Mazmur 50:17

50:17 For you hate instruction

and reject my words. ¹ 

Mazmur 73:24

73:24 You guide ²  me by your wise advice,

and then you will lead me to a position of honor. ³ 

Mazmur 63:8

63:8 My soul ⁴  pursues you; ⁵ 

your right hand upholds me.

Mazmur 68:25

68:25 Singers walk in front;

musicians follow playing their stringed instruments, ⁶ 

in the midst of young women playing tambourines. ⁷ 

Mazmur 78:71

78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, ⁸ 

and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,

and of Israel, his chosen nation. ⁹ 

Mazmur 45:14

45:14 In embroidered robes she is escorted to the king.

Her attendants, the maidens of honor who follow her,

are led before you. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 49:13

49:13 This is the destiny of fools, ¹¹ 

and of those who approve of their philosophy. ¹²  (Selah)

Mazmur 49:17

49:17 For he will take nothing with him when he dies;

his wealth will not follow him down into the grave. ¹³ 

Mazmur 94:15

94:15 For justice will prevail, ¹⁴ 

and all the morally upright ¹⁵  will be vindicated. ¹⁶ 

[50:17]  ¹ tn Heb “and throw my words behind you.”

[73:24]  ² tn The imperfect verbal form here suggests this is the psalmist’s ongoing experience.

[73:24]  ³ tn Heb “and afterward [to] glory you will take me.” Some interpreters view this as the psalmist’s confidence in an afterlife in God’s presence and understand כָּבוֹד (cavod) as a metonymic reference to God’s presence in heaven. But this seems unlikely in the present context. The psalmist anticipates a time of vindication, when the wicked are destroyed and he is honored by God for his godly life style. The verb לָקַח (laqakh, “take”) here carries the nuance “lead, guide, conduct,” as in Num 23:14, 27-28; Josh 24:3 and Prov 24:11.

[63:8]  ⁴ tn Or “I.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[63:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “clings after.” The expression means “to pursue with determination” (see Judg 20:45; 1 Sam 14:22; 1 Chr 10:2; Jer 42:16).

[68:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “after [are] the stringed instrument players.”

[68:25]  ⁷ sn To celebrate a military victory, women would play tambourines (see Exod 15:20; Judg 11:34; 1 Sam 18:6).

[78:71]  ⁸ tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”

[78:71]  ⁹ tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”

[45:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “virgins after her, her companions, are led to you.” Some emend לָךְ (lakh, “to you”) to לָהּ (lah, “to her,” i.e., the princess), because the princess is now being spoken of in the third person (vv. 13-14a), rather than being addressed directly (as in vv. 10-12). However, the ambiguous suffixed form לָךְ need not be taken as second feminine singular. The suffix can be understood as a pausal second masculine singular form, addressed to the king. The translation assumes this to be the case; note that the king is addressed once more in vv. 16-17, where the second person pronouns are masculine.

[49:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “this [is] their way, [there is] folly [belonging] to them.” The Hebrew term translated “this” could refer (1) back to the preceding verse[s] or (2) ahead to the subsequent statements. The translation assumes the latter, since v. 12 appears to be a refrain that concludes the psalm’s first major section and marks a structural boundary. (A similar refrain [see v. 20] concludes the second half of the psalm.) The noun דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) often refers to one’s lifestyle, but, if it relates to what follows, then here it likely refers metonymically to one’s destiny (the natural outcome of one’s lifestyle [cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV “fate”]). (See the discussion in K. Koch, TDOT 3:285.) If one prefers the more common nuance (“lifestyle”), then the term would look back to the self-confident attitude described in the earlier verses.

[49:13]  ¹² tn Heb “and after them, in their mouth they take delight.” The meaning of the MT is not entirely clear. “After them” is understood here as substantival, “those who come after them” or “those who follow them.” “Their mouth” is taken as a metonymy for the arrogant attitude verbalized by the rich. In the expression “take delight in,” the preposition -ב (bet) introduces the object/cause of one’s delight (see Pss 147:10; 149:4). So the idea here is that those who come after/follow the rich find the philosophy of life they verbalize and promote to be attractive and desirable.

[49:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “his glory will not go down after him.”

[94:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for judgment will return to justice.”

[94:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “all the 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; 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 97:11).

[94:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and after it [are] the pure of heart.”