Mazmur 3:1

Psalm 3 ¹ 

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. ² 

3:1 Lord, how ³  numerous are my enemies!

Many attack me. ⁴ 

Mazmur 4:2

4:2 You men, ⁵  how long will you try to turn my honor into shame? ⁶ 

How long ⁷  will you love what is worthless ⁸ 

and search for what is deceptive? ⁹  (Selah)

Mazmur 7:6

7:6 Stand up angrily, ¹⁰  Lord!

Rise up with raging fury against my enemies! ¹¹ 

Wake up for my sake and execute the judgment you have decreed for them! ¹² 

Mazmur 12:1

Psalm 12 ¹³ 

For the music director; according to the sheminith style; ¹⁴  a psalm of David.

12:1 Deliver, Lord!

For the godly ¹⁵  have disappeared; ¹⁶ 

people of integrity ¹⁷  have vanished. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 26:1

Psalm 26 ¹⁹ 

By David.

26:1 Vindicate me, O Lord,

for I have integrity, ²⁰ 

and I trust in the Lord without wavering.

Mazmur 35:19

35:19 Do not let those who are my enemies for no reason ²¹  gloat ²²  over me!

Do not let those who hate me without cause carry out their wicked schemes! ²³ 

Mazmur 36:6

36:6 Your justice is like the highest mountains, ²⁴ 

your fairness like the deepest sea;

you preserve ²⁵  mankind and the animal kingdom. ²⁶ 

Mazmur 37:28

37:28 For the Lord promotes ²⁷  justice,

and never abandons ²⁸  his faithful followers.

They are permanently secure, ²⁹ 

but the children ³⁰  of evil men are wiped out. ³¹ 

Mazmur 40:6

40:6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern. ³² 

You make that quite clear to me! ³³ 

You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.

Mazmur 48:10

48:10 The praise you receive as far away as the ends of the earth

is worthy of your reputation, O God. ³⁴ 

You execute justice! ³⁵ 

Mazmur 53:6

53:6 I wish the deliverance ³⁶  of Israel would come from Zion!

When God restores the well-being of his people, ³⁷ 

may Jacob rejoice, ³⁸ 

may Israel be happy! ³⁹ 

Mazmur 65:5

65:5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,

O God, our savior. ⁴⁰ 

All the ends of the earth trust in you, ⁴¹ 

as well as those living across the wide seas. ⁴² 

Mazmur 78:4

78:4 we will not hide from their ⁴³  descendants.

We will tell the next generation

about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, ⁴⁴ 

about his strength and the amazing things he has done.

Mazmur 91:4

91:4 He will shelter you ⁴⁵  with his wings; ⁴⁶ 

you will find safety under his wings.

His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. ⁴⁷ 

Mazmur 96:10

96:10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!

The world is established, it cannot be moved.

He judges the nations fairly.”

Mazmur 101:2

101:2 I will walk in ⁴⁸  the way of integrity.

When will you come to me?

I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace. ⁴⁹ 

Mazmur 101:6

101:6 I will favor the honest people of the land, ⁵⁰ 

and allow them to live with me. ⁵¹ 

Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me. ⁵² 

Mazmur 103:17

103:17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers, ⁵³ 

and is faithful to their descendants, ⁵⁴ 

Mazmur 148:14

148:14 He has made his people victorious, ⁵⁵ 

and given all his loyal followers reason to praise –

the Israelites, the people who are close to him. ⁵⁶ 

Praise the Lord!

[3:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).

[3:1]  ² sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).

[3:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “many rise up against me.”

[4:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “sons of man.”

[4:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “how long my honor to shame?”

[4:2]  ⁷ tn The interrogative construction עַד־מֶה (’ad-meh, “how long?”), is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[4:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “emptiness.”

[4:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “a lie.” Some see the metonymic language of v. 2b (“emptiness, lie”) as referring to idols or false gods. However, there is no solid immediate contextual evidence for such an interpretation. It is more likely that the psalmist addresses those who threaten him (see v. 1) and refers in a general way to their sinful lifestyle. (See R. Mosis, TDOT 7:121.) The two terms allude to the fact that sinful behavior is ultimately fruitless and self-destructive.

[7:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in your anger.”

[7:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Lift yourself up in the angry outbursts of my enemies.” Many understand the preposition prefixed to עַבְרוֹת (’avrot, “angry outbursts”) as adversative, “against,” and the following genitive “enemies” as subjective. In this case one could translate, “rise up against my furious enemies” (cf. NIV, NRSV). The present translation, however, takes the preposition as indicating manner (cf. “in your anger” in the previous line) and understands the plural form of the noun as indicating an abstract quality (“fury”) or excessive degree (“raging fury”). Cf. Job 21:30.

[7:6]  ¹² tc Heb “Wake up to me [with the] judgment [which] you have commanded.” The LXX understands אֵלִי (’eliy, “my God”) instead of אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”; the LXX reading is followed by NEB, NIV, NRSV.) If the reading of the MT is retained, the preposition probably has the sense of “on account of, for the sake of.” The noun מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “judgment”) is probably an adverbial accusative, modifying the initial imperative, “wake up.” In this case צִוִּיתָ (tsivvita, “[which] you have commanded”) is an asyndetic relative clause. Some take the perfect as precative. In this case one could translate the final line, “Wake up for my sake! Decree judgment!” (cf. NIV). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[12:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 12. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene, for society is overrun by deceitful, arrogant oppressors and godly individuals are a dying breed. When the Lord announces his intention to defend the oppressed, the psalmist affirms his confidence in the divine promise.

[12:1]  ¹⁴ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

[12:1]  ¹⁵ tn The singular form is collective or representative. Note the plural form “faithful [ones]” in the following line. A “godly [one]” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[12:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “have come to an end.”

[12:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the faithful [ones] from the sons of man.”

[12:1]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew verb פָּסַס (pasas) occurs only here. An Akkadian cognate means “efface, blot out.”

[26:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 26. The author invites the Lord to test his integrity, asserts his innocence and declares his loyalty to God.

[26:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for I in my integrity walk.”

[35:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “[with] a lie.” The Hebrew noun שֶׁקֶר (sheqer, “lie”) is used here as an adverb, “falsely, wrongfully” (see Ps 38:19).

[35:19]  ²² tn Heb “rejoice.”

[35:19]  ²³ tn Heb “[do not let] those who hate me without cause pinch [i.e., wink] an eye.” The negative particle is understood in the second line by ellipsis (see the preceding line). In the Book of Proverbs “winking an eye” is associated with deceit and trickery (see 6:13; 10:10; 16:30).

[36:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “mountains of God.” The divine name אֵל (’el, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.

[36:6]  ²⁵ tn Or “deliver.”

[36:6]  ²⁶ sn God’s justice/fairness is firm and reliable like the highest mountains and as abundant as the water in the deepest sea. The psalmist uses a legal metaphor to describe God’s preservation of his creation. Like a just judge who vindicates the innocent, God protects his creation from destructive forces.

[37:28]  ²⁷ tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world. The active participle describes characteristic behavior.

[37:28]  ²⁸ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.

[37:28]  ²⁹ tn Or “protected forever.”

[37:28]  ³⁰ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:28]  ³¹ tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.

[40:6]  ³² tn Heb “sacrifice and offering you do not desire.” The statement is exaggerated for the sake of emphasis (see Ps 51:16 as well). God is pleased with sacrifices, but his first priority is obedience and loyalty (see 1 Sam 15:22). Sacrifices and offerings apart from genuine allegiance are meaningless (see Isa 1:11-20).

[40:6]  ³³ tn Heb “ears you hollowed out for me.” The meaning of this odd expression is debated (this is the only collocation of “hollowed out” and “ears” in the OT). It may have been an idiomatic expression referring to making a point clear to a listener. The LXX has “but a body you have prepared for me,” a reading which is followed in Heb 10:5.

[48:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “like your name, O God, so [is] your praise to the ends of the earth.” Here “name” refers to God’s reputation and revealed character.

[48:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “your right hand is full of justice.” The “right hand” suggests activity and power.

[53:6]  ³⁶ tn This refers metonymically to God, the one who lives in Zion and provides deliverance for Israel.

[53:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv).

[53:6]  ³⁸ tn The verb form is jussive.

[53:6]  ³⁹ tn Because the parallel verb is jussive, this verb, which is ambiguous in form, should be taken as a jussive as well.

[65:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “[with] awesome acts in deliverance you answer us, O God of our salvation.”

[65:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “a source of confidence [for] all the ends of the earth.”

[65:5]  sn All the ends of the earth trust in you. This idealistic portrayal of universal worship is typical hymnic hyperbole, though it does anticipate eschatological reality.

[65:5]  ⁴² tc Heb “and [the] distant sea.” The plural adjective is problematic after the singular form “sea.” One could emend יָם (yam, “sea”) to יָמִים (yamim, “seas”), or emend the plural form רְחֹקִים (rÿkhoqim, “far”) to the singular רָחֹק (rakhoq). In this case the final mem (ם) could be treated as dittographic; note the mem on the beginning of the first word in v. 6.

[78:4]  ⁴³ tn The pronominal suffix refers back to the “fathers” (“our ancestors,” v. 3).

[78:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “to a following generation telling the praises of the Lord.” “Praises” stand by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.

[91:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “put a cover over you” (see Ps 5:11).

[91:4]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ 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.”

[101:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “take notice of.”

[101:2]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “I will walk about in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.”

[101:6]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.”

[101:6]  ⁵¹ tn The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.”

[101:6]  ⁵² tn Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.”

[103:17]  ⁵³ tn Heb “but the loyal love of the Lord [is] from everlasting to everlasting over those who fear him.”

[103:17]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “and his righteousness to sons of sons.”

[148:14]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and he lifted up a horn for his people.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). Another option is to take the “horn” as a symbol for the Davidic king, through whom the Lord gives his people military victory.

[148:14]  ⁵⁶ tn “[there is] praise for all his loyal followers, to the sons of Israel, the people near him.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the victory that prompts it.