Mazmur 7:9

7:9 May the evil deeds of the wicked ¹  come to an end! ² 

But make the innocent ³  secure, ⁴ 

O righteous God,

you who examine ⁵  inner thoughts and motives! ⁶ 

Mazmur 20:5

20:5 Then we will shout for joy over your ⁷  victory;

we will rejoice ⁸  in the name of our God!

May the Lord grant all your requests!

Mazmur 31:11

31:11 Because of all my enemies, people disdain me; ⁹ 

my neighbors are appalled by my suffering ¹⁰  –

those who know me are horrified by my condition; ¹¹ 

those who see me in the street run away from me.

Mazmur 39:11

39:11 You severely discipline people for their sins; ¹² 

like a moth you slowly devour their strength. ¹³ 

Surely all people are a mere vapor. (Selah)

Mazmur 45:4

45:4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious! ¹⁴ 

Ride forth for the sake of what is right, ¹⁵ 

on behalf of justice! ¹⁶ 

Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts! ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 61:2

61:2 From the most remote place on earth ¹⁸ 

I call out to you in my despair. ¹⁹ 

Lead me ²⁰  up to an inaccessible rocky summit! ²¹ 

Mazmur 62:8

62:8 Trust in him at all times, you people!

Pour out your hearts before him! ²² 

God is our shelter! (Selah)

Mazmur 84:10

84:10 Certainly ²³  spending just one day in your temple courts is better

than spending a thousand elsewhere. ²⁴ 

I would rather stand at the entrance ²⁵  to the temple of my God

than live ²⁶  in the tents of the wicked.

Mazmur 88:5

88:5 adrift ²⁷  among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

and who are cut off from your power. ²⁸ 

Mazmur 142:7

142:7 Free me ²⁹  from prison,

that I may give thanks to your name.

Because of me the godly will assemble, ³⁰ 

for you will vindicate me. ³¹ 

[7:9]  ¹ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are 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 his people.

[7:9]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.

[7:9]  ³ tn Or “the godly” (see Ps 5:12). The singular form is collective (see the plural “upright in heart” in v. 10), though it may reflect the personal focus of the psalmist in this context.

[7:9]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.

[7:9]  ⁵ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.

[7:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “and [the one who] tests hearts and kidneys, just God.” The translation inverts the word order to improve the English style. The heart and kidneys were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.

[20:5]  ⁷ sn Your victory. Here the king is addressed (see v. 1).

[20:5]  ⁸ tc The Hebrew verb דָּגַל (dagal) occurs only here in the Qal. If accepted as original, it may carry the nuance “raise a banner,” but it is preferable to emend the form to נגיל (“we will rejoice”) which provides better parallelism with “shout for joy” and fits well with the prepositional phrase “in the name of our God” (see Ps 89:16).

[31:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “because of all my enemies I am a reproach.”

[31:11]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “and to my neighbors, exceedingly.” If the MT is retained, then these words probably go with what precedes. However the syntactical awkwardness of the text suggests it is textually corrupt. P. C. Craigie (Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 258) suggests that the initial mem (מ) on מְאֹד (me’od, “exceedingly”) be understood as an enclitic mem (ם) which was originally suffixed to the preceding form and then later misinterpreted. The resulting form אֵד (’ed) can then be taken as a defectively written form of אֵיד (’ed, “calamity”). If one follows this emendation, then the text reads literally, “and to my neighbors [I am one who experiences] calamity.” The noun פַחַד (fakhad, “[object of] horror”) occurs in the next line; אֵיד and פַחַד appear in parallelism elsewhere (see Prov 1:26-27).

[31:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and [an object of ] horror to those known by me.”

[39:11]  ¹² tn “with punishments on account of sin you discipline a man.”

[39:11]  ¹³ tc Heb “you cause to dissolve, like a moth, his desired [thing].” The translation assumes an emendation of חֲמוּדוֹ (khamudo, “his desirable [thing]”) to חֶמְדוֹ (khemdo, “his loveliness” [or “beauty”]), a reading that is supported by a few medieval Hebrew mss.

[45:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and your majesty, be successful.” The syntax is awkward. The phrase “and your majesty” at the beginning of the verse may be accidentally repeated (dittography); it appears at the end of v. 3.

[45:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “for the sake of truth.”

[45:4]  ¹⁶ tc The precise meaning of the MT is uncertain. The form עַנְוָה (’anvah) occurs only here. One could emend the text to עֲנָוָה וְצֶדֶק (’anavah vÿtsedeq, “[for the sake of truth], humility, and justice”). In this case “humility” would perhaps allude to the king’s responsibility to “serve” his people by promoting justice (cf. NIV “in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness”). The present translation assumes an emendation to יַעַן (ya’an, “because; on account of”) which would form a suitable parallel to עַל־דְּבַר (’al-dÿvar, “because; for the sake of”) in the preceding line.

[45:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and your right hand will teach you mighty acts”; or “and may your right hand teach you mighty acts.” After the imperatives in the first half of the verse, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive likely indicates purpose (“so that your right hand might teach you mighty acts”) or result (see the present translation). The “right hand” here symbolizes the king’s military strength. His right hand will “teach” him mighty acts by performing them and thereby causing him to experience their magnificence.

[61:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from the end of the earth.” This may indicate (1) the psalmist is exiled in a distant land, or (2) it may be hyperbolic (the psalmist feels alienated from God’s presence, as if he were in a distant land).

[61:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “while my heart faints.”

[61:2]  ²⁰ tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.

[61:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “on to a rocky summit [that] is higher than I.”

[62:8]  ²² tn To “pour out one’s heart” means to offer up to God intense, emotional lamentation and petitionary prayers (see Lam 2:19).

[84:10]  ²³ tn Or “for.”

[84:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “better is a day in your courts than a thousand [spent elsewhere].”

[84:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I choose being at the entrance of the house of my God over living in the tents of the wicked.” The verb סָפַף (safaf) appears only here in the OT; it is derived from the noun סַף (saf, “threshold”). Traditionally some have interpreted this as a reference to being a doorkeeper at the temple, though some understand it to mean “lie as a beggar at the entrance to the temple” (see HALOT 765 s.v. ספף).

[84:10]  ²⁶ tn The verb דּוּר (dur, “to live”) occurs only here in the OT.

[88:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “set free.”

[88:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from your hand.”

[142:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “bring out my life.”

[142:7]  ³⁰ tn Or “gather around.”

[142:7]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.