Mazmur 34:4-7

34:4 I sought the Lord’s help ¹  and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

34:5 Those who look to him for help are happy;

their faces are not ashamed. ² 

34:6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;

he saved him ³  from all his troubles.

34:7 The Lord’s angel camps around

the Lord’s ⁴  loyal followers ⁵  and delivers them. ⁶ 

Mazmur 34:17-19

34:17 The godly ⁷  cry out and the Lord hears;

he saves them from all their troubles. ⁸ 

34:18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;

he delivers ⁹  those who are discouraged. ¹⁰ 

34:19 The godly ¹¹  face many dangers, ¹² 

but the Lord saves ¹³  them ¹⁴  from each one of them.

[34:4]  ¹ tn Heb “I sought the Lord.”

[34:5]  ² tc Heb “they look to him and are radiant and their faces are not ashamed.” The third person plural subject (“they”) is unidentified; there is no antecedent in the Hebrew text. For this reason some prefer to take the perfect verbal forms in the first line as imperatives, “look to him and be radiant” (cf. NEB, NRSV). Some medieval Hebrew mss and other ancient witnesses (Aquila, the Syriac, and Jerome) support an imperatival reading for the first verb. In the second line some (with support from the LXX and Syriac) change “their faces” to “your faces,” which allows one to retain more easily the jussive force of the verb (suggested by the preceding אַל [’al]): “do not let your faces be ashamed.” It is probable that the verbal construction in the second line is rhetorical, expressing the conviction that the action in view cannot or should not happen. See GKC 322 §109.e.

[34:6]  ³ tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.

[34:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[34:7]  ⁶ tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same generalizing force as the active participle in the first line. See GKC 329 §111.u.

[34:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “they” (i.e., the godly mentioned in v. 15).

[34:17]  ⁸ tn The three perfect verbal forms are taken in a generalizing sense in v. 17 and translated with the present tense (note the generalizing mood of vv. 18-22).

[34:18]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the oppressed and needy.

[34:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the crushed in spirit.”

[34:19]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular form; the representative or typical godly person is envisioned.

[34:19]  ¹² tn Or “trials.”

[34:19]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the godly.

[34:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “him,” agreeing with the singular form in the preceding line.