Mazmur 2:7

2:7 The king says, ¹  “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: ² 

‘You are my son! ³  This very day I have become your father!

Mazmur 15:5

15:5 He does not charge interest when he lends his money. ⁴ 

He does not take bribes to testify against the innocent. ⁵ 

The one who lives like this ⁶  will never be upended.

Mazmur 18:43

18:43 You rescue me from a hostile army; ⁷ 

you make me ⁸  a leader of nations;

people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects. ⁹ 

Mazmur 22:26

22:26 Let the oppressed eat and be filled! ¹⁰ 

Let those who seek his help praise the Lord!

May you ¹¹  live forever!

Mazmur 31:7

31:7 I will be happy and rejoice in your faithfulness,

because you notice my pain

and you are aware of how distressed I am. ¹² 

Mazmur 35:15

35:15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together;

they gathered together to ambush me. ¹³ 

They tore at me without stopping to rest. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 39:1

Psalm 39 ¹⁵ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

39:1 I decided, ¹⁶  “I will watch what I say

and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. ¹⁷ 

I will put a muzzle over my mouth

while in the presence of an evil man.” ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 40:2

40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit, ¹⁹ 

out of the slimy mud. ²⁰ 

He placed my feet on a rock

and gave me secure footing. ²¹ 

Mazmur 40:6

40:6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern. ²² 

You make that quite clear to me! ²³ 

You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.

Mazmur 40:10

40:10 I have not failed to tell about your justice; ²⁴ 

I spoke about your reliability and deliverance;

I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness. ²⁵ 

Mazmur 45:7

45:7 You love ²⁶  justice and hate evil. ²⁷ 

For this reason God, your God ²⁸  has anointed you ²⁹ 

with the oil of joy, ³⁰  elevating you above your companions. ³¹ 

Mazmur 57:6

57:6 They have prepared a net to trap me; ³² 

I am discouraged. ³³ 

They have dug a pit for me. ³⁴ 

They will fall ³⁵  into it! (Selah)

Mazmur 65:8

65:8 Even those living in the most remote areas are awestruck by your acts; ³⁶ 

you cause those living in the east and west to praise you. ³⁷ 

Mazmur 77:2

77:2 In my time of trouble I sought ³⁸  the Lord.

I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. ³⁹ 

I ⁴⁰  refused to be comforted.

Mazmur 92:7

92:7 When the wicked sprout up like grass,

and all the evildoers glisten, ⁴¹ 

it is so that they may be annihilated. ⁴² 

Mazmur 98:3

98:3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel. ⁴³ 

All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us. ⁴⁴ 

Mazmur 100:3

100:3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us and we belong to him; ⁴⁵ 

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Mazmur 108:8

108:8 Gilead belongs to me,

as does Manasseh! ⁴⁶ 

Ephraim is my helmet, ⁴⁷ 

Judah my royal scepter. ⁴⁸ 

Mazmur 111:9

111:9 He delivered his people; ⁴⁹ 

he ordained that his covenant be observed forever. ⁵⁰ 

His name is holy and awesome.

Mazmur 135:7

135:7 He causes the clouds to arise from the end of the earth,

makes lightning bolts accompany the rain,

and brings the wind out of his storehouses.

Mazmur 140:5

140:5 Proud men hide a snare for me;

evil men ⁵¹  spread a net by the path;

they set traps for me. (Selah)

Mazmur 142:3

142:3 Even when my strength leaves me, ⁵² 

you watch my footsteps. ⁵³ 

In the path where I walk

they have hidden a trap for me.

[2:7]  ¹ tn The words “the king says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The speaker is the Lord’s chosen king.

[2:7]  ² tn Or “I will relate the decree. The Lord said to me” (in accordance with the Masoretic accentuation).

[2:7]  ³ sn ‘You are my son!’ The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26-27). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.

[15:5]  ⁴ sn He does not charge interest. Such an individual is truly generous, and not simply concerned with making a profit.

[15:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “a bribe against the innocent he does not take.” For other texts condemning the practice of a judge or witness taking a bribe, see Exod 23:8; Deut 16:19; 27:25; 1 Sam 8:3; Ezek 22:12; Prov 17:23.

[15:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “does these things.”

[18:43]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the strivings of a people.” In this context the Hebrew term רִיב (riv, “striving”) probably has a militaristic sense (as in Judg 12:2; Isa 41:11), and עָם (’am, “people”) probably refers more specifically to an army (for other examples, see the verses listed in BDB 766 s.v. I עַם, עָם 2.d). Some understand the phrase as referring to attacks by the psalmist’s own countrymen, the “nation” being Israel. However, foreign enemies appear to be in view; note the reference to “nations” in the following line.

[18:43]  ⁸ tn 2 Sam 22:44 reads, “you keep me.”

[18:43]  ⁹ tn Heb “a people whom I did not know serve me.” In this context “know” (יָדַע, yada’) probably refers to formal recognition by treaty. People who were once not under the psalmist’s authority now willingly submit to his rulership to avoid being conquered militarily (see vv. 44-45). The language may recall the events recorded in 2 Sam 8:9-10 and 10:19.

[22:26]  ¹⁰ sn Eat and be filled. In addition to praising the Lord, the psalmist also offers a thank offering to the Lord and invites others to share in a communal meal.

[22:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “may your heart[s].”

[31:7]  ¹² tn Heb “you know the distresses of my life.”

[35:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “they gathered together against me, stricken [ones], and I did not know.” The Hebrew form נֵכִים (nekhim, “stricken ones” ?) is problematic. Some suggest an emendation to נָכְרִים[כְ] (kÿnokhÿrim, “foreigners”) or “like foreigners,” which would fit with what follows, “[like] foreigners that I do not recognize.” Perhaps the form should be read as a Qal active participle, נֹכִים (nokhim, “ones who strike”) from the verbal root נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike”). The Qal of this verb is unattested in biblical Hebrew, but the peal (basic) stem appears in Old Aramaic (J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire [BibOr], 114; DNWSI 1:730.) In this case one might translate, “attackers gathered together against me though I was not aware of it” (cf. NASB “smiters”; NEB, NRSV “ruffians”; NIV “attackers”).

[35:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they tore and did not keep quiet.” By using the verb “tear,” the psalmist likens his enemies to a wild animal (see Hos 13:8). In v. 17 he compares them to hungry young lions.

[39:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.

[39:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I said.”

[39:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”

[39:1]  ¹⁸ sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the Lord (see vv. 4-6), but he hesitated to do so in the presence of evil men, for such words might be sinful if they gave the wicked an occasion to insult God. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 1:345.

[40:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (sha’on, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).

[40:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[40:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”

[40:6]  ²² tn Heb “sacrifice and offering you do not desire.” The statement is exaggerated for the sake of emphasis (see Ps 51:16 as well). God is pleased with sacrifices, but his first priority is obedience and loyalty (see 1 Sam 15:22). Sacrifices and offerings apart from genuine allegiance are meaningless (see Isa 1:11-20).

[40:6]  ²³ tn Heb “ears you hollowed out for me.” The meaning of this odd expression is debated (this is the only collocation of “hollowed out” and “ears” in the OT). It may have been an idiomatic expression referring to making a point clear to a listener. The LXX has “but a body you have prepared for me,” a reading which is followed in Heb 10:5.

[40:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “your justice I have not hidden in the midst of my heart.”

[40:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I have not hidden your loyal love and reliability.”

[45:7]  ²⁶ sn To love justice means to actively promote it.

[45:7]  ²⁷ sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.

[45:7]  ²⁸ tn For other examples of the repetition of Elohim, “God,” see Pss 43:4; 48:8, 14; 50:7; 51:14; 67:7. Because the name Yahweh (“Lord”) is relatively rare in Pss 42-83, where the name Elohim (“God”) predominates, this compounding of Elohim may be an alternative form of the compound name “the Lord my/your/our God.”

[45:7]  ²⁹ sn Anointed you. When read in the light of the preceding context, the anointing is most naturally taken as referring to the king’s coronation. However, the following context (vv. 8-9) focuses on the wedding ceremony, so some prefer to see this anointing as part of the king’s preparations for the wedding celebration. Perhaps the reference to his anointing at his coronation facilitates the transition to the description of the wedding, for the king was also anointed on this occasion.

[45:7]  ³⁰ sn The phrase oil of joy alludes to the fact that the coronation of the king, which was ritually accomplished by anointing his head with olive oil, was a time of great celebration and renewed hope. (If one understands the anointing in conjunction with the wedding ceremony, the “joy” would be that associated with the marriage.) The phrase “oil of joy” also appears in Isa 61:3, where mourners are granted “oil of joy” in conjunction with their deliverance from oppression.

[45:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “from your companions.” The “companions” are most naturally understood as others in the royal family or, more generally, as the king’s countrymen.

[45:7]  sn Verses 6-7 are quoted in Heb 1:8-9, where they are applied to Jesus.

[57:6]  ³² tn Heb “for my feet.”

[57:6]  ³³ tn Heb “my life bends low.” 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).

[57:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “before me.”

[57:6]  ³⁵ tn The perfect form is used rhetorically here to express the psalmist’s certitude. The demise of the enemies is so certain that he can speak of it as already accomplished.

[65:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the ends fear because of your signs.” God’s “signs” are the “awesome acts” (see v. 5) he performs in the earth.

[65:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the goings out of the morning and the evening you cause to shout for joy.” The phrase “goings out of the morning and evening” refers to the sunrise and sunset, that is, the east and the west.

[77:2]  ³⁸ tn Here the psalmist refers back to the very recent past, when he began to pray for divine help.

[77:2]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ 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).

[92:7]  ⁴¹ tn Or “flourish.”

[92:7]  ⁴² tn Heb “in order that they might be destroyed permanently.”

[92:7]  sn God allows the wicked to prosper temporarily so that he might reveal his justice. When the wicked are annihilated, God demonstrates that wickedness does not pay off.

[98:3]  ⁴³ tn Heb “he remembers his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel.”

[98:3]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God,” with “God” being a subjective genitive (= God delivers).

[100:3]  ⁴⁵ tn The present translation (like most modern translations) follows the Qere (marginal reading), which reads literally, “and to him [are] we.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and not we.” The suffixed preposition לו (“to him”) was confused aurally with the negative particle לא because the two sound identical.

[108:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Gilead was located east of the Jordan River. Half of the tribe of Manasseh lived east of the Jordan in the region of Bashan.

[108:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the protection of my head.”

[108:8]  sn Ephraim, one of Joseph’s sons, was one of two major tribes located west of the Jordan River. By comparing Ephraim to a helmet, the Lord suggests that the Ephraimites played a primary role in the defense of his land.

[108:8]  ⁴⁸ sn Judah, like Ephraim, was the other major tribe west of the Jordan River. The Davidic king, symbolized here by the royal scepter, came from this tribe.

[111:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “redemption he sent for his people.”

[111:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “he commanded forever his covenant.”

[140:5]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khovÿlim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).

[142:3]  ⁵² tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”

[142:3]  ⁵³ tn Heb “you know my path.”