Mazmur 89:26

89:26 He will call out to me,

‘You are my father, ¹  my God, and the protector who delivers me.’ ² 

Mazmur 103:13

103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, ³ 

so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. ⁴ 

Mazmur 68:5

68:5 He is a father to the fatherless

and an advocate for widows. ⁵ 

God rules from his holy palace. ⁶ 

Mazmur 27:10

27:10 Even if my father and mother abandoned me, ⁷ 

the Lord would take me in. ⁸ 

Mazmur 45:16

45:16 Your ⁹  sons will carry ¹⁰  on the dynasty of your ancestors; ¹¹ 

you will make them princes throughout the land.

Mazmur 45:10

45:10 Listen, O princess! ¹² 

Observe and pay attention! ¹³ 

Forget your homeland ¹⁴  and your family! ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 49:19

49:19 But he will join his ancestors; ¹⁶ 

they will never again see the light of day. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 2:7

2:7 The king says, ¹⁸  “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: ¹⁹ 

‘You are my son! ²⁰  This very day I have become your father!

[89:26]  ¹ sn You are my father. The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.

[89:26]  ² tn Heb “the rocky summit of my deliverance.”

[103:13]  ³ tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.

[103:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[68:5]  ⁵ sn God is depicted here as a just ruler. In the ancient Near Eastern world a king was responsible for promoting justice, including caring for the weak and vulnerable, epitomized by the fatherless and widows.

[68:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “God [is] in his holy dwelling place.” He occupies his throne and carries out his royal responsibilities.

[27:10]  ⁷ tn Or “though my father and mother have abandoned me.”

[27:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “gather me in”; or “receive me.”

[45:16]  ⁹ tn The pronoun is second masculine singular, indicating the king is being addressed from this point to the end of the psalm.

[45:16]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive and the statement interpreted as a prayer, “May your sons carry on the dynasty of your ancestors!” The next line could then be taken as a relative clause, “[your sons] whom you will make princes throughout the land.”

[45:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in place of your fathers will be your sons.”

[45:10]  ¹² tn Heb “daughter.” The Hebrew noun בת (“daughter”) can sometimes refer to a young woman in a general sense (see H. Haag, TDOT 2:334).

[45:10]  sn Listen, O princess. The poet now addresses the bride.

[45:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “see and turn your ear.” The verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “see”) is used here of mental observation.

[45:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your people.” This reference to the “people” of the princess suggests she was a foreigner. Perhaps the marriage was arranged as part of a political alliance between Israel (or Judah) and a neighboring state. The translation “your homeland” reflects such a situation.

[45:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the house of your father.”

[49:19]  ¹⁶ tn Verses 18-19a are one long sentence in the Hebrew text, which reads: “Though he blesses his soul in his life, [saying], ‘And let them praise you, for you do well for yourself,’ it [that is, his soul] will go to the generation of his fathers.” This has been divided into two sentences in the translation for clarity, in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences.

[49:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “light.” The words “of day” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:7]  ¹⁸ tn The words “the king says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The speaker is the Lord’s chosen king.

[2:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “I will relate the decree. The Lord said to me” (in accordance with the Masoretic accentuation).

[2:7]  ²⁰ sn ‘You are my son!’ The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26-27). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.