Mazmur 49:12

49:12 but, despite their wealth, people do not last, ¹ 

they are like animals ²  that perish. ³ 

Mazmur 49:20

49:20 Wealthy people do not understand; ⁴ 

they are like animals ⁵  that perish. ⁶ 

Mazmur 73:10

73:10 Therefore they have more than enough food to eat,

and even suck up the water of the sea. ⁷ 

Mazmur 73:12

73:12 Take a good look! This is what the wicked are like, ⁸ 

those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer. ⁹ 

Mazmur 82:7

82:7 Yet you will die like mortals; ¹⁰ 

you will fall like all the other rulers.” ¹¹ 

Mazmur 96:4

96:4 For the Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise;

he is more awesome than all gods. ¹² 

Mazmur 118:6

118:6 The Lord is on my side, ¹³  I am not afraid!

What can people do to me? ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 119:33

ה (He)

119:33 Teach me, O Lord, the lifestyle prescribed by your statutes, ¹⁵ 

so that I might observe it continually. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 139:3

139:3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest; ¹⁷ 

you are aware of everything I do. ¹⁸ 

[49:12]  ¹ tn Heb “but mankind in honor does not remain.” The construction vav (ו) + noun at the beginning of the verse can be taken as contrastive in relation to what precedes. The Hebrew term יְקָר (yÿqar, “honor”) probably refers here to the wealth mentioned in the preceding context. The imperfect verbal form draws attention to what is characteristically true. Some scholars emend יָלִין (yalin, “remains”) to יָבִין (yavin, “understands”) but this is an unnecessary accommodation to the wording of v. 20.

[49:12]  ² tn Or “cattle.”

[49:12]  ³ tn The verb is derived from דָּמָה (damah, “cease; destroy”; BDB 198 s.v.). Another option is to derive the verb from דָּמָה (“be silent”; see HALOT 225 s.v. II דמה, which sees two homonymic roots [דָּמָה, “be silent,” and דָּמָה, “destroy”] rather than a single root) and translate, “they are like dumb beasts.” This makes particularly good sense in v. 20, where the preceding line focuses on mankind’s lack of understanding.

[49:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “mankind in honor does not understand.” The Hebrew term יְקָר (yÿqar, “honor”) probably refers here to the wealth mentioned in the preceding context. The imperfect verbal form draws attention to what is characteristically true. Some emend יָבִין (yavin, “understands”) to יָלִין (yalin, “remains”), but this is an unnecessary accommodation to the wording of v. 12.

[49:20]  ⁵ tn Or “cattle.”

[49:20]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew verb is derived from דָּמָה (damah, “cease, destroy”; BDB 198 s.v.). Another option is to derive the verb from דָּמָה (damah, “be silent”; see HALOT 225 s.v. II דמה, which sees two homonymic roots [I דָּמַה, “be silent,” and II דָּמַה, “destroy”] rather than a single root) and translate, “they are like dumb beasts.” This makes particularly good sense here, where the preceding line focuses on mankind’s lack of understanding.

[73:10]  ⁷ tc Heb “therefore his people return [so Qere (marginal reading); Kethib (consonantal text) has “he brings back”] to here, and waters of abundance are sucked up by them.” The traditional Hebrew text (MT) defies explanation. The present translation reflects M. Dahood’s proposed emendations (Psalms [AB], 2:190) and reads the Hebrew text as follows: לָכֵן יִשְׂבְעוּם לֶחֶם וּמֵי מָלֵא יָמֹצּוּ לָמוֹ (“therefore they are filled with food, and waters of abundance they suck up for themselves”). The reading יִשְׂבְעוּם לֶחֶם (yisvÿ’um lekhem, “they are filled with food”) assumes (1) an emendation of יָשׁיּב עַמּוֹ (yashyyv, “he will bring back his people”) to יִשְׂבְעוּם (yisvÿ’um, “they will be filled”; a Qal imperfect third masculine plural form from שָׂבַע [sava’] with enclitic mem [ם]), and (2) an emendation of הֲלֹם (halom, “to here”) to לֶחֶם (“food”). The expression “be filled/fill with food” appears elsewhere at least ten times (see Ps 132:15, for example). In the second line the Niphal form יִמָּצוּ (yimmatsu, derived from מָצָה, matsah, “drain”) is emended to a Qal form יָמֹצּוּ (yamotsu), derived from מָצַץ (matsats, “to suck”). In Isa 66:11 the verbs שָׂבַע (sava’; proposed in Ps 73:10a) and מָצַץ (proposed in Ps 73:10b) are parallel. The point of the emended text is this: Because they are seemingly sovereign (v. 9), they become greedy and grab up everything they need and more.

[73:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “Look, these [are] the wicked.”

[73:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “the ones who are always at ease [who] increase wealth.”

[82:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “men.” The point in the context is mortality, however, not maleness.

[82:7]  sn You will die like mortals. For the concept of a god losing immortality and dying, see Isa 14:12-15, which alludes to a pagan myth in which the petty god “Shining One, son of the Dawn,” is hurled into Sheol for his hubris.

[82:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like one of the rulers.” The comparison does not necessarily imply that they are not rulers. The expression “like one of” can sometimes mean “as one of” (Gen 49:16; Obad 11) or “as any other of” (Judg 16:7, 11).

[96:4]  ¹² tn Or perhaps “and feared by all gods.” See Ps 89:7.

[118:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “for me.”

[118:6]  ¹⁴ tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential. See Ps 56:11.

[119:33]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the way of your statutes.”

[119:33]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and I will keep it to the end.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative. The Hebrew term עֵקֶב (’eqev) is understood to mean “end” here. Another option is to take עֵקֶב (’eqev) as meaning “reward” here (see Ps 19:11) and to translate, “so that I might observe it and be rewarded.”

[139:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זָרָת (zarat, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279-80 s.v. זָרָה).

[139:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all my ways.”