Mazmur 2:12

2:12 Give sincere homage! ¹ 

Otherwise he ²  will be angry, ³ 

and you will die because of your behavior, ⁴ 

when his anger quickly ignites. ⁵ 

How blessed ⁶  are all who take shelter in him! ⁷ 

Mazmur 18:6

18:6 In my distress I called to the Lord;

I cried out to my God. ⁸ 

From his heavenly temple ⁹  he heard my voice;

he listened to my cry for help. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 28:7

28:7 The Lord strengthens and protects me; ¹¹ 

I trust in him with all my heart. ¹² 

I am rescued ¹³  and my heart is full of joy; ¹⁴ 

I will sing to him in gratitude. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 37:28

37:28 For the Lord promotes ¹⁶  justice,

and never abandons ¹⁷  his faithful followers.

They are permanently secure, ¹⁸ 

but the children ¹⁹  of evil men are wiped out. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 58:9

58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, ²¹ 

he ²²  will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat. ²³ 

Mazmur 68:35

68:35 You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple! ²⁴ 

It is the God of Israel ²⁵  who gives the people power and strength.

God deserves praise! ²⁶ 

Mazmur 95:7

95:7 For he is our God;

we are the people of his pasture,

the sheep he owns. ²⁷ 

Today, if only you would obey him! ²⁸ 

Mazmur 141:5

141:5 May the godly strike me in love and correct me!

May my head not refuse ²⁹  choice oil! ³⁰ 

Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds. ³¹ 

[2:12]  ¹ tn Traditionally, “kiss the son” (KJV). But בַּר (bar) is the Aramaic word for “son,” not the Hebrew. For this reason many regard the reading as suspect. Some propose emendations of vv. 11b-12a. One of the more popular proposals is to read בִּרְעָדָה נַשְּׁקוּ לְרַגְלָיו (bir’adah nashÿqu lÿraslayv, “in trembling kiss his feet”). It makes better sense to understand בַּר (bar) as an adjective meaning “pure” (see Pss 24:4; 73:1 and BDB 141 s.v. בַּר 3) functioning here in an adverbial sense. If read this way, then the syntactical structure of exhortation (imperative followed by adverbial modifier) corresponds to the two preceding lines (see v. 11). The verb נָשַׁק (nashaq, “kiss”) refers metonymically to showing homage (see 1 Sam 10:1; Hos 13:2). The exhortation in v. 12a advocates a genuine expression of allegiance and warns against insincerity. When swearing allegiance, vassal kings would sometimes do so insincerely, with the intent of rebelling when the time was right. The so-called “Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon” also warn against such an attitude. In this treaty the vassal is told: “If you, as you stand on the soil where this oath [is sworn], swear the oath with your words and lips [only], do not swear with your entire heart, do not transmit it to your sons who will live after this treaty, if you take this curse upon yourselves but do not plan to keep the treaty of Esarhaddon…may your sons and grandsons because of this fear in the future” (see J. B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East, 2:62).

[2:12]  ² tn Throughout the translation of this verse the third person masculine pronouns refer to the Lord (cf. v. 11).

[2:12]  ³ tn The implied subject of the verb is the Lord, mentioned in v. 11. Elsewhere the subject of this verb is consistently the Lord, suggesting it may be a technical term for divine anger. Anger is here used metonymically for judgment, as the following statement makes clear. A Moabite cognate occurs in the Mesha inscription, where it is used of the Moabite god Chemosh’s anger at his people (see J. B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East, 1:209).

[2:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “and you will perish [in the] way.” The Hebrew word דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) here refers to their rebellious behavior (not to a pathway, as often understood). It functions syntactically as an adverbial accusative in relation to the verb “perish.”

[2:12]  ⁵ tn Or “burns.” The Lord’s anger is compared here to fire, the most destructive force known in ancient Israel.

[2:12]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[2:12]  ⁷ sn Who take shelter in him. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[18:6]  ⁸ tn In this poetic narrative context the four prefixed verbal forms in v. 6 are best understood as preterites indicating past tense, not imperfects.

[18:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “from his temple.” Verse 10, which pictures God descending from the sky, indicates that the heavenly temple is in view, not the earthly one.

[18:6]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “and my cry for help before him came into his ears.” 2 Sam 22:7 has a shorter reading, “my cry for help, in his ears.” It is likely that Ps 18:6 MT as it now stands represents a conflation of two readings: (1) “my cry for help came before him,” (2) “my cry for help came into his ears.” See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry (SBLDS), 144, n. 13.

[28:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “The Lord [is] my strength and my shield.”

[28:7]  ¹² tn Heb “in him my heart trusts.”

[28:7]  ¹³ tn Or “I am helped.”

[28:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and my heart exults.”

[28:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and from my song I will thank him.” As pointed in the Hebrew text, מִשִּׁירִי (mishiri) appears to be “from my song,” but the preposition “from” never occurs elsewhere with the verb “to thank” (Hiphil of יָדָה, yadah). Perhaps משׁיר is a noun form meaning “song.” If so, it can be taken as an adverbial accusative, “and [with] my song I will thank him.” See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 236.

[37:28]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world. The active participle describes characteristic behavior.

[37:28]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.

[37:28]  ¹⁸ tn Or “protected forever.”

[37:28]  ¹⁹ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:28]  ²⁰ tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.

[58:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “before your pots perceive thorns.”

[58:9]  ²² tn Apparently God (v. 6) is the subject of the verb here.

[58:9]  ²³ tn Heb “like living, like burning anger he will sweep it away.” The meaning of the text is unclear. The translation assumes that within the cooking metaphor (see the previous line) חַי (khay, “living”) refers here to raw meat (as in 1 Sam 2:15, where it modifies בָּשָׂר, basar, “flesh”) and that חָרוּן (kharun; which always refers to God’s “burning anger” elsewhere) here refers to food that is cooked. The pronominal suffix on the verb “sweep away” apparently refers back to the “thorns” of the preceding line. The image depicts swift and sudden judgment. Before the fire has been adequately kindled and all the meat cooked, the winds of judgment will sweep away everything in their path.

[68:35]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the God of Israel, he.”

[68:35]  ²⁶ tn Heb “blessed [be] God.”

[95:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “of his hand.”

[95:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “if only you would listen to his voice.” The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (cf. Ps 81:8). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.

[141:5]  ²⁹ tn The form יָנִי (yaniy) appears to be derived from the verbal root נוּא (nu’). Another option is to emend the form to יְנָא (yÿna’), a Piel from נָאָה (na’ah), and translate “may choice oil not adorn my head” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 271). In this case, choice oil, like delicacies in v. 4, symbolize the pleasures of sin.

[141:5]  ³⁰ sn May my head not refuse choice oil. The psalmist compares the constructive criticism of the godly (see the previous line) to having refreshing olive oil poured over one’s head.

[141:5]  ³¹ tc Heb “for still, and my prayer [is] against their evil deeds.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult; the sequence -כִּי־עוֹד וּ (kiy-’od u-, “for still and”) occurs only here. The translation assumes an emendation to כִּי עֵד תְפלָּתִי (“indeed a witness [is] my prayer”). The psalmist’s lament about the evil actions of sinful men (see v. 4) testifies against the wicked in the divine court.