Mazmur 9:14

9:14 Then I will ¹  tell about all your praiseworthy acts; ² 

in the gates of Daughter Zion ³  I will rejoice because of your deliverance.” ⁴ 

Mazmur 65:8

65:8 Even those living in the most remote areas are awestruck by your acts; ⁵ 

you cause those living in the east and west to praise you. ⁶ 

Mazmur 72:16

72:16 May there be ⁷  an abundance ⁸  of grain in the earth;

on the tops ⁹  of the mountains may it ¹⁰  sway! ¹¹ 

May its ¹²  fruit trees ¹³  flourish ¹⁴  like the forests of Lebanon! ¹⁵ 

May its crops ¹⁶  be as abundant ¹⁷  as the grass of the earth! ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 78:55

78:55 He drove the nations out from before them;

he assigned them their tribal allotments ¹⁹ 

and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 87:4

87:4 I mention Rahab ²¹  and Babylon to my followers. ²² 

Here are ²³  Philistia and Tyre, ²⁴  along with Ethiopia. ²⁵ 

It is said of them, “This one was born there.” ²⁶ 

[9:14]  ¹ tn Or “so that I might.”

[9:14]  ² tn Heb “all your praise.” “Praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt it.

[9:14]  ³ sn Daughter Zion is an idiomatic title for Jerusalem. It appears frequently in the prophets, but only here in the psalms.

[9:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “in your deliverance.”

[65:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the ends fear because of your signs.” God’s “signs” are the “awesome acts” (see v. 5) he performs in the earth.

[65:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “the goings out of the morning and the evening you cause to shout for joy.” The phrase “goings out of the morning and evening” refers to the sunrise and sunset, that is, the east and the west.

[72:16]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form is jussive, not imperfect. The translation assumes the subject is impersonal (rather than the king).

[72:16]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew noun פִסַּה (pissah; which appears here in the construct form) occurs only here in the OT. Perhaps the noun is related to the verbal root פָּשָׂה (pasah, “to spread,” see BDB 832 s.v.; the root appears as פָּסָה [pasah] in postbiblical Hebrew), which is used in postbiblical Hebrew of the rising sun’s rays spreading over the horizon and a tree’s branches spreading out (see Jastrow 1194 s.v. פסי, פָּסָה, פָּשָׂה). In Ps 72:16 a “spreading of grain” would refer to grain fields extending out over the land. C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:139) emend the form to סְפִיחַ (sÿfiakh, “second growth”).

[72:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “top” (singular).

[72:16]  ¹⁰ tn That is, the grain.

[72:16]  ¹¹ tn According to the traditional accentuation of the MT, this verb belongs with what follows. See the translator’s note at the end of the verse for a discussion of the poetic parallelism and interpretation of the verse.

[72:16]  ¹² tn The antecedent of the third masculine singular pronominal suffix is unclear. It is unlikely that the antecedent is אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) because this noun is normally grammatically feminine. Perhaps רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “top [of the mountains]”) is the antecedent. Another option is to understand the pronoun as referring to the king, who would then be viewed as an instrument of divine agricultural blessing (see v. 6).

[72:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “fruit.”

[72:16]  ¹⁴ tc According to the traditional accentuation of the MT, this verb belongs with what follows. See the note on the word “earth” at the end of the verse for a discussion of the poetic parallelism and interpretation of the verse. The present translation takes it with the preceding words, “like Lebanon its fruit” and emends the verb form from וְיָצִיצוּ (vÿyatsitsu; Qal imperfect third masculine plural with prefixed vav, [ו]) to יָצִיץ (yatsits; Qal imperfect third masculine singular). The initial vav is eliminated as dittographic (note the vav on the ending of the preceding form פִּרְיוֹ, piryo, “its/his fruit”) and the vav at the end of the form is placed on the following emended form (see the note on the word “crops”), yielding וַעֲמִיר (va’amir, “and [its] crops”).

[72:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “like Lebanon.”

[72:16]  ¹⁶ tc The MT has “from the city.” The translation assumes an emendation to עֲמִיר (’amir, “crops”).

[72:16]  ¹⁷ tn The translation assumes that the verb צוץ (“flourish”) goes with the preceding line. The words “be as abundant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[72:16]  ¹⁸ tc The traditional accentuation and vocalization of the MT differ from the text assumed by the present translation. The MT reads as follows: “May there be an abundance of grain in the earth, / and on the tops of the mountains! / May its [or “his”?] fruit [trees?] rustle like [the trees of] Lebanon! / May they flourish from the city, like the grass of the earth!” If one follows the MT, then it would appear that the “fruit” of the third line is a metaphorical reference to the king’s people, who flow out from the cities to populate the land (see line 4). Elsewhere in the OT people are sometimes compared to grass that sprouts up from the land (see v. 7, as well as Isa 27:6; Pss 92:7; 103:15). The translation understands a different poetic structural arrangement and, assuming the emendations mentioned in earlier notes, interprets each line of the verse to be a prayer for agricultural abundance.

[78:55]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he caused to fall [to] them with a measuring line an inheritance.”

[78:55]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and caused the tribes of Israel to settle down in their tents.”

[87:4]  ²¹ sn “Rahab,” which means “proud one,” is used here as a title for Egypt (see Isa 30:7).

[87:4]  ²² tn Heb “to those who know me” (see Ps 36:10). Apparently the Lord speaks here. The verbal construction (the Hiphil of זָכַר, zakhar, “remember” followed by the preposition -לְ [le] with a substantive) is rare, but the prepositional phrase is best understood as indicating the recipient of the announcement (see Jer 4:16). Some take the preposition in the sense of “among” and translate, “among those who know me” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). In this case these foreigners are viewed as the Lord’s people and the psalm is interpreted as anticipating a time when all nations will worship the Lord (see Ps 86:9) and be considered citizens of Zion.

[87:4]  ²³ tn Heb “Look.”

[87:4]  ²⁴ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[87:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Cush.”

[87:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and this one was born there.” The words “It is said of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarification and stylistic purposes (see v. 5). Those advocating the universalistic interpretation understand “there” as referring to Zion, but it seems more likely that the adverb refers to the nations just mentioned. The foreigners are identified by their native lands.