Mazmur 17:15

17:15 As for me, because I am innocent I will see your face; ¹ 

when I awake you will reveal yourself to me. ² 

Mazmur 47:9

47:9 The nobles of the nations assemble,

along with the people of the God of Abraham, ³ 

for God has authority over the rulers ⁴  of the earth.

He is highly exalted! ⁵ 

Mazmur 68:11

68:11 The Lord speaks; ⁶ 

many, many women spread the good news. ⁷ 

Mazmur 68:35

68:35 You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple! ⁸ 

It is the God of Israel ⁹  who gives the people power and strength.

God deserves praise! ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 81:5

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

when he attacked the land of Egypt. ¹¹ 

I heard a voice I did not recognize. ¹² 

Mazmur 108:7

108:7 God has spoken in his sanctuary: ¹³ 

“I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem,

the valley of Succoth I will measure off. ¹⁴ 

[17:15]  ¹ tn Heb “I, in innocence, I will see your face.” To “see” God’s “face” means to have access to his presence and to experience his favor (see Ps 11:7; see also Job 33:26 [where רָאָה (ra’ah), not חָזַה (khazah), is used]). Here, however, the psalmist may be anticipating a mystical experience. See the following note on the word “me.”

[17:15]  ² tn Heb “I will be satisfied, when I awake, [with] your form.” The noun תְּמוּנָה (tÿmunah) normally carries the nuance “likeness” or “form.” In Job 4:16 it refers to a ghostlike spiritual entity (see v. 15) that revealed itself to Eliphaz during the night. The psalmist may anticipate a mystical encounter with God in which he expects to see a manifestation of God’s presence (i.e., a theophany), perhaps in conjunction with an oracle of deliverance. During the quiet darkness of the night, God examines the psalmist’s inner motives and finds them to be pure (see v. 3). The psalmist is confident that when he awakens, perhaps sometime during the night or in the morning, he will be visited by God and assured of vindication.

[17:15]  sn When I awake you will reveal yourself to me. Some see in this verse an allusion to resurrection. According to this view, when the psalmist awakens from the sleep of death, he will see God. It is unlikely that the psalmist had such a highly developed personal eschatology. As noted above, it is more likely that he is anticipating a divine visitation and mystical encounter as a prelude to his deliverance from his enemies.

[47:9]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn The verb עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”) appears once more (see v. 5), though now in the Niphal stem.

[68:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “gives a word.” Perhaps this refers to a divine royal decree or battle cry.

[68:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “the ones spreading the good news [are] a large army.” The participle translated “the ones spreading the good news” is a feminine plural form. Apparently the good news here is the announcement that enemy kings have been defeated (see v. 12).

[68:35]  ⁸ tn Heb “awesome [is] God from his holy places.” The plural of מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “holy places”) perhaps refers to the temple precincts (see Ps 73:17; Jer 51:51).

[68:35]  ⁹ tn Heb “the God of Israel, he.”

[68:35]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “blessed [be] God.”

[81:5]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[108:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “in his holy place.”

[108:7]  ¹⁴ sn Shechem stands for the territory west of the Jordan River; the valley of Succoth represents the region east of the Jordan.