Mazmur 4:7

4:7 You make me happier ¹ 

than those who have abundant grain and wine. ² 

Mazmur 10:5

10:5 He is secure at all times. ³ 

He has no regard for your commands; ⁴ 

he disdains all his enemies. ⁵ 

Mazmur 11:2

11:2 For look, the wicked ⁶  prepare ⁷  their bows, ⁸ 

they put their arrows on the strings,

to shoot in the darkness ⁹  at the morally upright. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 17:4

17:4 As for the actions of people ¹¹  –

just as you have commanded,

I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men. ¹² 

Mazmur 22:14

22:14 My strength drains away like water; ¹³ 

all my bones are dislocated;

my heart ¹⁴  is like wax;

it melts away inside me.

Mazmur 36:3

36:3 The words he speaks are sinful and deceitful;

he does not care about doing what is wise and right. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 38:3

38:3 My whole body is sick because of your judgment; ¹⁶ 

I am deprived of health because of my sin. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 39:10

39:10 Please stop wounding me! ¹⁸ 

You have almost beaten me to death! ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 40:11

40:11 O Lord, you do not withhold ²⁰  your compassion from me.

May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me! ²¹ 

Mazmur 41:13

41:13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise ²² 

in the future and forevermore! ²³ 

We agree! We agree! ²⁴ 

Mazmur 45:2

45:2 You are the most handsome of all men! ²⁵ 

You speak in an impressive and fitting manner! ²⁶ 

For this reason ²⁷  God grants you continual blessings. ²⁸ 

Mazmur 49:7

49:7 Certainly a man cannot rescue his brother; ²⁹ 

he cannot pay God an adequate ransom price ³⁰ 

Mazmur 50:23

50:23 Whoever presents a thank-offering honors me. ³¹ 

To whoever obeys my commands, I will reveal my power to deliver.” ³² 

Mazmur 70:1

Psalm 70 ³³ 

For the music director; by David; written to get God’s attention. ³⁴ 

70:1 O God, please be willing to rescue me! ³⁵ 

O Lord, hurry and help me! ³⁶ 

Mazmur 73:27

73:27 Yes, ³⁷  look! Those far from you ³⁸  die;

you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you. ³⁹ 

Mazmur 74:11

74:11 Why do you remain inactive?

Intervene and destroy him! ⁴⁰ 

Mazmur 80:18

80:18 Then we will not turn away from you.

Revive us and we will pray to you! ⁴¹ 

Mazmur 81:1

Psalm 81 ⁴² 

For the music director; according to the gittith style; ⁴³  by Asaph.

81:1 Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!

Shout out to the God of Jacob!

Mazmur 88:8

88:8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance;

you make me an appalling sight to them.

I am trapped and cannot get free. ⁴⁴ 

Mazmur 88:15

88:15 I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth. ⁴⁵ 

I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain. ⁴⁶ 

Mazmur 107:41

107:41 Yet he protected ⁴⁷  the needy from oppression,

and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.

Mazmur 109:17

109:17 He loved to curse ⁴⁸  others, so those curses have come upon him. ⁴⁹ 

He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings. ⁵⁰ 

Mazmur 116:16

116:16 Yes, Lord! I am indeed your servant;

I am your lowest slave. ⁵¹ 

You saved me from death. ⁵² 

Mazmur 138:1

Psalm 138 ⁵³ 

By David.

138:1 I will give you thanks with all my heart;

before the heavenly assembly ⁵⁴  I will sing praises to you.

Mazmur 139:12

139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, ⁵⁵ 

and the night is as bright as ⁵⁶  day;

darkness and light are the same to you. ⁵⁷ 

Mazmur 145:1

Psalm 145 ⁵⁸ 

A psalm of praise, by David.

145:1 I will extol you, my God, O king!

I will praise your name continually! ⁵⁹ 

[4:7]  ¹ tn Heb “you place joy in my heart.” Another option is to understand the perfect verbal form as indicating certitude, “you will make me happier.”

[4:7]  ² tn Heb “from (i.e., more than) the time (when) their grain and their wine are abundant.”

[10:5]  ³ tn Heb “they are firm, his ways, at every time.” The verb חַיִל (khayil, “be firm, be strong”) occurs only here and in Job 20:21, where it has the sense “endure.”

[10:5]  ⁴ tc Heb “[on a] height, your judgments from before him.” If the MT is retained, then the idea may be that God’s “judgments” are high above (i.e., not recognized) by the wicked man. However, the syntax is awkward. The translation assumes an emendation of מָרוֹם (marom, “height”) to סָרוּ (saru, “[your judgments] are turned aside”), the final mem (ם) being dittographic (note the initial mem on the immediately following word [מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ, mishÿfatekha, “your judgments”). “Judgments” probably refers here to God’s laws or commands, rather than his judicial decisions or acts of judgment.

[10:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “all his enemies, he snorts against them.” This may picture the wicked man defiantly challenging his enemies because he is confident of success. Another option is to take יָפִיחַ (yafiakh) from the root יָפַח (yafakh, “to testify”) and translate “he testifies against all his enemies,” implying that he gets the upper hand over them in legal battles. The noun יָפֵחַ (yafeakh, “witness”) is attested in biblical Hebrew (see Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3). The verb, however, is not clearly attested.

[11:2]  ⁶ tn In the psalms the “wicked” (רְשָׁעִים, rÿsha’im) are typically proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and threaten his people (Ps 3:8).

[11:2]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form depicts the enemies’ hostile action as underway.

[11:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “a bow.”

[11:2]  ⁹ sn In the darkness. The enemies’ attack, the precise form of which is not indicated, is compared here to a night ambush by archers; the psalmist is defenseless against this deadly attack.

[11:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).

[17:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “with regard to the deeds of man[kind].”

[17:4]  ¹² tn Heb “by the word of your lips, I, I have watched the paths of the violent” (i.e., “watched” in the sense of “watched for the purpose of avoiding”).

[22:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”

[22:14]  ¹⁴ sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s strength and courage.

[36:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he ceases to exhibit wisdom to do good.” The Hiphil forms are exhibitive, indicating the outward expression of an inner attitude.

[38:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh from before your anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger at the psalmist’s sin.

[38:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “there is no health in my bones from before my sin.”

[39:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “remove from upon me your wound.”

[39:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the hostility of your hand I have come to an end.”

[40:11]  ²⁰ tn Some (cf. NIV, NRSV) translate the verb as a request (“do not withhold”), but elsewhere in the psalms the second masculine singular prefixed form, when addressed to God and preceded by לֹא (lo’), is always indicative in mood and never has the force of a prayer (see Pss 16:10; 22:2; 44:9 51:16-17; 60:10; 108:11; cf. NEB, NASB).

[40:11]  ²¹ tn In this line the psalmist makes the transition from confidence to petition (see v. 13). Since the prefixed verbal form in the preceding line is imperfect/indicative, one could take the verb in this line as imperfect as well and translate, “your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me” (cf. NEB). However, the כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the next verse, if causal (“because”), is best understood as introducing a motivating argument in support of a petition. For this reason v. 11b is best taken as a prayer with the prefixed form being understood as jussive (cf. NIV, NRSV). For parallels to the proposed construction (jussive followed by כִּי + perfect introducing motivating argument), see Ps 25:21, as well as Pss 10:2-3; 22:8.

[41:13]  ²² tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.

[41:13]  ²³ tn Heb “from everlasting to everlasting.” See 1 Chr 16:36; Neh 9:5; Pss 90:2; 106:48.

[41:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “surely and surely” (אָמֵן וְאָמֵן [’amen vÿ’amen], i.e., “amen and amen”). This is probably a congregational response to the immediately preceding statement about the propriety of praising God.

[45:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “you are handsome from the sons of man.” The preposition “from” is used in a comparative (“more than”) sense. The peculiar verb form יָפְיָפִיתָ (yafyafita) is probably the result of dittography of yod-pe (יפ) and should be emended to יָפִיתָ (yafita). See GKC 152 §55.e.

[45:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “favor is poured out on your lips.” “Lips” probably stands by metonymy for the king’s speech. Some interpret the Hebrew term חֵן (khen) as referring here to “gracious (i.e., kind and polite) speech”, but the word probably refers more generally to “attractive” speech that is impressively articulated and fitting for the occasion. For other instances of the term being used of speech, see Prov 22:11 and Eccl 10:12.

[45:2]  ²⁷ tn Or “this demonstrates.” The construction עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken, “therefore”) usually indicates what logically follows from a preceding statement. However, here it may infer the cause from the effect, indicating the underlying basis or reason for what precedes (see BDB 487 s.v. I כֵּן 3.f; C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 1:386).

[45:2]  ²⁸ tn Or “blesses you forever.” Here “bless” means to “endue with the power and skill to rule effectively,” as the following verses indicate.

[49:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a brother, he surely does not ransom, a man.” The sequence אִישׁ...אָח (’akh...’ish, “a brother…a man”) is problematic, for the usual combination is אָח...אָח (“a brother…a brother”) or אִישׁ...אִישׁ (“a man…a man”). When אִישׁ and אָח are combined, the usual order is אָח...אִישׁ (“a man…a brother”), with “brother” having a third masculine singular suffix, “his brother.” This suggests that “brother” is the object of the verb and “man” the subject. (1) Perhaps the altered word order and absence of the suffix can be explained by the text’s poetic character, for ellipsis is a feature of Hebrew poetic style. (2) Another option, supported by a few medieval Hebrew mss, is to emend “brother” to the similar sounding אַךְ (’akh, “surely; but”) which occurs in v. 15 before the verb פָּדָה (padah, “ransom”). If this reading is accepted the Qal imperfect יִפְדֶּה (yifddeh, “he can [not] ransom”) would need to be emended to a Niphal (passive) form, יִפָּדֶה (yifadeh, “he can[not] be ransomed”) unless one understands the subject of the Qal verb to be indefinite (“one cannot redeem a man”). (A Niphal imperfect can be collocated with a Qal infinitive absolute. See GKC 344-45 §113.w.) No matter how one decides the textual issues, the imperfect in this case is modal, indicating potential, and the infinitive absolute emphasizes the statement.

[49:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “he cannot pay to God his ransom price.” Num 35:31 may supply the legal background for the metaphorical language used here. The psalmist pictures God as having a claim on the soul of the individual. When God comes to claim the life that ultimately belongs to him, he demands a ransom price that is beyond the capability of anyone to pay. The psalmist’s point is that God has ultimate authority over life and death; all the money in the world cannot buy anyone a single day of life beyond what God has decreed.

[50:23]  ³¹ sn The reference to a thank-offering recalls the earlier statement made in v. 14. Gratitude characterizes genuine worship.

[50:23]  ³² tn Heb “and [to one who] sets a way I will show the deliverance of God.” Elsewhere the phrase “set a way” simply means “to travel” (see Gen 30:36; cf. NRSV). The present translation assumes an emendation of וְשָׂם דֶּרֶךְ (vÿsam derekh) to וְשֹׁמֵר דְּרָכַּי (vÿshomer dÿrakhay, “and [the one who] keeps my ways” [i.e., commands, see Pss 18:21; 37:34). Another option is to read וְשֹׁמֵר דַּרְכּוֹ (vÿshomer darko, “and [the one who] guards his way,” i.e., “the one who is careful to follow a godly lifestyle”; see Ps 39:1).

[70:1]  ³³ sn Psalm 70. This psalm is almost identical to Ps 40:13-17. The psalmist asks for God’s help and for divine retribution against his enemies.

[70:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “to cause to remember.” The same form, a Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the superscription of Ps 38. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).

[70:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “O God, to rescue me.” A main verb is obviously missing. The verb רָצָה (ratsah, “be willing”) should be supplied (see Ps 40:13). Ps 40:13 uses the divine name “Lord” rather than “God.”

[70:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Pss 22:19; 38:22.

[73:27]  ³⁷ tn Or “for.”

[73:27]  ³⁸ sn The following line defines the phrase far from you in a spiritual sense. Those “far” from God are those who are unfaithful and disloyal to him.

[73:27]  ³⁹ tn Heb “everyone who commits adultery from you.”

[74:11]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? From the midst of your chest, destroy!” The psalmist pictures God as having placed his right hand (symbolic of activity and strength) inside his robe against his chest. He prays that God would pull his hand out from under his robe and use it to destroy the enemy.

[80:18]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and in your name we will call.”

[81:1]  ⁴² sn Psalm 81. The psalmist calls God’s people to assemble for a festival and then proclaims God’s message to them. The divine speech (vv. 6-16) recalls how God delivered the people from Egypt, reminds Israel of their rebellious past, expresses God’s desire for his people to obey him, and promises divine protection in exchange for obedience.

[81:1]  ⁴³ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הַגִּתִּית (haggittit) is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or instrument. See the superscription to Ps 8.

[88:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “[I am] confined and I cannot go out.”

[88:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and am dying from youth.”

[88:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “I carry your horrors [?].” The meaning of the Hebrew form אָפוּנָה (’afunah), which occurs only here in the OT, is unclear. It may be an adverb meaning “very much” (BDB 67 s.v.), though some prefer to emend the text to אָפוּגָה (’afugah, “I am numb”) from the verb פוּג (pug; see Pss 38:8; 77:2).

[107:41]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “set on high.”

[109:17]  ⁴⁸ sn A curse in OT times consists of a formal appeal to God to bring judgment down upon another. Curses were sometimes justified (such as the one spoken by the psalmist here in vv. 6-19), but when they were not, the one pronouncing the curse was in danger of bringing the anticipated judgment down upon himself.

[109:17]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and he loved a curse and it came [upon] him.” A reference to the evil man experiencing a curse seems premature here, for the psalmist is asking God to bring judgment on his enemies. For this reason some (cf. NIV, NRSV) prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” as conjunctive and translate the verb as a jussive of prayer (“may it come upon him!”). The prefixed form with vav consecutive in the next line is emended in the same way and translated, “may it be far from him.” However, the psalmist may be indicating that the evil man’s lifestyle has already begun to yield its destructive fruit.

[109:17]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and he did not delight in a blessing and it is far from him.”

[116:16]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “I am your servant, the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 86:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here certainly does not imply that the Lord has such a secondary wife or concubine! It is used metaphorically and idiomatically to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his status as the Lord’s servant.

[116:16]  ⁵² tn Heb “you have loosed my bonds.” In this context the imagery refers to deliverance from death (see v. 3).

[138:1]  ⁵³ sn Psalm 138. The psalmist vows to thank the Lord for his deliverance and protection.

[138:1]  ⁵⁴ tn The referent of the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is unclear. It refers either to the angelic assembly (see Gen 3:5; Ps 8:5) or to the pagan gods (see Pss 82:1, 6; 86:8; 97:7), in which case the psalmist’s praise takes on a polemical tone.

[139:12]  ⁵⁵ tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[139:12]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “shines like.”

[139:12]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”

[145:1]  ⁵⁸ sn Psalm 145. The psalmist praises God because he is a just and merciful king who cares for his people.

[145:1]  ⁵⁹ tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”