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 4:3

4:3 Realize that ⁸  the Lord shows the godly special favor; ⁹ 

the Lord responds ¹⁰  when I cry out to him.

Mazmur 5:9

5:9 For ¹¹  they do not speak the truth; ¹² 

their stomachs are like the place of destruction, ¹³ 

their throats like an open grave, ¹⁴ 

their tongues like a steep slope leading into it. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 7:6

7:6 Stand up angrily, ¹⁶  Lord!

Rise up with raging fury against my enemies! ¹⁷ 

Wake up for my sake and execute the judgment you have decreed for them! ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 11:4

11:4 The Lord is in his holy temple; ¹⁹ 

the Lord’s throne is in heaven. ²⁰ 

His eyes ²¹  watch; ²² 

his eyes ²³  examine ²⁴  all people. ²⁵ 

Mazmur 22:9

22:9 Yes, you are the one who brought me out ²⁶  from the womb

and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.

Mazmur 22:24

22:24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering ²⁷  of the oppressed; ²⁸ 

he did not ignore him; ²⁹ 

when he cried out to him, he responded. ³⁰ 

Mazmur 31:17

31:17 O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,

for I call out to you!

May evil men be humiliated!

May they go wailing to the grave! ³¹ 

Mazmur 35:27

35:27 May those who desire my vindication shout for joy and rejoice!

May they continually say, ³²  “May the Lord be praised, ³³  for he wants his servant to be secure.” ³⁴ 

Mazmur 39:5

39:5 Look, you make my days short-lived, ³⁵ 

and my life span is nothing from your perspective. ³⁶ 

Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. ³⁷ 

Mazmur 40:10

40:10 I have not failed to tell about your justice; ³⁸ 

I spoke about your reliability and deliverance;

I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness. ³⁹ 

Mazmur 40:16

40:16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you!

May those who love to experience ⁴⁰  your deliverance say continually, ⁴¹ 

“May the Lord be praised!” ⁴² 

Mazmur 42:6

42:6 I am depressed, ⁴³ 

so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, ⁴⁴ 

from Hermon, ⁴⁵  from Mount Mizar. ⁴⁶ 

Mazmur 42:8

42:8 By day the Lord decrees his loyal love, ⁴⁷ 

and by night he gives me a song, ⁴⁸ 

a prayer ⁴⁹  to the living God.

Mazmur 42:11

42:11 Why are you depressed, ⁵⁰  O my soul? ⁵¹ 

Why are you upset? ⁵² 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ⁵³ 

Mazmur 52:7

52:7 “Look, here is the man who would not make ⁵⁴  God his protector!

He trusted in his great wealth

and was confident about his plans to destroy others.” ⁵⁵ 

Mazmur 59:3

59:3 For look, they wait to ambush me; ⁵⁶ 

powerful men stalk ⁵⁷  me,

but not because I have rebelled or sinned, O Lord. ⁵⁸ 

Mazmur 60:4

60:4 You have given your loyal followers ⁵⁹  a rallying flag,

so that they might seek safety from the bow. ⁶⁰  (Selah)

Mazmur 60:8

60:8 Moab is my washbasin. ⁶¹ 

I will make Edom serve me. ⁶² 

I will shout in triumph over Philistia.” ⁶³ 

Mazmur 62:3

62:3 How long will you threaten ⁶⁴  a man?

All of you are murderers, ⁶⁵ 

as dangerous as a leaning wall or an unstable fence. ⁶⁶ 

Mazmur 77:2

77:2 In my time of trouble I sought ⁶⁷  the Lord.

I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. ⁶⁸ 

I ⁶⁹  refused to be comforted.

Mazmur 78:4

78:4 we will not hide from their ⁷⁰  descendants.

We will tell the next generation

about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, ⁷¹ 

about his strength and the amazing things he has done.

Mazmur 78:50

78:50 He sent his anger in full force; ⁷² 

he did not spare them from death;

he handed their lives over to destruction. ⁷³ 

Mazmur 101:2

101:2 I will walk in ⁷⁴  the way of integrity.

When will you come to me?

I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace. ⁷⁵ 

Mazmur 106:7

106:7 Our ancestors in Egypt failed to appreciate your miraculous deeds,

they failed to remember your many acts of loyal love,

and they rebelled at the sea, by the Red Sea. ⁷⁶ 

Mazmur 109:16

109:16 For he never bothered to show kindness; ⁷⁷ 

he harassed the oppressed and needy,

and killed the disheartened. ⁷⁸ 

[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).

[4:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “and know that.”

[4:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “that the Lord sets apart a faithful one for himself.” The psalmist states a general principle, though the singular form and the parallel line indicate he has himself in mind as the representative godly person. A חָסִיד (khasid; here translated as “the godly”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[4:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “hears.”

[5:9]  ¹¹ tn Or “certainly.”

[5:9]  ¹² tn Heb “for there is not in his mouth truthfulness.” The singular pronoun (“his”) probably refers back to the “man of bloodshed and deceit” mentioned in v. 6. The singular is collective or representative, as the plural in the next line indicates, and so has been translated “they.”

[5:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “their inward part[s] [is] destruction.” For a discussion of the extended metaphor in v. 9b, see the note on the word “it” at the end of the verse.

[5:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “their throat is an open grave.” For a discussion of the extended metaphor in v. 9b, see the note on the word “it” at the end of the verse. The metaphor is suggested by the physical resemblance of the human throat to a deeply dug grave; both are dark chasms.

[5:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they make smooth their tongue.” Flattering, deceitful words are in view. See Ps 12:2. The psalmist’s deceitful enemies are compared to the realm of death/Sheol in v. 9b. Sheol was envisioned as a dark region within the earth, the entrance to which was the grave with its steep slopes (cf. Ps 88:4-6). The enemies’ victims are pictured here as slipping down a steep slope (the enemies’ tongues) and falling into an open grave (their throat) that terminates in destruction in the inner recesses of Sheol (their stomach). The enemies’ קרב (“inward part”) refers here to their thoughts and motives, which are destructive in their intent. The throat is where these destructive thoughts are transformed into words, and their tongue is what they use to speak the deceitful words that lead their innocent victims to their demise.

[5:9]  sn As the psalmist walks down the path in which God leads him, he asks the Lord to guide his steps and remove danger from the path (v. 8), because he knows his enemies have “dug a grave” for him and are ready to use their deceitful words to “swallow him up” like the realm of death (i.e., Sheol) and bring him to ruin.

[7:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in your anger.”

[7:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Lift yourself up in the angry outbursts of my enemies.” Many understand the preposition prefixed to עַבְרוֹת (’avrot, “angry outbursts”) as adversative, “against,” and the following genitive “enemies” as subjective. In this case one could translate, “rise up against my furious enemies” (cf. NIV, NRSV). The present translation, however, takes the preposition as indicating manner (cf. “in your anger” in the previous line) and understands the plural form of the noun as indicating an abstract quality (“fury”) or excessive degree (“raging fury”). Cf. Job 21:30.

[7:6]  ¹⁸ tc Heb “Wake up to me [with the] judgment [which] you have commanded.” The LXX understands אֵלִי (’eliy, “my God”) instead of אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”; the LXX reading is followed by NEB, NIV, NRSV.) If the reading of the MT is retained, the preposition probably has the sense of “on account of, for the sake of.” The noun מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “judgment”) is probably an adverbial accusative, modifying the initial imperative, “wake up.” In this case צִוִּיתָ (tsivvita, “[which] you have commanded”) is an asyndetic relative clause. Some take the perfect as precative. In this case one could translate the final line, “Wake up for my sake! Decree judgment!” (cf. NIV). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[11:4]  ¹⁹ tn Because of the royal imagery involved here, one could translate “lofty palace.” The Lord’s heavenly temple is in view here (see Mic 1:2-4).

[11:4]  ²⁰ sn The Lord’s throne is in heaven. The psalmist is confident that the Lord reigns as sovereign king, “keeps an eye on” all people, and responds in a just manner to the godly and wicked.

[11:4]  ²¹ sn His eyes. The anthropomorphic language draws attention to God’s awareness of and interest in the situation on earth. Though the enemies are hidden by the darkness (v. 2), the Lord sees all.

[11:4]  ²² tn The two Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this verse describe the Lord’s characteristic activity.

[11:4]  ²³ tn Heb “eyelids.”

[11:4]  ²⁴ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 7:9; 26:2; 139:23.

[11:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “test the sons of men.”

[22:9]  ²⁶ tn Or “the one who pulled me.” The verb is derived from either גָחָה (gakhah; see HALOT 187 s.v. גחה) or גִּיחַ (giyakh; see BDB 161 s.v. גִּיחַ) and seems to carry the nuance “burst forth” or “pull out.”

[22:24]  ²⁷ tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”

[22:24]  ²⁸ sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.

[22:24]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he did not hide his face from him.” For other uses of the idiom “hide the face” meaning “ignore,” see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9. Sometimes the idiom carries the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 27:9; 88:14).

[22:24]  ³⁰ tn Heb “heard.”

[31:17]  ³¹ tn The verb יִדְּמוּ (yiddÿmu) is understood as a form of דָּמַם (damam, “wail, lament”). Another option is to take the verb from דָּמַם (“be quiet”; see BDB 198-99 s.v. I דָּמַם), in which case one might translate, “May they lie silent in the grave.”

[35:27]  ³² tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27a are understood as jussives (see vv. 24b-26).

[35:27]  ³³ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the Lord be magnified [in praise].” Another option is to take the verb as an imperfect, “the Lord is great.”

[35:27]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the one who desires the peace of his servant.”

[39:5]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Look, handbreadths you make my days.” The “handbreadth” (equivalent to the width of four fingers) was one of the smallest measures used by ancient Israelites. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 309.

[39:5]  ³⁶ tn Heb “is like nothing before you.”

[39:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “surely, all vapor [is] all mankind, standing firm.” Another option is to translate, “Surely, all mankind, though seemingly secure, is nothing but a vapor.”

[40:10]  ³⁸ tn Heb “your justice I have not hidden in the midst of my heart.”

[40:10]  ³⁹ tn Heb “I have not hidden your loyal love and reliability.”

[40:16]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “those who love,” which stands metonymically for its cause, the experience of being delivered by the Lord.

[40:16]  ⁴¹ tn The three prefixed verbal forms prior to the quotation are understood as jussives. The psalmist balances out his imprecation against his enemies with a prayer of blessing upon the godly.

[40:16]  ⁴² tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the Lord be magnified [in praise].” Another option is to take the verb as an imperfect, “the Lord is great” (cf. NRSV). See Ps 35:27.

[42:6]  ⁴³ tn Heb “my God, upon me my soul bows down.” As noted earlier, “my God” belongs with the end of v. 6.

[42:6]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan.” “Remember” is here used metonymically for prayer (see vv. 8-9). As the next line indicates, the region of the upper Jordan, where the river originates, is in view.

[42:6]  ⁴⁵ tc Heb “Hermons.” The plural form of the name occurs only here in the OT. Some suggest the plural refers to multiple mountain peaks (cf. NASB) or simply retain the plural in the translation (cf. NEB), but the final mem (ם) is probably dittographic (note that the next form in the text begins with the letter mem) or enclitic. At a later time it was misinterpreted as a plural marker and vocalized accordingly.

[42:6]  ⁴⁶ tn The Hebrew term מִצְעָר (mits’ar) is probably a proper name (“Mizar”), designating a particular mountain in the Hermon region. The name appears only here in the OT.

[42:8]  ⁴⁷ sn The psalmist believes that the Lord has not abandoned him, but continues to extend his loyal love. To this point in the psalm, the author has used the name “God,” but now, as he mentions the divine characteristic of loyal love, he switches to the more personal divine name Yahweh (rendered in the translation as “the Lord”).

[42:8]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “his song [is] with me.”

[42:8]  ⁴⁹ tc A few medieval Hebrew mss read תְּהִלָּה (tÿhillah, “praise”) instead of תְּפִלָּה (tÿfillah, “prayer”).

[42:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:11]  ⁵¹ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:11]  ⁵² tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[42:11]  ⁵³ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God”), that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is almost identical to the one in v. 5. See also Ps 43:5.

[52:7]  ⁵⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action. The evildoer customarily rejected God and trusted in his own abilities. Another option is to take the imperfect as generalizing, “[here is the man who] does not make.”

[52:7]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “he was strong in his destruction.” “Destruction” must refer back to the destructive plans mentioned in v. 2. The verb (derived from the root עָזַז, ’azaz, “be strong”) as it stands is either an imperfect (if so, probably used in a customary sense) or a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive). However the form should probably be emended to וַיָּעָז (vayya’az), a Qal preterite (with vav [ו] consecutive) from עָזַז. Note the preterite form without vav (ו) consecutive in the preceding line (וַיִּבְטַח, vayyivtakh, “and he trusted”). The prefixed vav (ו) was likely omitted by haplography (note the suffixed vav [ו] on the preceding עָשְׁרוֹ, ’oshro, “his wealth”).

[59:3]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “my life.”

[59:3]  ⁵⁷ tn The Hebrew verb is from the root גּוּר (gur), which means “to challenge, attack” in Isa 54:15 and “to stalk” (with hostile intent) in Ps 56:8.

[59:3]  ⁵⁸ sn The point is that the psalmist’s enemies have no justifiable reason for attacking him. He has neither rebelled or sinned against the Lord.

[60:4]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “those who fear you.”

[60:4]  ⁶⁰ tn There is a ray of hope in that God has allowed his loyal followers to rally under a battle flag. The translation assumes the verb is from the root נוּס (nus, “flee”) used here in the Hitpolel in the sense of “find safety for oneself” (HALOT 681 s.v. נוס) or “take flight for oneself” (BDB 630-31 s.v. נוּס). Another option is to take the verb as a denominative from נֵס (nes, “flag”) and translate “that it may be displayed” (BDB 651 s.v. II נסס) or “that they may assemble under the banner” (HALOT 704 s.v. II נסס). Here קֹשֶׁט (qoshet) is taken as an Aramaized form of קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”; BDB 905-6 s.v. קֶשֶׁת), though some understand the homonymic קֹשְׁטְ (qosht, “truth”) here (see Prov 22:21; cf. NASB). If one follows the latter interpretation, the line may be translated, “so that they might assemble under the banner for the sake of truth.”

[60:8]  ⁶¹ sn The metaphor of the washbasin, used to rinse one’s hands and feet, suggests that Moab, in contrast to Israel’s elevated position (vv. 6-7), would be reduced to the status of a servant.

[60:8]  ⁶² tn Heb “over Edom I will throw my sandal.” The point of the metaphor is not entirely clear. Some interpret this as idiomatic for “taking possession of,” i.e., “I will take possession of Edom.” Others translate עַל (’al) as “to” and understand this as referring to a master throwing his dirty sandal to a servant so that the latter might dust it off.

[60:8]  ⁶³ tc Heb “over me, O Philistia, shout in triumph.” The translation follows the text of Ps 108:9. When the initial עֲלֵיוֹ (’aleyo, “over”) was misread as עָלַי (’alay, “over me”), the first person verb form was probably altered to an imperative to provide better sense to the line.

[62:3]  ⁶⁴ tn The verb form is plural; the psalmist addresses his enemies. The verb הוּת occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “shout at.”

[62:3]  ⁶⁵ tn The Hebrew text has a Pual (passive) form, but the verb form should be vocalized as a Piel (active) form. See BDB 953-54 s.v. רָצַח.

[62:3]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “like a bent wall and a broken fence.” The point of the comparison is not entirely clear. Perhaps the enemies are depicted as dangerous, like a leaning wall or broken fence that is in danger of falling on someone (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:69).

[77:2]  ⁶⁷ tn Here the psalmist refers back to the very recent past, when he began to pray for divine help.

[77:2]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “my hand [at] night was extended and was not growing numb.” The verb נָגַר (nagar), which can mean “flow” in certain contexts, here has the nuance “be extended.” The imperfect form (תָפוּג, tafug, “to be numb”) is used here to describe continuous action in the past.

[77:2]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[78:4]  ⁷⁰ tn The pronominal suffix refers back to the “fathers” (“our ancestors,” v. 3).

[78:4]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “to a following generation telling the praises of the Lord.” “Praises” stand by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.

[78:50]  ⁷² tn Heb “he leveled a path for his anger.” There were no obstacles to impede its progress; it moved swiftly and destructively.

[78:50]  ⁷³ tn Or perhaps “[the] plague.”

[101:2]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “take notice of.”

[101:2]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “I will walk about in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.”

[106:7]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “Reed Sea” (also in vv. 9, 22). “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See the note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.

[106:7]  sn They rebelled. The psalmist recalls the people’s complaint recorded in Exod 14:12.

[109:16]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “he did not remember to do loyal love.”

[109:16]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “and he chased an oppressed and needy man, and one timid of heart to put [him] to death.”