Mazmur 9:7

9:7 But the Lord ¹  rules ²  forever;

he reigns in a just manner. ³ 

Mazmur 21:6

21:6 For you grant him lasting blessings;

you give him great joy by allowing him into your presence. ⁴ 

Mazmur 22:15

22:15 The roof of my mouth ⁵  is as dry as a piece of pottery;

my tongue sticks to my gums. ⁶ 

You ⁷  set me in the dust of death. ⁸ 

Mazmur 31:21

31:21 The Lord deserves praise ⁹ 

for he demonstrated his amazing faithfulness to me when I was besieged by enemies. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 38:9

38:9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire; ¹¹ 

my groaning is not hidden from you.

Mazmur 42:2

42:2 I thirst ¹²  for God,

for the living God.

I say, ¹³  “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?” ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 45:2

45:2 You are the most handsome of all men! ¹⁵ 

You speak in an impressive and fitting manner! ¹⁶ 

For this reason ¹⁷  God grants you continual blessings. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 49:11

49:11 Their grave becomes their permanent residence,

their eternal dwelling place. ¹⁹ 

They name their lands after themselves, ²⁰ 

Mazmur 69:36

69:36 The descendants of his servants will inherit it,

and those who are loyal to him ²¹  will live in it. ²² 

Mazmur 80:17

80:17 May you give support to the one you have chosen, ²³ 

to the one whom you raised up for yourself! ²⁴ 

Mazmur 102:14

102:14 Indeed, ²⁵  your servants take delight in her stones,

and feel compassion for ²⁶  the dust of her ruins. ²⁷ 

[9:7]  ¹ tn The construction vav (ו) + subject highlights the contrast between the exalted Lord and his defeated foes (see v. 6).

[9:7]  ² tn Heb “sits” (i.e., enthroned, see v. 4). The imperfect verbal form highlights the generalization.

[9:7]  ³ tn Heb “he establishes for justice his throne.”

[21:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “you make him happy with joy with [i.e., “close by” or “in”] your face.” On the idiom “with your face” (i.e., “in your presence”) see Ps 16:11 and BDB 816 s.v. פָּנֻה II.2.a.

[22:15]  ⁵ tc Heb “my strength” (כֹּחִי, kokhiy), but many prefer to emend the text to חִכִּי (khikiy, “my palate”; cf. NEB, NRSV “my mouth”) assuming that an error of transposition has occurred in the traditional Hebrew text.

[22:15]  ⁶ tn Cf. NEB “my jaw”; NASB, NRSV “my jaws”; NIV “the roof of my mouth.”

[22:15]  ⁷ sn Here the psalmist addresses God and suggests that God is ultimately responsible for what is happening because of his failure to intervene (see vv. 1-2, 11).

[22:15]  ⁸ sn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the progressive nature of the action. The psalmist is in the process of dying.

[31:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”

[31:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for he caused his faithfulness to be amazing to me in a besieged city.” The psalmist probably speaks figuratively here. He compares his crisis to being trapped in a besieged city, but the Lord answered his prayer for help. Verses 19-24 were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18.

[38:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “O Lord, before you [is] all my desire.”

[42:2]  ¹² tn Or “my soul thirsts.”

[42:2]  ¹³ tn The words “I say” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

[42:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “When will I go and appear [to] the face of God?” Some emend the Niphal verbal form אֵרָאֶה (’era’eh, “I will appear”) to a Qal אֶרְאֶה (’er’eh, “I will see”; see Gen 33:10), but the Niphal can be retained if one understands ellipsis of אֶת (’et) before “face” (see Exod 34:24; Deut 31:11).

[45:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you are handsome from the sons of man.” The preposition “from” is used in a comparative (“more than”) sense. The peculiar verb form יָפְיָפִיתָ (yafyafita) is probably the result of dittography of yod-pe (יפ) and should be emended to יָפִיתָ (yafita). See GKC 152 §55.e.

[45:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “favor is poured out on your lips.” “Lips” probably stands by metonymy for the king’s speech. Some interpret the Hebrew term חֵן (khen) as referring here to “gracious (i.e., kind and polite) speech”, but the word probably refers more generally to “attractive” speech that is impressively articulated and fitting for the occasion. For other instances of the term being used of speech, see Prov 22:11 and Eccl 10:12.

[45:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “this demonstrates.” The construction עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken, “therefore”) usually indicates what logically follows from a preceding statement. However, here it may infer the cause from the effect, indicating the underlying basis or reason for what precedes (see BDB 487 s.v. I כֵּן 3.f; C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 1:386).

[45:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “blesses you forever.” Here “bless” means to “endue with the power and skill to rule effectively,” as the following verses indicate.

[49:11]  ¹⁹ tc Heb “their inward part [is] their houses [are] permanent, their dwelling places for a generation and a generation.” If one follows the MT, then קֶרֶב (qerev, “inward part”) must refer to the seat of these people’s thoughts (for other examples of this use of the term, see BDB 899 s.v., though BDB prefers an emendation in this passage). In this case all three lines of v. 11 expose these people’s arrogant assumption that they will last forever, which then stands in sharp contrast to reality as summarized in v. 12. In this case one might translate the first two lines, “they think that their houses are permanent and that their dwelling places will last forever” (cf. NASB). Following the lead of several ancient versions, the present translation assumes an emendation of קִרְבָּם (qirbam, “their inward part”) to קְבָרִים (qÿvarim, “graves”). This assumes that the letters bet (ב) and resh (ר) were accidentally transposed in the MT. In this case the first two lines support the point made in v. 10, while the third line of v. 11 stands in contrast to v. 12. The phrase בֵּית עוֹלָם (bet ’olam, “permanent house”) is used of a tomb in Eccl 12:5 (as well as in Phoenician tomb inscriptions, see DNWSI 1:160 for a list of texts) and מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan, “dwelling place”) refers to a tomb in Isa 22:16. Cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV.

[49:11]  ²⁰ sn Naming their lands after themselves is a claim of possession.

[69:36]  ²¹ tn Heb “the lovers of his name.” The phrase refers to those who are loyal to God (cf. v. 35). See Pss 5:11; 119:132; Isa 56:6.

[69:36]  ²² sn Verses 35-36 appear to be an addition to the psalm from the time of the exile. The earlier lament reflects an individual’s situation, while these verses seem to reflect a communal application of it.

[80:17]  ²³ tn Heb “may your hand be upon the man of your right hand.” The referent of the otherwise unattested phrase “man of your right hand,” is unclear. It may refer to the nation collectively as a man. (See the note on the word “yourself” in v. 17b.)

[80:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “upon the son of man you strengthened for yourself.” In its only other use in the Book of Psalms, the phrase “son of man” refers to the human race in general (see Ps 8:4). Here the phrase may refer to the nation collectively as a man. Note the use of the statement “you strengthened for yourself” both here and in v. 15, where the “son” (i.e., the branch of the vine) refers to Israel.

[102:14]  ²⁵ tn Or “for.”

[102:14]  ²⁶ tn The Poel of חָנַן (khanan) occurs only here and in Prov 14:21, where it refers to having compassion on the poor.

[102:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “her dust,” probably referring to the dust of the city’s rubble.