Mazmur 48:4

48:4 For ¹  look, the kings assemble; ² 

they advance together.

Mazmur 99:2

99:2 The Lord is elevated ³  in Zion;

he is exalted over all the nations.

Mazmur 104:6

104:6 The watery deep covered it ⁴  like a garment;

the waters reached ⁵  above the mountains. ⁶ 

Mazmur 116:9

116:9 I will serve ⁷  the Lord

in the land ⁸  of the living.

Mazmur 117:1

Psalm 117 ⁹ 

117:1 Praise the Lord, all you nations!

Applaud him, all you foreigners! ¹⁰ 

[48:4]  ¹ tn The logical connection between vv. 3-4 seems to be this: God is the protector of Zion and reveals himself as the city’s defender – this is necessary because hostile armies threaten the city.

[48:4]  ² tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 4-6 are understood as descriptive. In dramatic style (note הִנֵּה, hinneh, “look”) the psalm describes an enemy attack against the city as if it were occurring at this very moment. Another option is to take the perfects as narrational (“the kings assembled, they advanced”), referring to a particular historical event, such as Sennacherib’s siege of the city in 701 b.c. (cf. NIV, NRSV). Even if one translates the verses in a dramatic-descriptive manner (as the present translation does), the Lord’s victory over the Assyrians was probably what served as the inspiration of the description (see v. 8).

[99:2]  ³ tn Heb “great.”

[104:6]  ⁴ tc Heb “you covered it.” The masculine suffix is problematic if the grammatically feminine noun “earth” is the antecedent. For this reason some emend the form to a feminine verb with feminine suffix, כִּסַּתָּה (kisattah, “[the watery deep] covered it [i.e., the earth]”), a reading assumed by the present translation.

[104:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “stood.”

[104:6]  ⁶ sn Verse 6 refers to the condition described in Gen 1:2 (note the use of the Hebrew term תְּהוֹם [tÿhom, “watery deep”] in both texts).

[116:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “walk before” (see Ps 56:13). On the meaning of the Hebrew idiom, see the notes at 2 Kgs 20:3/Isa 38:3.

[116:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “lands, regions.”

[117:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 117. The psalmist tells the nations to praise the Lord for his loyal love and faithfulness.

[117:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “peoples” (see Ps 108:3).