Mazmur 15:1

Psalm 15 ¹ 

A psalm of David.

15:1 Lord, who may be a guest in your home? ² 

Who may live on your holy hill? 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 19:14

19:14 May my words and my thoughts

be acceptable in your sight, ⁸ 

O Lord, my sheltering rock ⁹  and my redeemer. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 30:7

30:7 O Lord, in your good favor you made me secure. ¹¹ 

Then you rejected me ¹²  and I was terrified.

Mazmur 31:21

31:21 The Lord deserves praise ¹³ 

for he demonstrated his amazing faithfulness to me when I was besieged by enemies. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 38:9

38:9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire; ¹⁵ 

my groaning is not hidden from you.

Mazmur 38:15

38:15 Yet ¹⁶  I wait for you, O Lord!

You will respond, O Lord, my God!

Mazmur 40:11

40:11 O Lord, you do not withhold ¹⁷  your compassion from me.

May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me! ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 41:12

41:12 As for me, you uphold ¹⁹  me because of my integrity; ²⁰ 

you allow ²¹  me permanent access to your presence. ²² 

Mazmur 60:7

60:7 Gilead belongs to me,

as does Manasseh! ²³ 

Ephraim is my helmet, ²⁴ 

Judah my royal scepter. ²⁵ 

Mazmur 68:5

68:5 He is a father to the fatherless

and an advocate for widows. ²⁶ 

God rules from his holy palace. ²⁷ 

Mazmur 69:17

69:17 Do not ignore ²⁸  your servant,

for I am in trouble! Answer me right away! ²⁹ 

Mazmur 71:6

71:6 I have leaned on you since birth; ³⁰ 

you pulled me ³¹  from my mother’s womb.

I praise you continually. ³² 

Mazmur 74:19

74:19 Do not hand the life of your dove ³³  over to a wild animal!

Do not continue to disregard ³⁴  the lives of your oppressed people!

Mazmur 86:2

86:2 Protect me, ³⁵  for I am loyal!

O my God, deliver your servant, who trusts in you!

Mazmur 89:24

89:24 He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love, ³⁶ 

and by my name he will win victories. ³⁷ 

Mazmur 89:46

89:46 How long, O Lord, will this last?

Will you remain hidden forever? ³⁸ 

Will your anger continue to burn like fire?

Mazmur 94:16

94:16 Who will rise up to defend me ³⁹  against the wicked?

Who will stand up for me against the evildoers? ⁴⁰ 

Mazmur 104:29

104:29 When you ignore them, they panic. ⁴¹ 

When you take away their life’s breath, they die

and return to dust.

Mazmur 139:5

139:5 You squeeze me in from behind and in front;

you place your hand on me.

Mazmur 139:12

139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, ⁴² 

and the night is as bright as ⁴³  day;

darkness and light are the same to you. ⁴⁴ 

[15:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 15. This psalm describes the character qualities that one must possess to be allowed access to the divine presence.

[15:1]  ² tn Heb “Who may live as a resident alien in your tent?”

[15:1]  ³ sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill probably refers to Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 43:3; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.

[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.

[19:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “may the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart be acceptable before you.” The prefixed verbal form at the beginning of the verse is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate the form as an imperfect continuing the thought of v. 14b: “[Then] the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart will be acceptable before you.”

[19:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

[19:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the one who redeems me.” The metaphor casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis.

[30:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in your good favor you caused to stand for my mountain strength.” Apparently this means “you established strength for my mountain” (“mountain” in this case representing his rule, which would be centered on Mt. Zion) or “you established strength as my mountain” (“mountain” in this case being a metaphor for security).

[30:7]  ¹² tn Heb “you hid your face.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or, as here, carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Ps 88:14).

[31:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”

[31:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for he caused his faithfulness to be amazing to me in a besieged city.” The psalmist probably speaks figuratively here. He compares his crisis to being trapped in a besieged city, but the Lord answered his prayer for help. Verses 19-24 were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18.

[38:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “O Lord, before you [is] all my desire.”

[38:15]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps “surely.”

[40:11]  ¹⁷ tn Some (cf. NIV, NRSV) translate the verb as a request (“do not withhold”), but elsewhere in the psalms the second masculine singular prefixed form, when addressed to God and preceded by לֹא (lo’), is always indicative in mood and never has the force of a prayer (see Pss 16:10; 22:2; 44:9 51:16-17; 60:10; 108:11; cf. NEB, NASB).

[40:11]  ¹⁸ tn In this line the psalmist makes the transition from confidence to petition (see v. 13). Since the prefixed verbal form in the preceding line is imperfect/indicative, one could take the verb in this line as imperfect as well and translate, “your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me” (cf. NEB). However, the כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the next verse, if causal (“because”), is best understood as introducing a motivating argument in support of a petition. For this reason v. 11b is best taken as a prayer with the prefixed form being understood as jussive (cf. NIV, NRSV). For parallels to the proposed construction (jussive followed by כִּי + perfect introducing motivating argument), see Ps 25:21, as well as Pss 10:2-3; 22:8.

[41:12]  ¹⁹ tn Or “have upheld.” The perfect verbal form can be taken as generalizing/descriptive (present) or as a present perfect.

[41:12]  ²⁰ sn Because of my integrity. See Pss 7:8; 25:21; 26:1, 11.

[41:12]  ²¹ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect. It is either generalizing/descriptive (present) or has a present perfect nuance (“you have allowed”).

[41:12]  ²² tn Heb “and you cause me to stand before you permanently.”

[60:7]  ²³ sn Gilead was located east of the Jordan. Half of the tribe of Manasseh lived east of the Jordan in the region of Bashan.

[60:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the protection of my head.”

[60:7]  sn Ephraim, named after one of Joseph’s sons, was one of two major tribes located west of the Jordan. By comparing Ephraim to a helmet, the Lord suggests that the Ephraimites played a primary role in the defense of his land.

[60:7]  ²⁵ sn Judah, like Ephraim, was the other major tribe west of the Jordan. The Davidic king, symbolized here by the royal scepter, came from this tribe.

[68:5]  ²⁶ sn God is depicted here as a just ruler. In the ancient Near Eastern world a king was responsible for promoting justice, including caring for the weak and vulnerable, epitomized by the fatherless and widows.

[68:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “God [is] in his holy dwelling place.” He occupies his throne and carries out his royal responsibilities.

[69:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “do not hide your face from.” The Hebrew idiom “hide the face” can (1) mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

[69:17]  ²⁹ tn Or “quickly.”

[71:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “from the womb.”

[71:6]  ³¹ tc The form in the MT is derived from גָזָה (gazah, “to cut off”), perhaps picturing God as the one who severed the psalmist’s umbilical cord. Many interpreters and translators prefer to emend the text to גֹחִי (gokhiy), from גוּח (gukh) or גִיח, (gikh, “pull out”; see Ps 22:9; cf. the present translation) or to עוּזִּי (’uzziy, “my strength”; cf. NEB “my protector since I left my mother’s womb”).

[71:6]  ³² tn Heb “in you [is] my praise continually.”

[74:19]  ³³ sn Your dove. The psalmist compares weak and vulnerable Israel to a helpless dove.

[74:19]  ³⁴ tn Heb “do not forget forever.”

[86:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “my life.”

[89:24]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and my faithfulness and my loyal love [will be] with him.”

[89:24]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and by my name his horn will be lifted up.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 92:10; Lam 2:17).

[89:46]  ³⁸ tn Heb “How long, O Lord, will hide yourself forever?”

[94:16]  ³⁹ tn Heb “for me.”

[94:16]  ⁴⁰ sn Who will stand up for me…? The questions anticipate the answer, “No one except God” (see v. 17).

[104:29]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”

[139:12]  ⁴² tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[139:12]  ⁴³ tn Heb “shines like.”

[139:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”