Mazmur 4:7-8

4:7 You make me happier ¹ 

than those who have abundant grain and wine. ² 

4:8 I will lie down and sleep peacefully, ³ 

for you, Lord, make me safe and secure. ⁴ 

Mazmur 80:6

80:6 You have made our neighbors dislike us, ⁵ 

and our enemies insult us.

Mazmur 81:8

81:8 I said, ⁶  ‘Listen, my people!

I will warn ⁷  you!

O Israel, if only you would obey me! ⁸ 

Mazmur 85:3

85:3 You withdrew all your fury;

you turned back from your raging anger. ⁹ 

Mazmur 137:6

137:6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

and do not give Jerusalem priority

over whatever gives me the most joy. ¹⁰ 

[4:7]  ¹ tn Heb “you place joy in my heart.” Another option is to understand the perfect verbal form as indicating certitude, “you will make me happier.”

[4:7]  ² tn Heb “from (i.e., more than) the time (when) their grain and their wine are abundant.”

[4:8]  ³ tn Heb “in peace at the same time I will lie down and sleep.”

[4:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “for you, Lord, solitarily, securely make me dwell.” The translation understands לְבָדָד (lÿvadad) as modifying the verb; the Lord keeps enemies away from the psalmist so that he is safe and secure. Another option is to take לְבָדָד with what precedes and translate, “you alone, Lord, make me secure.”

[80:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “you have made us an object of contention to our neighbors.”

[81:8]  ⁶ tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Verses 8-10 appear to recall what the Lord commanded the generation of Israelites that experienced the events described in v. 7. Note the statement in v. 11, “my people did not listen to me.”

[81:8]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “command.”

[81:8]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew particle אִם (“if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (GKC 321 §109.b). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.

[85:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81. See Pss 69:24; 78:49.

[137:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “if I do not lift up Jerusalem over the top of my joy.”