of the verb, “when he [Joseph = Israel] left Egypt.”

[81:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a lip I did not know, I heard.” Here the term “lip” probably stands for speech or a voice. Apparently the psalmist speaks here and refers to God’s voice, whose speech is recorded in the following verses.

[122:4]  ¹² tn Or “went up.”

[122:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “which is where the tribes go up.”

[122:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[it is] a statute for Israel to give thanks to the name of the Lord.”

[80:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.

[80:1]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.

[80:1]  ¹⁷ sn Winged angels (Heb “cherubs”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.

[80:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “shine forth.”

[80:1]  sn Reveal your splendor. The psalmist may allude to Deut 33:2, where God “shines forth” from Sinai and comes to superintend Moses’ blessing of the tribes.

[60:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 60. The psalmist grieves over Israel’s humiliation, but in response to God’s assuring word, he asks for divine help in battle and expresses his confidence in victory.

[60:1]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew expression means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title.

[60:1]  ²¹ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-59, is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[60:1]  ²² tn Heb “to teach.”

[60:1]  ²³ tn In Josh 8:21 and Judg 20:48 the two verbs “turn back” and “strike down” are also juxtaposed. There they refer to a military counter-attack.

[60:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “12,000 of Edom.” Perhaps one should read אֲרַם (’aram, “Aram”) here rather than אֱדוֹם (’edom, “Edom”).

[60:1]  ²⁵ sn The heading apparently refers to the military campaign recorded in 2 Sam 10 and 1 Chr 19.

[60:1]  ²⁶ sn You have rejected us. See Pss 43:2; 44:9, 23.

[60:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “you broke out upon us, you were angry.”

[60:1]  ²⁸ tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.