Mazmur 2:7

2:7 The king says, ¹  “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: ² 

‘You are my son! ³  This very day I have become your father!

Mazmur 18:30

18:30 The one true God acts in a faithful manner; ⁴ 

the Lord’s promise ⁵  is reliable; ⁶ 

he is a shield to all who take shelter ⁷  in him.

Mazmur 18:48

18:48 He delivers me ⁸  from my enemies;

you snatch me away ⁹  from those who attack me; ¹⁰ 

you rescue me from violent men.

Mazmur 20:5

20:5 Then we will shout for joy over your ¹¹  victory;

we will rejoice ¹²  in the name of our God!

May the Lord grant all your requests!

Mazmur 40:16

40:16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you!

May those who love to experience ¹³  your deliverance say continually, ¹⁴ 

“May the Lord be praised!” ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 42:11

42:11 Why are you depressed, ¹⁶  O my soul? ¹⁷ 

Why are you upset? ¹⁸ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 58:9

58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, ²⁰ 

he ²¹  will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat. ²² 

Mazmur 68:6

68:6 God settles those who have been deserted in their own homes; ²³ 

he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity. ²⁴ 

But sinful rebels live in the desert. ²⁵ 

Mazmur 84:11

84:11 For the Lord God is our sovereign protector. ²⁶ 

The Lord bestows favor ²⁷  and honor;

he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity. ²⁸ 

Mazmur 91:4

91:4 He will shelter you ²⁹  with his wings; ³⁰ 

you will find safety under his wings.

His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. ³¹ 

Mazmur 98:1

Psalm 98 ³² 

A psalm.

98:1 Sing to the Lord a new song, ³³ 

for he performs ³⁴  amazing deeds!

His right hand and his mighty arm

accomplish deliverance. ³⁵ 

Mazmur 99:6

99:6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests;

Samuel was one of those who prayed to him. ³⁶ 

They ³⁷  prayed to the Lord and he answered them.

Mazmur 103:17

103:17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers, ³⁸ 

and is faithful to their descendants, ³⁹ 

Mazmur 106:23

106:23 He threatened ⁴⁰  to destroy them,

but ⁴¹  Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him ⁴² 

and turned back his destructive anger. ⁴³ 

Mazmur 140:10

140:10 May he rain down ⁴⁴  fiery coals upon them!

May he throw them into the fire!

From bottomless pits they will not escape. ⁴⁵ 

Mazmur 144:2

144:2 who loves me ⁴⁶  and is my stronghold,

my refuge ⁴⁷  and my deliverer,

my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,

who makes nations submit to me. ⁴⁸ 

[2:7]  ¹ tn The words “the king says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The speaker is the Lord’s chosen king.

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

[2:7]  ³ 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.

[18:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “[As for] the God, his way is blameless.” The term הָאֵל (ha’el, “the God”) stands as a nominative (or genitive) absolute in apposition to the resumptive pronominal suffix on “way.” The prefixed article emphasizes his distinctiveness as the one true God (cf. Deut 33:26). God’s “way” in this context refers to his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 103:7; 138:5; 145:17).

[18:30]  ⁵ sn The Lord’s promise. In the ancient Near East kings would typically seek and receive oracles from their god(s) prior to battle. For examples, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 241-42.

[18:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “the word of the Lord is purified.” The Lord’s “word” probably refers here to his oracle(s) of victory delivered to the psalmist before the battle(s) described in the following context. See also Pss 12:5-7 and 138:2-3. David frequently received such oracles before going into battle (see 1 Sam 23:2, 4-5, 10-12; 30:8; 2 Sam 5:19). The Lord’s word of promise is absolutely reliable; it is compared to metal that has been refined in fire and cleansed of impurities. See Ps 12:6.

[18:30]  ⁷ sn Take shelter. See the note on the word “shelter” in v. 2.

[18:48]  ⁸ tn Heb “[the one who] delivers me.” 2 Sam 22:49 reads “and [the one who] brings me out.”

[18:48]  ⁹ tn Heb “lifts me up.” In light of the preceding and following references to deliverance, the verb רום probably here refers to being rescued from danger (see Ps 9:13). However, it could mean “exalt, elevate” here, indicating that the Lord has given the psalmist victory over his enemies and forced them to acknowledge the psalmist’s superiority (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[18:48]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from those who rise against me.”

[20:5]  ¹¹ sn Your victory. Here the king is addressed (see v. 1).

[20:5]  ¹² 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).

[40:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “those who love,” which stands metonymically for its cause, the experience of being delivered by the Lord.

[40:16]  ¹⁴ tn The three prefixed verbal forms prior to the quotation are understood as jussives. The psalmist balances out his imprecation against his enemies with a prayer of blessing upon the godly.

[40:16]  ¹⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the Lord be magnified [in praise].” Another option is to take the verb as an imperfect, “the Lord is great” (cf. NRSV). See Ps 35:27.

[42:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:11]  ¹⁷ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[42:11]  ¹⁹ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God”), that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is almost identical to the one in v. 5. See also Ps 43:5.

[58:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “before your pots perceive thorns.”

[58:9]  ²¹ tn Apparently God (v. 6) is the subject of the verb here.

[58:9]  ²² tn Heb “like living, like burning anger he will sweep it away.” The meaning of the text is unclear. The translation assumes that within the cooking metaphor (see the previous line) חַי (khay, “living”) refers here to raw meat (as in 1 Sam 2:15, where it modifies בָּשָׂר, basar, “flesh”) and that חָרוּן (kharun; which always refers to God’s “burning anger” elsewhere) here refers to food that is cooked. The pronominal suffix on the verb “sweep away” apparently refers back to the “thorns” of the preceding line. The image depicts swift and sudden judgment. Before the fire has been adequately kindled and all the meat cooked, the winds of judgment will sweep away everything in their path.

[68:6]  ²³ tn Heb “God causes the solitary ones to dwell in a house.” The participle suggests this is what God typically does.

[68:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he brings out prisoners into prosperity.” Another option is to translate, “he brings out prisoners with singing” (cf. NIV). The participle suggests this is what God typically does.

[68:6]  ²⁵ tn Or “in a parched [land].”

[68:6]  sn God delivers the downtrodden and oppressed, but sinful rebels who oppose his reign are treated appropriately.

[84:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “[is] a sun and a shield.” The epithet “sun,” though rarely used of Israel’s God in the OT, was a well-attested royal title in the ancient Near East. For several examples from Ugaritic texts, the Amarna letters, and Assyrian royal inscriptions, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 131, n. 2.

[84:11]  ²⁷ tn Or “grace.”

[84:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he does not withhold good to those walking in integrity.”

[91:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “put a cover over you” (see Ps 5:11).

[91:4]  ³⁰ tc The Hebrew text has the singular, but the plural should be read. The final yod (י) of the suffix, which indicates the plural, has dropped off by haplography (note the yod [י] at the beginning of the next word).

[91:4]  ³¹ tn Traditionally the Hebrew term סֹחֵרָה (sokherah), which occurs only here in the OT, has been understood to refer to a buckler or small shield (see BDB 695 s.v.). But HALOT 750 s.v., on the basis of evidence from the cognate languages, proposes the meaning “wall.”

[98:1]  ³² sn Psalm 98. The psalmist summons the whole earth to praise God because he reveals his justice and delivers Israel.

[98:1]  ³³ sn A new song is appropriate because the Lord is constantly intervening in the world as its just king. See Ps 96:1.

[98:1]  ³⁴ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 1-3 are understood here as describing characteristic divine activities. Another option is to translate them as present perfects, “has performed…has accomplished deliverance, etc.” referring to completed actions that have continuing results.

[98:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “his right hand delivers for him and his holy arm.” The right hand and arm symbolize his power as a warrior-king (see Isa 52:10). His arm is “holy” in the sense that it is in a category of its own; God’s power is incomparable.

[99:6]  ³⁶ tn Heb “among those who called on his name.”

[99:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “those who.” The participle is in apposition to the phrase “those who called on his name” in the preceding line.

[103:17]  ³⁸ tn Heb “but the loyal love of the Lord [is] from everlasting to everlasting over those who fear him.”

[103:17]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and his righteousness to sons of sons.”

[106:23]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and he said.”

[106:23]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “if not,” that is, “[and would have] if [Moses] had not.”

[106:23]  ⁴² tn Heb “stood in the gap before him.”

[106:23]  ⁴³ tn Heb “to turn back his anger from destroying.”

[106:23]  sn Verses 19-23 describe the events of Exod 32:1-35.

[140:10]  ⁴⁴ tn The verb form in the Kethib (consonantal Hebrew text) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוּט (mut, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in Ps 55:3, where it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). In Ps 140:10 the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read.

[140:10]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “into bottomless pits, they will not arise.” The translation assumes that the preposition -בְּ (bet) has the nuance “from” here. Another option is to connect the line with what precedes, take the final clause as an asyndetic relative clause, and translate, “into bottomless pits [from which] they cannot arise.” The Hebrew noun מַהֲמֹרָה (mahamorah, “bottomless pit”) occurs only here in the OT.

[144:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “my loyal love,” which is probably an abbreviated form of “the God of my loyal love” (see Ps 59:10, 17).

[144:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “my elevated place.”

[144:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”