Mazmur 18:11

18:11 He shrouded himself in darkness, ¹ 

in thick rain clouds. ² 

Mazmur 22:27

22:27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him! ³ 

Let all the nations ⁴  worship you! ⁵ 

Mazmur 31:20

31:20 You hide them with you, where they are safe from the attacks ⁶  of men; ⁷ 

you conceal them in a shelter, where they are safe from slanderous attacks. ⁸ 

Mazmur 52:9

52:9 I will continually ⁹  thank you when ¹⁰  you execute judgment; ¹¹ 

I will rely ¹²  on you, ¹³  for your loyal followers know you are good. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 68:30

68:30 Sound your battle cry ¹⁵  against the wild beast of the reeds, ¹⁶ 

and the nations that assemble like a herd of calves led by bulls! ¹⁷ 

They humble themselves ¹⁸  and offer gold and silver as tribute. ¹⁹ 

God ²⁰  scatters ²¹  the nations that like to do battle.

Mazmur 81:5

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

when he attacked the land of Egypt. ²² 

I heard a voice I did not recognize. ²³ 

Mazmur 81:7

81:7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.

I answered you from a dark thundercloud. ²⁴ 

I tested you at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵  (Selah)

Mazmur 116:19

116:19 in the courts of the Lord’s temple,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!

[18:11]  ¹ tc Heb “he made darkness his hiding place around him, his covering.” 2 Sam 22:12 reads, “he made darkness around him coverings,” omitting “his hiding place” and pluralizing “covering.” Ps 18:11 may include a conflation of synonyms (“his hiding place” and “his covering”) or 2 Sam 22:12 may be the result of haplography/homoioarcton. Note that three successive words in Ps 18:11 begin with the Hebrew letter samek: סִתְרוֹ סְבִיבוֹתָיו סֻכָּתוֹ (sitro sÿvivotayv sukkato).

[18:11]  ² tc Heb “darkness of water, clouds of clouds.” The noun “darkness” (חֶשְׁכַת, kheshkhat) is probably a corruption of an original reading חשׁרת, a form that is preserved in 2 Sam 22:12. The latter is a construct form of חַשְׁרָה (khashrah, “sieve”) which occurs only here in the OT. A cognate Ugaritic noun means “sieve,” and a related verb חָשַׁר (khashar, “to sift”) is attested in postbiblical Hebrew and Aramaic. The phrase חַשְׁרַת מַיִם (khashrat mayim) means literally “a sieve of water.” It pictures the rain clouds as a sieve through which the rain falls to the ground (see F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry [SBLDS], 146, n. 33).

[22:27]  ³ tn Heb “may all the ends of the earth remember and turn to the Lord.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27 are understood as jussives (cf. NEB). Another option (cf. NIV, NRSV) is to take the forms as imperfects and translate, “all the people of the earth will acknowledge and turn…and worship.” See vv. 29-32.

[22:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “families of the nations.”

[22:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “before you.”

[31:20]  ⁶ tn The noun רֹכֶס (rokhes) occurs only here. Its meaning is debated; some suggest “snare,” while others propose “slander” or “conspiracy.”

[31:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “you hide them in the hiding place of your face from the attacks of man.” The imperfect verbal forms in this verse draw attention to God’s typical treatment of the faithful.

[31:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “you conceal them in a shelter from the strife of tongues.”

[52:9]  ⁹ tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”

[52:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “for.”

[52:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you have acted.” The perfect verbal form (1) probably indicates a future perfect here. The psalmist promises to give thanks when the expected vindication has been accomplished. Other options include (2) a generalizing (“for you act”) or (3) rhetorical (“for you will act”) use.

[52:9]  ¹² tn Or “wait.”

[52:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “your name.” God’s “name” refers here to his reputation and revealed character.

[52:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for it is good in front of your loyal followers.”

[68:30]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts such as Ps 68 this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Ps 106:9 and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 18:15; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[68:30]  ¹⁶ sn The wild beast of the reeds probably refers to a hippopotamus, which in turn symbolizes the nation of Egypt.

[68:30]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “an assembly of bulls, with calves of the nations.”

[68:30]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “humbling himself.” The verb form is a Hitpael participle from the root רָפַס (rafas, “to trample”). The Hitpael of this verb appears only here and in Prov 6:3, where it seems to mean, “humble oneself,” a nuance that fits nicely in this context. The apparent subject is “wild beast” or “assembly,” though both of these nouns are grammatically feminine, while the participle is a masculine form. Perhaps one should emend the participial form to a masculine plural (מִתְרַפִּם, mitrapim) and understand “bulls” or “calves” as the subject.

[68:30]  ¹⁹ tc Heb “with pieces [?] of silver.” The meaning of the Hebrew term רַצֵּי (ratsey) is unclear. It is probably best to emend the text to בֶּצֶר וְכָסֶף (betser vÿkhasef, “[with] gold and silver”).

[68:30]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[68:30]  ²¹ tn The verb בָּזַר (bazar) is an alternative form of פָּזַר (pazar, “scatter”).

[81:5]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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.

[81:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I answered you in the hidden place of thunder.” This may allude to God’s self-revelation at Mount Sinai, where he appeared in a dark cloud accompanied by thunder (see Exod 19:16).

[81:7]  ²⁵ sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at the place called Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.