Mazmur 32:5

32:5 Then I confessed my sin;

I no longer covered up my wrongdoing.

I said, “I will confess ¹  my rebellious acts to the Lord.”

And then you forgave my sins. ²  (Selah)

Mazmur 42:5

42:5 Why are you depressed, ³  O my soul? ⁴ 

Why are you upset? ⁵ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ⁶ 

Mazmur 42:11

42:11 Why are you depressed, ⁷  O my soul? ⁸ 

Why are you upset? ⁹ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 43:5

43:5 Why are you depressed, ¹¹  O my soul? ¹² 

Why are you upset? ¹³ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 138:2

138:2 I will bow down toward your holy temple,

and give thanks to your name,

because of your loyal love and faithfulness,

for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 142:7

142:7 Free me ¹⁶  from prison,

that I may give thanks to your name.

Because of me the godly will assemble, ¹⁷ 

for you will vindicate me. ¹⁸ 

[32:5]  ¹ tn The Hiphil of ידה normally means “give thanks, praise,” but here, as in Prov 28:13, it means “confess.”

[32:5]  ² tn Heb “the wrongdoing of my sin.” By joining synonyms for “sin” in this way, the psalmist may be emphasizing the degree of his wrongdoing.

[42:5]  ³ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:5]  ⁴ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “and [why] are you in turmoil upon me?” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries on the descriptive present nuance of the preceding imperfect. See GKC 329 §111.t.

[42:5]  ⁶ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of his face.” The verse division in the Hebrew text is incorrect. אֱלֹהַי (’elohay, “my God”) at the beginning of v. 7 belongs with the end of v. 6 (see the corresponding refrains in 42:11 and 43:5, both of which end with “my God” after “saving acts of my face”). The Hebrew term פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”) should be emended to פְּנֵי (pÿney, “face of”). The emended text reads, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention.

[42:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:11]  ⁸ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[42:11]  ¹⁰ 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.

[43:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[43:5]  ¹² sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[43:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[43:5]  ¹⁴ 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 identical to the one in Ps 42:11. See also 42:5, which differs only slightly.

[138:2]  ¹⁵ tc The MT reads, “for you have made great over all your name your word.” If retained, this must mean that God's mighty intervention, in fulfillment of his word of promise, surpassed anything he had done prior to this. However, the statement is odd and several emendations have been proposed. Some read, “for you have exalted over everything your name and your word,” while others suggest, “for you have exalted over all the heavens your name and your word.” The translation assumes an emendation of “your name” to “your heavens” (a construction that appears in Pss 8:3 and 144:5). The point is that God has been faithful to his promise and the reliability of that promise is apparent to all. For a fuller discussion of these options, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 244.

[142:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “bring out my life.”

[142:7]  ¹⁷ tn Or “gather around.”

[142:7]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.