Mazmur 7:13

7:13 He prepares to use deadly weapons against him; ¹ 

he gets ready to shoot flaming arrows. ² 

Mazmur 25:8

25:8 The Lord is both kind and fair; ³ 

that is why he teaches sinners the right way to live. ⁴ 

Mazmur 26:9

26:9 Do not sweep me away ⁵  with sinners,

or execute me along with violent people, ⁶ 

Mazmur 37:18

37:18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day ⁷ 

and they possess a permanent inheritance. ⁸ 

Mazmur 55:13

55:13 But it is you, ⁹  a man like me, ¹⁰ 

my close friend in whom I confided. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 61:3

61:3 Indeed, ¹²  you are ¹³  my shelter,

a strong tower that protects me from the enemy. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 64:2

64:2 Hide me from the plots of evil men,

from the crowd of evildoers. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 71:4

71:4 My God, rescue me from the power ¹⁶  of the wicked,

from the hand of the cruel oppressor!

Mazmur 74:5

74:5 They invade like lumberjacks

swinging their axes in a thick forest. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 75:3

75:3 When the earth and all its inhabitants dissolve in fear, ¹⁸ 

I make its pillars secure.” ¹⁹  (Selah)

Mazmur 89:23

89:23 I will crush his enemies before him;

I will strike down those who hate him.

Mazmur 98:7

98:7 Let the sea and everything in it shout,

along with the world and those who live in it!

Mazmur 104:4

104:4 He makes the winds his messengers,

and the flaming fire his attendant. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 105:41

105:41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out;

a river ran through dry regions.

Mazmur 119:84

119:84 How long must your servant endure this? ²¹ 

When will you judge those who pursue me?

Mazmur 119:96

119:96 I realize that everything has its limits,

but your commands are beyond full comprehension. ²² 

Mazmur 126:1

Psalm 126 ²³ 

A song of ascents. ²⁴ 

126:1 When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion, ²⁵ 

we thought we were dreaming. ²⁶ 

Mazmur 136:10

136:10 to the one who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

for his loyal love endures,

Mazmur 147:17

147:17 He throws his hailstones ²⁷  like crumbs.

Who can withstand the cold wind he sends? ²⁸ 

[7:13]  ¹ tn Heb “and for him he prepares the weapons of death.”

[7:13]  ² tn Heb “his arrows into flaming [things] he makes.”

[25:8]  ³ tn Heb “good and just.”

[25:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “teaches sinners in the way.”

[26:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “do not gather up my life with.”

[26:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “or with men of bloodshed my life.” The verb is supplied; it is understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[37:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Lord knows the days of the innocent ones.” He “knows” their days in the sense that he is intimately aware of and involved in their daily struggles. He meets their needs and sustains them.

[37:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “and their inheritance is forever.”

[55:13]  ⁹ sn It is you. The psalmist addresses the apparent ringleader of the opposition, an individual who was once his friend.

[55:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a man according to my value,” i.e., “a person such as I.”

[55:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my close friend, one known by me.”

[61:3]  ¹² tn Or “for.”

[61:3]  ¹³ tn Or “have been.”

[61:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a strong tower from the face of an enemy.”

[64:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “workers of wickedness.”

[71:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “hand.”

[74:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “it is known like one bringing upwards, in a thicket of wood, axes.” The Babylonian invaders destroyed the woodwork in the temple.

[75:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “melt.”

[75:3]  ¹⁹ tn The statement is understood in a generalizing sense; God typically prevents the world from being overrun by chaos. One could take this as referring to an anticipated event, “I will make its pillars secure.”

[104:4]  ²⁰ tc Heb “and his attendants a flaming fire.” The lack of agreement between the singular “fire” and plural “attendants” has prompted various emendations. Some read “fire and flame.” The present translation assumes an emendation to “his attendant” (יו in the Hebrew text being virtually dittographic).

[104:4]  sn In Ugaritic mythology Yam’s messengers appear as flaming fire before the assembly of the gods. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 42.

[119:84]  ²¹ tn Heb “How long are the days of your servant?”

[119:96]  ²² tn Heb “to every perfection I have seen an end, your command is very wide.” God’s law is beyond full comprehension, which is why the psalmist continually studies it (vv. 95, 97).

[126:1]  ²³ sn Psalm 126. Recalling the joy of past deliverance, God’s covenant community asks for a fresh display of God’s power and confidently anticipate their sorrow being transformed into joy.

[126:1]  ²⁴ 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.

[126:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew noun שִׁיבַת (shivat) occurs only here in the OT. For this reason many prefer to emend the form to the more common שְׁבִית (shevit) or שְׁבוּת (shÿvut), both of which are used as a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv; see Ps 14:7). However an Aramaic cognate of שְׁבִית appears in an eighth century b.c. Old Aramaic inscription with the verb שׁוּב. This cognate noun appears to mean “return” (see J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Treaties of Sefire [BibOr], 119-20) or “restoration” (see DNWSI 2:1125). Therefore it appears that שְׁבִית should be retained and understood as a cognate accusative of שׁוּב. In addition to Fitzmyer (119-20) see L. C. Allen, who offers the literal translation, “turn with a turning toward” (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 170). Allen takes שְׁבִית as construct and understands “Zion” as an objective genitive.

[126:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “we were like dreamers.” This could mean the speakers were so overcome with ecstatic joy (see v. 3b) that they were like those who fantasize about pleasurable experiences in their sleep (see Isa 29:7-8). Since dreams are more commonly associated in the OT with prophetic visions, the community may be comparing their experience of God’s renewed favor to a prophet’s receiving divine visions. Just as a prophetic dream sweeps the individual into a different dimension and sometimes brings one face-to-face with God himself (see Gen 28:11-15; 1 Kgs 3:5-15), so the community was aware of God’s presence in a special way in the day of Zion’s restoration. Though the MT as it stands makes good sense, some choose to understand a homonymic root here meaning “to be healthy; to be strong” (see BDB 321 s.v. I חָלַם) and translate, “we were like those restored to health.” This reading appears to have the support of several ancient translations as well as 11QPs^a. See L. C. Allen (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 170-71) for a discussion of the viewpoints.

[147:17]  ²⁷ tn Heb “his ice.”

[147:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Before his cold, who can stand?”