Mazmur 4:6

4:6 Many say, “Who can show us anything good?”

Smile upon us, Lord! ¹ 

Mazmur 5:9

5:9 For ²  they do not speak the truth; ³ 

their stomachs are like the place of destruction, ⁴ 

their throats like an open grave, ⁵ 

their tongues like a steep slope leading into it. ⁶ 

Mazmur 5:11

5:11 But may all who take shelter ⁷  in you be happy! ⁸ 

May they continually ⁹  shout for joy! ¹⁰ 

Shelter them ¹¹  so that those who are loyal to you ¹²  may rejoice! ¹³ 

Mazmur 9:10

9:10 Your loyal followers trust in you, ¹⁴ 

for you, Lord, do not abandon those who seek your help. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 9:14

9:14 Then I will ¹⁶  tell about all your praiseworthy acts; ¹⁷ 

in the gates of Daughter Zion ¹⁸  I will rejoice because of your deliverance.” ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 17:3

17:3 You have scrutinized my inner motives; ²⁰ 

you have examined me during the night. ²¹ 

You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin.

I am determined I will say nothing sinful. ²² 

Mazmur 18:35

18:35 You give me your protective shield; ²³ 

your right hand supports me; ²⁴ 

your willingness to help ²⁵  enables me to prevail. ²⁶ 

Mazmur 21:1

Psalm 21 ²⁷ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

21:1 O Lord, the king rejoices in the strength you give; ²⁸ 

he takes great delight in the deliverance you provide. ²⁹ 

Mazmur 21:9

21:9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace ³⁰  when you appear; ³¹ 

the Lord angrily devours them; ³² 

the fire consumes them.

Mazmur 27:6

27:6 Now I will triumph

over my enemies who surround me! ³³ 

I will offer sacrifices in his dwelling place and shout for joy! ³⁴ 

I will sing praises to the Lord!

Mazmur 28:1

Psalm 28 ³⁵ 

By David.

28:1 To you, O Lord, I cry out!

My protector, ³⁶  do not ignore me! ³⁷ 

If you do not respond to me, ³⁸ 

I will join ³⁹  those who are descending into the grave. ⁴⁰ 

Mazmur 40:6

40:6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern. ⁴¹ 

You make that quite clear to me! ⁴² 

You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.

Mazmur 42:8

42:8 By day the Lord decrees his loyal love, ⁴³ 

and by night he gives me a song, ⁴⁴ 

a prayer ⁴⁵  to the living God.

Mazmur 44:2

44:2 You, by your power, ⁴⁶  defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; ⁴⁷ 

you crushed ⁴⁸  the people living there ⁴⁹  and enabled our ancestors to occupy it. ⁵⁰ 

Mazmur 45:4

45:4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious! ⁵¹ 

Ride forth for the sake of what is right, ⁵² 

on behalf of justice! ⁵³ 

Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts! ⁵⁴ 

Mazmur 47:9

47:9 The nobles of the nations assemble,

along with the people of the God of Abraham, ⁵⁵ 

for God has authority over the rulers ⁵⁶  of the earth.

He is highly exalted! ⁵⁷ 

Mazmur 57:4

57:4 I am surrounded by lions;

I lie down ⁵⁸  among those who want to devour me; ⁵⁹ 

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are a sharp sword. ⁶⁰ 

Mazmur 58:9

58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, ⁶¹ 

he ⁶²  will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat. ⁶³ 

Mazmur 59:5

59:5 You, O Lord God, the invincible warrior, ⁶⁴  the God of Israel,

rouse yourself and punish ⁶⁵  all the nations!

Have no mercy on any treacherous evildoers! (Selah)

Mazmur 60:6

60:6 God has spoken in his sanctuary: ⁶⁶ 

“I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem;

the Valley of Succoth I will measure off. ⁶⁷ 

Mazmur 62:3

62:3 How long will you threaten ⁶⁸  a man?

All of you are murderers, ⁶⁹ 

as dangerous as a leaning wall or an unstable fence. ⁷⁰ 

Mazmur 65:1

Psalm 65 ⁷¹ 

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

65:1 Praise awaits you, ⁷²  O God, in Zion.

Vows made to you are fulfilled.

Mazmur 65:8

65:8 Even those living in the most remote areas are awestruck by your acts; ⁷³ 

you cause those living in the east and west to praise you. ⁷⁴ 

Mazmur 68:2

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ⁷⁵ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

Mazmur 68:6

68:6 God settles those who have been deserted in their own homes; ⁷⁶ 

he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity. ⁷⁷ 

But sinful rebels live in the desert. ⁷⁸ 

Mazmur 68:16

68:16 Why do you look with envy, ⁷⁹  O mountains ⁸⁰  with many peaks,

at the mountain where God has decided to live? ⁸¹ 

Indeed ⁸²  the Lord will live there ⁸³  permanently!

Mazmur 78:20

78:20 Yes, ⁸⁴  he struck a rock and water flowed out,

streams gushed forth.

But can he also give us food?

Will he provide meat for his people?”

Mazmur 79:10

79:10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants

be avenged among the nations! ⁸⁵ 

Mazmur 81:5

81:5 He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph,

when he attacked the land of Egypt. ⁸⁶ 

I heard a voice I did not recognize. ⁸⁷ 

Mazmur 88:1

Psalm 88 ⁸⁸ 

A song, a psalm written by the Korahites; for the music director; according to the machalath-leannoth style; ⁸⁹  a well-written song ⁹⁰  by Heman the Ezrachite.

88:1 O Lord God who delivers me! ⁹¹ 

By day I cry out

and at night I pray before you. ⁹² 

Mazmur 88:9

88:9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression.

I call out to you, O Lord, all day long;

I spread out my hands in prayer to you. ⁹³ 

Mazmur 89:3

89:3 The Lord said, ⁹⁴ 

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;

I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:

Mazmur 90:10

90:10 The days of our lives add up to seventy years, ⁹⁵ 

or eighty, if one is especially strong. ⁹⁶ 

But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression. ⁹⁷ 

Yes, ⁹⁸  they pass quickly ⁹⁹  and we fly away. ¹⁰⁰ 

Mazmur 106:9

106:9 He shouted at ¹⁰¹  the Red Sea and it dried up;

he led them through the deep water as if it were a desert.

Mazmur 108:7

108:7 God has spoken in his sanctuary: ¹⁰² 

“I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem,

the valley of Succoth I will measure off. ¹⁰³ 

Mazmur 127:1-2

Psalm 127 ¹⁰⁴ 

A song of ascents, ¹⁰⁵  by Solomon.

127:1 If the Lord does not build a house, ¹⁰⁶ 

then those who build it work in vain.

If the Lord does not guard a city, ¹⁰⁷ 

then the watchman stands guard in vain.

127:2 It is vain for you to rise early, come home late,

and work so hard for your food. ¹⁰⁸ 

Yes, ¹⁰⁹  he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep. ¹¹⁰ 

Mazmur 131:1

Psalm 131 ¹¹¹ 

A song of ascents, ¹¹²  by David.

131:1 O Lord, my heart is not proud,

nor do I have a haughty look. ¹¹³ 

I do not have great aspirations,

or concern myself with things that are beyond me. ¹¹⁴ 

Mazmur 138:7

138:7 Even when I must walk in the midst of danger, ¹¹⁵  you revive me.

You oppose my angry enemies, ¹¹⁶ 

and your right hand delivers me.

Mazmur 141:5

141:5 May the godly strike me in love and correct me!

May my head not refuse ¹¹⁷  choice oil! ¹¹⁸ 

Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds. ¹¹⁹ 

Mazmur 143:8

143:8 May I hear about your loyal love in the morning, ¹²⁰ 

for I trust in you.

Show me the way I should go, ¹²¹ 

because I long for you. ¹²² 

[4:6]  ¹ tn Heb “lift up upon us the light of your face, Lord.” The verb נסה is apparently an alternate form of נשׂא, “lift up.” See GKC 217 §76.b. The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

[4:6]  sn Smile upon us. Though many are discouraged, the psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and transform the situation.

[5:9]  ² tn Or “certainly.”

[5:9]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[5:11]  ⁷ sn Take shelter. “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).

[5:11]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive of wish or prayer. The psalmist calls on God to reward his faithful followers.

[5:11]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps more hyperbolically, “forever.”

[5:11]  ¹⁰ tn As in the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form is a jussive of wish or prayer.

[5:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “put a cover over them.” The verb form is a Hiphil imperfect from סָכַךְ (sakhakh, “cover, shut off”). The imperfect expresses the psalmist’s wish or request.

[5:11]  ¹² tn Heb “the lovers of your name.” The phrase refers to those who are loyal to the Lord. See Pss 69:36; 119:132; Isa 56:6.

[5:11]  ¹³ tn The vav (ו) with prefixed verbal form following the volitional “shelter them” indicates purpose or result (“so that those…may rejoice).

[9:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the ones who know your name trust in you.” The construction vav (ו) conjunctive + imperfect at the beginning of the verse expresses another consequence of the statement made in v. 8. “To know” the Lord’s “name” means to be his follower, recognizing his authority and maintaining loyalty to him. See Ps 91:14, where “knowing” the Lord’s “name” is associated with loving him.

[9:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the ones who seek you.”

[9:14]  ¹⁶ tn Or “so that I might.”

[9:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all your praise.” “Praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt it.

[9:14]  ¹⁸ sn Daughter Zion is an idiomatic title for Jerusalem. It appears frequently in the prophets, but only here in the psalms.

[9:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in your deliverance.”

[17:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “you tested my heart.”

[17:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “you visited [at] night.”

[17:3]  ²² tc Heb “you tested me, you do not find, I plan, my mouth will not cross over.” The Hebrew verbal form זַמֹּתִי (zammotiy) is a Qal perfect, first person singular from the root זָמַם (zamam, “plan, plan evil”). Some emend the form to a suffixed form of the noun, זִמָּתִי (zimmatiy, “my plan/evil plan”), and take it as the object of the preceding verb “find.” However, the suffix seems odd, since the psalmist is denying that he has any wrong thoughts. If one takes the form with what precedes, it might make better sense to read זִמּוֹת (zimmot, “evil plans”). However, this emendation leaves an unclear connection with the next line. The present translation maintains the verbal form found in the MT and understands it in a neutral sense, “I have decided” (see Jer 4:28). The words “my mouth will not cross over” (i.e., “transgress, sin”) can then be taken as a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb.

[18:35]  ²³ tn Heb “and you give to me the shield of your deliverance.”

[18:35]  sn You give me your protective shield. Ancient Near Eastern literature often refers to a god giving a king special weapons. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 260-61.

[18:35]  ²⁴ tc 2 Sam 22:36 omits this line, perhaps due to homoioarcton. A scribe’s eye may have jumped from the vav (ו) prefixed to “your right hand” to the vav prefixed to the following “and your answer,” causing the copyist to omit by accident the intervening words (“your right hand supports me and”).

[18:35]  ²⁵ tn The MT of Ps 18:35 appears to read, “your condescension,” apparently referring to God’s willingness to intervene (cf. NIV “you stoop down”). However, the noun עֲנָוָה (’anavah) elsewhere means “humility” and is used only here of God. The form עַנְוַתְךָ (’anvatÿkha) may be a fully written form of the suffixed infinitive construct of עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”; a defectively written form of the infinitive appears in 2 Sam 22:36). In this case the psalmist refers to God’s willingness to answer his prayer; one might translate, “your favorable response.”

[18:35]  ²⁶ tn Heb “makes me great.”

[21:1]  ²⁷ sn Psalm 21. The psalmist praises the Lord for the way he protects and blesses the Davidic king.

[21:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in your strength.” The translation interprets the pronominal suffix as subjective, rather than merely descriptive (or attributive).

[21:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and in your deliverance, how greatly he rejoices.”

[21:9]  ³⁰ tn Heb “you make them like a furnace of fire.” Although many modern translations retain the literal Hebrew, the statement is elliptical. The point is not that he makes them like a furnace, but like an object burned in a furnace (cf. NEB, “at your coming you shall plunge them into a fiery furnace”).

[21:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “at the time of your face.” The “face” of the king here refers to his angry presence. See Lam 4:16.

[21:9]  ³² tn Heb “the Lord, in his anger he swallows them, and fire devours them.” Some take “the Lord” as a vocative, in which case he is addressed in vv. 8-9a. But this makes the use of the third person in v. 9b rather awkward, though the king could be the subject (see vv. 1-7).

[27:6]  ³³ tn Heb “and now my head will be lifted up over my enemies all around me.”

[27:6]  sn In vv. 1-3 the psalmist generalizes, but here we discover that he is facing a crisis and is under attack from enemies (see vv. 11-12).

[27:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I will sacrifice in his tent sacrifices of a shout for joy” (that is, “sacrifices accompanied by a joyful shout”).

[28:1]  ³⁵ sn Psalm 28. The author looks to the Lord for vindication, asks that the wicked be repaid in full for their evil deeds, and affirms his confidence that the Lord will protect his own.

[28:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[28:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “do not be deaf from me.”

[28:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “lest [if] you are silent from me.”

[28:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “I will be equal with.”

[28:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[40:6]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² 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.

[42:8]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “his song [is] with me.”

[42:8]  ⁴⁵ tc A few medieval Hebrew mss read תְּהִלָּה (tÿhillah, “praise”) instead of תְּפִלָּה (tÿfillah, “prayer”).

[44:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “you, your hand.”

[44:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “dispossessed nations and planted them.” The third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1). See Ps 80:8, 15.

[44:2]  ⁴⁸ tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Hiphil preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive) from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil; be bad”). If retained it apparently means, “you injured; harmed.” Some prefer to derive the verb from רָעַע (“break”; cf. NEB “breaking up the peoples”), in which case the form must be revocalized as Qal (since this verb is unattested in the Hiphil).

[44:2]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “peoples.”

[44:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and you sent them out.” The translation assumes that the third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1), as in the preceding parallel line. See Ps 80:11, where Israel, likened to a vine, “spreads out” its tendrils to the west and east. Another option is to take the “peoples” as the referent of the pronoun and translate, “and you sent them away,” though this does not provide as tight a parallel with the corresponding line.

[45:4]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and your majesty, be successful.” The syntax is awkward. The phrase “and your majesty” at the beginning of the verse may be accidentally repeated (dittography); it appears at the end of v. 3.

[45:4]  ⁵² tn Or “for the sake of truth.”

[45:4]  ⁵³ tc The precise meaning of the MT is uncertain. The form עַנְוָה (’anvah) occurs only here. One could emend the text to עֲנָוָה וְצֶדֶק (’anavah vÿtsedeq, “[for the sake of truth], humility, and justice”). In this case “humility” would perhaps allude to the king’s responsibility to “serve” his people by promoting justice (cf. NIV “in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness”). The present translation assumes an emendation to יַעַן (ya’an, “because; on account of”) which would form a suitable parallel to עַל־דְּבַר (’al-dÿvar, “because; for the sake of”) in the preceding line.

[45:4]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “and your right hand will teach you mighty acts”; or “and may your right hand teach you mighty acts.” After the imperatives in the first half of the verse, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive likely indicates purpose (“so that your right hand might teach you mighty acts”) or result (see the present translation). The “right hand” here symbolizes the king’s military strength. His right hand will “teach” him mighty acts by performing them and thereby causing him to experience their magnificence.

[47:9]  ⁵⁵ tc The words “along with” do not appear in the MT. However, the LXX has “with,” suggesting that the original text may have read עִם עַם (’im ’am, “along with the people”). In this case the MT is haplographic (the consonantal sequence ayin-mem [עם] being written once instead of twice). Another option is that the LXX is simply and correctly interpreting “people” as an adverbial accusative and supplying the appropriate preposition.

[47:9]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “for to God [belong] the shields of the earth.” Perhaps the rulers are called “shields” because they are responsible for protecting their people. See Ps 84:9, where the Davidic king is called “our shield,” and perhaps also Hos 4:18.

[47:9]  ⁵⁷ tn The verb עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”) appears once more (see v. 5), though now in the Niphal stem.

[57:4]  ⁵⁸ tn The cohortative form אֶשְׁכְּבָה (’eshkÿvah, “I lie down”) is problematic, for it does not seem to carry one of the normal functions of the cohortative (resolve or request). One possibility is that the form here is a “pseudo-cohortative” used here in a gnomic sense (IBHS 576-77 §34.5.3b).

[57:4]  ⁵⁹ tn The Hebrew verb לָהַט (lahat) is here understood as a hapax legomenon meaning “devour” (see HALOT 521 s.v. II להט), a homonym of the more common verb meaning “to burn.” A more traditional interpretation takes the verb from this latter root and translates, “those who are aflame” (see BDB 529 s.v.; cf. NASB “those who breathe forth fire”).

[57:4]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “my life, in the midst of lions, I lie down, devouring ones, sons of mankind, their teeth a spear and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword.” The syntax of the verse is difficult. Another option is to take “my life” with the preceding verse. For this to make sense, one must add a verb, perhaps “and may he deliver” (cf. the LXX), before the phrase. One might then translate, “May God send his loyal love and faithfulness and deliver my life.” If one does take “my life” with v. 4, then the parallelism of v. 5 is altered and one might translate: “in the midst of lions I lie down, [among] men who want to devour me, whose teeth….”

[58:9]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “before your pots perceive thorns.”

[58:9]  ⁶² tn Apparently God (v. 6) is the subject of the verb here.

[58:9]  ⁶³ tn Heb “like living, like burning anger he will sweep it away.” The meaning of the text is unclear. The translation assumes that within the cooking metaphor (see the previous line) חַי (khay, “living”) refers here to raw meat (as in 1 Sam 2:15, where it modifies בָּשָׂר, basar, “flesh”) and that חָרוּן (kharun; which always refers to God’s “burning anger” elsewhere) here refers to food that is cooked. The pronominal suffix on the verb “sweep away” apparently refers back to the “thorns” of the preceding line. The image depicts swift and sudden judgment. Before the fire has been adequately kindled and all the meat cooked, the winds of judgment will sweep away everything in their path.

[59:5]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “Lord, God, Hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי (’elohey) before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”). See Ps 89:9, but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yÿhvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 80:4, 19; 84:8 as well.

[59:5]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “wake up to punish” (see Pss 35:23; 44:23).

[60:6]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “in his holy place.”

[60:6]  ⁶⁷ sn Shechem stands for the territory west of the Jordan, the Valley of Succoth for the region east of the Jordan.

[62:3]  ⁶⁸ 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]  ⁶⁹ 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]  ⁷⁰ 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).

[65:1]  ⁷¹ sn Psalm 65. The psalmist praises God because he forgives sin and blesses his people with an abundant harvest.

[65:1]  ⁷² tn Heb “for you, silence, praise.” Many prefer to emend the noun דֻּמִיָּה (dumiyyah, “silence”) to a participle דּוֹמִיָּה (domiyyah), from the root דָּמָה (damah, “be silent”), understood here in the sense of “wait.”

[65:8]  ⁷³ 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]  ⁷⁴ 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.

[68:2]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”

[68:6]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “God causes the solitary ones to dwell in a house.” The participle suggests this is what God typically does.

[68:6]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “he brings out prisoners into prosperity.” Another option is to translate, “he brings out prisoners with singing” (cf. NIV). The participle suggests this is what God typically does.

[68:6]  ⁷⁸ tn Or “in a parched [land].”

[68:6]  sn God delivers the downtrodden and oppressed, but sinful rebels who oppose his reign are treated appropriately.

[68:16]  ⁷⁹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew verb רָצַד (ratsad), translated here “look with envy,” is uncertain; it occurs only here in the OT. See BDB 952-53. A cognate verb occurs in later Aramaic with the meaning “to lie in wait; to watch” (Jastrow 1492 s.v. רְצַד).

[68:16]  ⁸⁰ tn Perhaps the apparent plural form should be read as a singular with enclitic mem (ם; later misinterpreted as a plural ending). The preceding verse has the singular form.

[68:16]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “[at] the mountain God desires for his dwelling place.” The reference is to Mount Zion/Jerusalem.

[68:16]  ⁸² tn The Hebrew particle אַף (’af) has an emphasizing function here.

[68:16]  ⁸³ tn The word “there” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[78:20]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “look.”

[79:10]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”

[81:5]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “in his going out against the land of Egypt.” This apparently refers to the general time period of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The LXX reads, “from Egypt,” in which case “Joseph” (see the preceding line) would be the subject of the verb, “when he [Joseph = Israel] left Egypt.”

[81:5]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “a lip I did not know, I heard.” Here the term “lip” probably stands for speech or a voice. Apparently the psalmist speaks here and refers to God’s voice, whose speech is recorded in the following verses.

[88:1]  ⁸⁸ sn Psalm 88. The psalmist cries out in pain to the Lord, begging him for relief from his intense and constant suffering. The psalmist regards God as the ultimate cause of his distress, but nevertheless clings to God in hope.

[88:1]  ⁸⁹ tn The Hebrew phrase מָחֲלַת לְעַנּוֹת (makhalat lÿ’annot) may mean “illness to afflict.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. The term מָחֲלַת also appears in the superscription of Ps 53.

[88:1]  ⁹⁰ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[88:1]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “O Lord God of my deliverance.” In light of the content of the psalm, this reference to God as the one who delivers seems overly positive. For this reason some emend the text to אַלֹהַי שִׁוַּעְתִּי (’alohay shivva’tiy, “[O Lord] my God, I cry out”). See v. 13.

[88:1]  ⁹² tn Heb “[by] day I cry out, in the night before you.”

[88:9]  ⁹³ tn Heb “I spread out my hands to you.” Spreading out the hands toward God was a prayer gesture (see Exod 9:29, 33; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; 2 Chr 6:12-13, 29; Ezra 9:15; Job 11:13; Isa 1:15). The words “in prayer” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this.

[89:3]  ⁹⁴ tn The words “the Lord said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. It is clear that the words of vv. 3-4 are spoken by the Lord, in contrast to vv. 1-2, which are spoken by the psalmist.

[90:10]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “the days of our years, in them [are] seventy years.”

[90:10]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “or if [there is] strength, eighty years.”

[90:10]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “and their pride [is] destruction and wickedness.” The Hebrew noun רֹהַב (rohav) occurs only here. BDB 923 s.v. assigns the meaning “pride,” deriving the noun from the verbal root רהב (“to act stormily [boisterously, arrogantly]”). Here the “pride” of one’s days (see v. 9) probably refers to one’s most productive years in the prime of life. The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 10:7. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10. The oppressive and abusive actions of evil men are probably in view (see Job 4:8; 5:6; 15:35; Isa 10:1; 59:4).

[90:10]  ⁹⁸ tn or “for.”

[90:10]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “it passes quickly.” The subject of the verb is probably “their pride” (see the preceding line). The verb גּוּז (guz) means “to pass” here; it occurs only here and in Num 11:31.

[90:10]  ¹⁰⁰ sn We fly away. The psalmist compares life to a bird that quickly flies off (see Job 20:8).

[106:9]  ¹⁰¹ tn Or “rebuked.”

[108:7]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “in his holy place.”

[108:7]  ¹⁰³ sn Shechem stands for the territory west of the Jordan River; the valley of Succoth represents the region east of the Jordan.

[127:1]  ¹⁰⁴ sn Psalm 127. In this wisdom psalm the psalmist teaches that one does not find security by one’s own efforts, for God alone gives stability and security.

[127:1]  ¹⁰⁵ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[127:1]  ¹⁰⁶ sn The expression build a house may have a double meaning here. It may refer on the surface level to a literal physical structure in which a family lives, but at a deeper, metaphorical level it refers to building, perpetuating, and maintaining a family line. See Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; 1 Sam 2:35; 2 Sam 7:27; 1 Kgs 11:38; 1 Chr 17:10, 25. Having a family line provided security in ancient Israel.

[127:1]  ¹⁰⁷ sn The city symbolizes community security, which is the necessary framework for family security.

[127:2]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Heb “[it is] vain for you, you who are early to rise, who delay sitting, who eat the food of hard work.” The three substantival participles are parallel and stand in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the preposition. See לָכֶם (lakhem, “for you”).

[127:2]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Here the Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4; Ps 63:2).

[127:2]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “he gives to his beloved, sleep.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew term שֵׁנָא (shena’, “sleep,” an alternate form of שֵׁנָה, shenah) is an adverbial accusative. The point seems to be this: Hard work by itself is not what counts, but one’s relationship to God, for God is able to bless an individual even while he sleeps. (There may even be a subtle allusion to the miracle of conception following sexual intercourse; see the reference to the gift of sons in the following verse.) The statement is not advocating laziness, but utilizing hyperbole to give perspective and to remind the addressees that God must be one’s first priority. Another option is to take “sleep” as the direct object: “yes, he gives sleep to his beloved” (cf. NIV, NRSV). In this case the point is this: Hard work by itself is futile, for only God is able to bless one with sleep, which metonymically refers to having one’s needs met. He blesses on the basis of one’s relationship to him, not on the basis of physical energy expended.

[131:1]  ¹¹¹ sn Psalm 131. The psalmist affirms his humble dependence on the Lord and urges Israel to place its trust in God.

[131:1]  ¹¹² sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[131:1]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “and my eyes are not lifted up.”

[131:1]  ¹¹⁴ tn Heb “I do not walk in great things, and in things too marvelous for me.”

[138:7]  ¹¹⁵ tn Or “distress.”

[138:7]  ¹¹⁶ tn Heb “against the anger of my enemies you extend your hand.”

[141:5]  ¹¹⁷ tn The form יָנִי (yaniy) appears to be derived from the verbal root נוּא (nu’). Another option is to emend the form to יְנָא (yÿna’), a Piel from נָאָה (na’ah), and translate “may choice oil not adorn my head” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 271). In this case, choice oil, like delicacies in v. 4, symbolize the pleasures of sin.

[141:5]  ¹¹⁸ sn May my head not refuse choice oil. The psalmist compares the constructive criticism of the godly (see the previous line) to having refreshing olive oil poured over one’s head.

[141:5]  ¹¹⁹ tc Heb “for still, and my prayer [is] against their evil deeds.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult; the sequence -כִּי־עוֹד וּ (kiy-’od u-, “for still and”) occurs only here. The translation assumes an emendation to כִּי עֵד תְפלָּתִי (“indeed a witness [is] my prayer”). The psalmist’s lament about the evil actions of sinful men (see v. 4) testifies against the wicked in the divine court.

[143:8]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “cause me to hear in the morning your loyal love.” Here “loyal love” probably stands metonymically for an oracle of assurance promising God’s intervention as an expression of his loyal love.

[143:8]  sn The morning is sometimes viewed as the time of divine intervention (see Pss 30:5; 59:16; 90:14).

[143:8]  ¹²¹ sn The way probably refers here to God’s moral and ethical standards and requirements (see v. 10).

[143:8]  ¹²² tn Heb “for to you I lift up my life.” The Hebrew expression נָאָשׂ נֶפֶשׁ (na’as nefesh, “to lift up [one’s] life”) means “to desire; to long for” (see Deut 24:15; Prov 19:18; Jer 22:27; 44:14; Hos 4:8, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 16).