Mazmur 16:6

16:6 It is as if I have been given fertile fields

or received a beautiful tract of land. ¹ 

Mazmur 50:5

50:5 He says: ² 

“Assemble my covenant people before me, ³ 

those who ratified a covenant with me by sacrifice!” ⁴ 

Mazmur 50:11

50:11 I keep track of ⁵  every bird in the hills,

and the insects ⁶  of the field are mine.

Mazmur 74:16

74:16 You established the cycle of day and night; ⁷ 

you put the moon ⁸  and sun in place. ⁹ 

Mazmur 105:3

105:3 Boast about his holy name!

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

Mazmur 119:57

ח (Khet)

119:57 The Lord is my source of security. ¹⁰ 

I have determined ¹¹  to follow your instructions. ¹² 

Mazmur 119:111

119:111 I claim your rules as my permanent possession,

for they give me joy. ¹³ 

Mazmur 122:5

122:5 Indeed, ¹⁴  the leaders sit ¹⁵  there on thrones and make legal decisions,

on the thrones of the house of David. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 127:3

127:3 Yes, ¹⁷  sons ¹⁸  are a gift from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb is a reward.

Mazmur 136:21

136:21 and gave their land as an inheritance,

for his loyal love endures,

Mazmur 146:5

146:5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

[16:6]  ¹ tn Heb “measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant [places]; yes, property [or “an inheritance”] is beautiful for me.” On the dative use of עַל, see BDB 758 s.v. II.8. Extending the metaphor used in v. 5, the psalmist compares the divine blessings he has received to a rich, beautiful tract of land that one might receive by allotment or inheritance.

[50:5]  ² tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. God’s summons to the defendant follows.

[50:5]  ³ tn Or “Gather to me my covenant people.” The Hebrew term חָסִיד (khasid, “covenant people”) elsewhere in the psalms is used in a positive sense of God’s loyal followers (see the note at Ps 4:3), but here, as the following line makes clear, the term has a neutral sense and simply refers to those who have outwardly sworn allegiance to God, not necessarily to those whose loyalty is genuine.

[50:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “the cutters of my covenant according to sacrifice.” A sacrifice accompanied the covenant-making ceremony and formally ratified the agreement (see Exod 24:3-8).

[50:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “I know.”

[50:11]  ⁶ tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word, which occurs only here and in Ps 80:13, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.

[74:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “To you [is] day, also to you [is] night.”

[74:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “[the] light.” Following the reference to “day and night” and in combination with “sun,” it is likely that the Hebrew term מָאוֹר (ma’or, “light”) refers here to the moon.

[74:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “you established [the] light and [the] sun.”

[119:57]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my portion [is] the Lord.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel (see Ps 16:5).

[119:57]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I said.”

[119:57]  ¹² tn Heb “to keep your words” (see v. 9).

[119:111]  ¹³ tn Heb “for the joy of my heart [are] they.”

[122:5]  ¹⁴ tn Or “for.”

[122:5]  ¹⁵ tn Or “sat.”

[122:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Indeed, there they sit [on] thrones for judgment, [on] thrones [belonging] to the house of David.”

[127:3]  ¹⁷ tn or “look.”

[127:3]  ¹⁸ tn Some prefer to translate this term with the gender neutral “children,” but “sons” are plainly in view here, as the following verses make clear. Daughters are certainly wonderful additions to a family, but in ancient Israelite culture sons were the “arrows” that gave a man security in his old age, for they could defend the family interests at the city gate, where the legal and economic issues of the community were settled.