Mazmur 31:4

31:4 You will free me ¹  from the net they hid for me,

for you are my place of refuge.

Mazmur 86:5

86:5 Certainly ²  O Lord, you are kind ³  and forgiving,

and show great faithfulness to all who cry out to you.

Mazmur 90:2

90:2 Even before the mountains came into existence, ⁴ 

or you brought the world into being, ⁵ 

you were the eternal God. ⁶ 

[31:4]  ¹ tn Heb “bring me out.” The translation assumes that the imperfect verbal form expresses the psalmist’s confidence about the future. Another option is to take the form as expressing a prayer, “free me.”

[86:5]  ² tn Or “for.”

[86:5]  ³ tn Heb “good.”

[90:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “were born.”

[90:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and you gave birth to the earth and world.” The Polel verbal form in the Hebrew text pictures God giving birth to the world. The LXX and some other ancient textual witnesses assume a polal (passive) verbal form here. In this case the earth becomes the subject of the verb and the verb is understood as third feminine singular rather than second masculine singular.

[90:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and from everlasting to everlasting you [are] God.” Instead of אֵל (’el, “God”) the LXX reads אַל (’al, “not”) and joins the negative particle to the following verse, making the verb תָּשֵׁב (tashev) a jussive. In this case v. 3a reads as a prayer, “do not turn man back to a low place.” However, taking תָּשֵׁב as a jussive is problematic in light of the following following wayyiqtol form וַתֹּאמֶר (vato’mer, “and you said/say”).