Mazmur 9:11

9:11 Sing praises to the Lord, who rules ¹  in Zion!

Tell the nations what he has done! ² 

Mazmur 16:10

16:10 You will not abandon me ³  to Sheol; ⁴ 

you will not allow your faithful follower ⁵  to see ⁶  the Pit. ⁷ 

Mazmur 30:3

30:3 O Lord, you pulled me ⁸  up from Sheol;

you rescued me from among those descending into the grave. ⁹ 

Mazmur 39:4

39:4 “O Lord, help me understand my mortality

and the brevity of life! ¹⁰ 

Let me realize how quickly my life will pass! ¹¹ 

Mazmur 45:16-17

45:16 Your ¹²  sons will carry ¹³  on the dynasty of your ancestors; ¹⁴ 

you will make them princes throughout the land.

45:17 I will proclaim your greatness through the coming years, ¹⁵ 

then the nations will praise you ¹⁶  forever.

Mazmur 46:2

46:2 For this reason we do not fear ¹⁷  when the earth shakes, ¹⁸ 

and the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea, ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 46:9-10

46:9 He brings an end to wars throughout the earth; ²⁰ 

he shatters ²¹  the bow and breaks ²²  the spear;

he burns ²³  the shields with fire. ²⁴ 

46:10 He says, ²⁵  “Stop your striving and recognize ²⁶  that I am God!

I will be exalted ²⁷  over ²⁸  the nations! I will be exalted over ²⁹  the earth!”

Mazmur 49:15

49:15 But ³⁰  God will rescue ³¹  my life ³²  from the power ³³  of Sheol;

certainly ³⁴  he will pull me to safety. ³⁵  (Selah)

Mazmur 49:18

49:18 He pronounces this blessing on himself while he is alive:

“May men praise you, for you have done well!”

Mazmur 65:13

65:13 The meadows are clothed with sheep,

and the valleys are covered with grain.

They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.

Mazmur 67:2

67:2 Then those living on earth will know what you are like;

all nations will know how you deliver your people. ³⁶ 

Mazmur 67:5

67:5 Let the nations thank you, O God!

Let all the nations thank you! ³⁷ 

Mazmur 86:13

86:13 For you will extend your great loyal love to me, ³⁸ 

and will deliver my life ³⁹  from the depths of Sheol. ⁴⁰ 

Mazmur 89:27

89:27 I will appoint him to be my firstborn son, ⁴¹ 

the most exalted of the earth’s kings.

Mazmur 89:48

89:48 No man can live on without experiencing death,

or deliver his life from the power of Sheol. ⁴²  (Selah)

Mazmur 93:4

93:4 Above the sound of the surging water, ⁴³ 

and the mighty waves of the sea,

the Lord sits enthroned in majesty. ⁴⁴ 

Mazmur 102:15

102:15 The nations will respect the reputation of the Lord, ⁴⁵ 

and all the kings of the earth will respect ⁴⁶  his splendor,

Mazmur 106:8

106:8 Yet he delivered them for the sake of his reputation, ⁴⁷ 

that he might reveal his power.

Mazmur 139:8

139:8 If I were to ascend ⁴⁸  to heaven, you would be there.

If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be. ⁴⁹ 

[9:11]  ¹ tn Heb “sits” (i.e., enthroned, and therefore ruling – see v. 4). Another option is to translate as “lives” or “dwells.”

[9:11]  ² tn Heb “declare among the nations his deeds.”

[16:10]  ³ tn Or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

[16:10]  ⁴ sn In ancient Israelite cosmology Sheol is the realm of the dead, viewed as being under the earth’s surface. See L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 165-76.

[16:10]  ⁵ tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד [khasid], traditionally rendered “holy one”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10). The psalmist here refers to himself, as the parallel line (“You will not abandon me to Sheol”) indicates.

[16:10]  ⁶ tn That is, “experience.” The psalmist is confident that the Lord will protect him in his present crisis (see v. 1) and prevent him from dying.

[16:10]  sn According to Peter, the words of Ps 16:8-11 are applicable to Jesus (Acts 2:25-29). Peter goes on to argue that David, being a prophet, foresaw future events and spoke of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:30-33). Paul seems to concur with Peter in this understanding (see Acts 13:35-37). For a discussion of the NT application of these verses to Jesus’ resurrection, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “A Theology of the Psalms,” A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, 292-95.

[16:10]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word שָׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 30:9; 49:9; 55:24; 103:4). Note the parallelism with the previous line.

[30:3]  ⁸ tn Or “my life.”

[30:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “you kept me alive from those descending into the pit.” The Hebrew noun בוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib); the marginal reading (Qere) has, “you kept me alive so that I did not go down into the pit.”

[39:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Cause me to know, O Lord, my end; and the measure of my days, what it is!”

[39:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Let me know how transient I am!”

[45:16]  ¹² tn The pronoun is second masculine singular, indicating the king is being addressed from this point to the end of the psalm.

[45:16]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in place of your fathers will be your sons.”

[45:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will cause your name to be remembered in every generation and generation.” The cohortative verbal form expresses the poet’s resolve. The king’s “name” stands here for his reputation and character, which the poet praised in vv. 2-7.

[45:17]  ¹⁶ sn The nations will praise you. As God’s vice-regent on earth, the king is deserving of such honor and praise.

[46:2]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect is taken in a generalizing sense (cf. NEB) because the situation described in vv. 2-3 is understood as symbolizing typical world conditions. In this case the imperfect draws attention to the typical nature of the response. The covenant community characteristically responds with confidence, not fear. Another option is to take the situation described as purely hypothetical. In this case one might translate, “We will not fear, even though the earth should shake” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[46:2]  ¹⁸ tn The Hiphil infinitival form is normally taken to mean “when [the earth] is altered,” being derived from מוּר (mur, “to change”). In this case the Hiphil would be intransitive, as in Ps 15:4. HALOT 560 s.v. II מור emends the form to a Niphal and derives it from a homonymic root מוּר attested in Arabic with the meaning “shake.”

[46:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “heart of the seas.” The plural may be used for emphasis, pointing to the deepest sea. Note that the next verse uses a singular pronoun (“its waters,” “its swelling”) in referring back to the plural noun.

[46:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “[the] one who causes wars to cease unto the end of the earth.” The participle continues the description begun in v. 8b and indicates that this is the Lord’s characteristic activity. Ironically, he brings peace to the earth by devastating the warlike, hostile nations (vv. 8, 9b).

[46:9]  ²¹ tn The verb שָׁבַר (shavar, “break”) appears in the Piel here (see Ps 29:5). In the OT it occurs thirty-six times in the Piel, always with multiple objects (the object is either a collective singular or grammatically plural or dual form). The Piel may highlight the repetition of the pluralative action, or it may suggest an intensification of action, indicating repeated action comprising a whole, perhaps with the nuance “break again and again, break in pieces.” Another option is to understand the form as resultative: “make broken” (see IBHS 404-7 §24.3). The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.

[46:9]  ²² tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries along the generalizing emphasis of the preceding imperfect.

[46:9]  ²³ tn The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.

[46:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “wagons he burns with fire.” Some read “chariots” here (cf. NASB), but the Hebrew word refers to wagons or carts, not chariots, elsewhere in the OT. In this context, where military weapons are mentioned, it is better to revocalize the form as עֲגִלוֹת (’agilot, “round shields”), a word which occurs only here in the OT, but is attested in later Hebrew and Aramaic.

[46:10]  ²⁵ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[46:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “do nothing/be quiet (see 1 Sam 15:16) and know.” This statement may be addressed to the hostile nations, indicating they should cease their efforts to destroy God’s people, or to Judah, indicating they should rest secure in God’s protection. Since the psalm is an expression of Judah’s trust and confidence, it is more likely that the words are directed to the nations, who are actively promoting chaos and are in need of a rebuke.

[46:10]  ²⁷ tn Elsewhere in the psalms the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”) when used of God, refers to his exalted position as king (Pss 18:46; 99:2; 113:4; 138:6) and/or his self-revelation as king through his mighty deeds of deliverance (Pss 21:13; 57:5, 11).

[46:10]  ²⁸ tn Or “among.”

[46:10]  ²⁹ tn Or “in.”

[49:15]  ³⁰ tn Or “certainly.”

[49:15]  ³¹ tn Or “redeem.”

[49:15]  ³² tn Or “me.” 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).

[49:15]  ³³ tn Heb “hand.”

[49:15]  ³⁴ tn Or “for.”

[49:15]  ³⁵ tn Heb “he will take me.” To improve the poetic balance of the verse, some move the words “from the power of Sheol” to the following line. The verse would then read: “But God will rescue my life; / from the power of Sheol he will certainly deliver me” (cf. NEB).

[49:15]  sn According to some, the psalmist here anticipates the resurrection (or at least an afterlife in God’s presence). But it is more likely that the psalmist here expresses his hope that God will rescue him from premature death at the hands of the rich oppressors denounced in the psalm. The psalmist is well aware that all (the wise and foolish) die (see vv. 7-12), but he is confident God will lead him safely through the present “times of trouble” (v. 5) and sweep the wicked away to their final destiny. The theme is a common one in the so-called wisdom psalms (see Pss 1, 34, 37, 112). For a fuller discussion of the psalmists’ view of the afterlife, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “A Theology of the Psalms,” A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, 284-88.

[67:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “to know in the earth your way, among all nations your deliverance.” The infinitive with -לְ (lamed) expresses purpose/result. When God demonstrates his favor to his people, all nations will recognize his character as a God who delivers. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) refers here to God’s characteristic behavior, more specifically, to the way he typically saves his people.

[67:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “let the nations, all of them, thank you.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 5 are understood as jussives in this call to praise.

[86:13]  ³⁸ tn Heb “for your loyal love [is] great over me.”

[86:13]  ³⁹ tn Or “for he will have delivered my life.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here.

[86:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “lower Sheol.”

[89:27]  ⁴¹ sn The firstborn son typically had special status and received special privileges.

[89:48]  ⁴² tn Heb “Who [is] the man [who] can live and not see death, [who] can deliver his life from the hand of Sheol?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[93:4]  ⁴³ tn Heb “mighty waters.”

[93:4]  sn The surging waters here symbolizes the hostile enemies of God who seek to destroy the order he has established in the world (see Pss 18:17; 29:3; 32:6; 77:20; 144:7; Isa 17:13; Jer 51:55; Ezek 26:19; Hab 3:15). But the Lord is depicted as elevated above and sovereign over these raging waters.

[93:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “mighty on high [is] the Lord.”

[102:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “will fear the name of the Lord.” To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for his revealed reputation which in turn motivates one to obey God’s commands (see Ps 86:11).

[102:15]  ⁴⁶ tn The verb “will fear” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).

[106:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “his name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[139:8]  ⁴⁸ tn The Hebrew verb סָלַק (salaq, “to ascend”) occurs only here in the OT, but the word is well-attested in Aramaic literature from different time periods and displays a wide semantic range (see DNWSI 2:788-90).

[139:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “look, you.”