Mazmur 2:1

Psalm 2 ¹ 

2:1 Why ²  do the nations rebel? ³ 

Why ⁴  are the countries ⁵  devising ⁶  plots that will fail? ⁷ 

Mazmur 33:14

33:14 From the place where he lives he looks carefully

at all the earth’s inhabitants.

Mazmur 34:20

34:20 He protects ⁸  all his bones; ⁹ 

not one of them is broken. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 35:23

35:23 Rouse yourself, wake up ¹¹  and vindicate me! ¹² 

My God and Lord, defend my just cause! ¹³ 

Mazmur 39:12

39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!

Listen to my cry for help!

Do not ignore my sobbing! ¹⁴ 

For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land;

I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 66:1

Psalm 66 ¹⁶ 

For the music director; a song, a psalm.

66:1 Shout out praise to God, all the earth!

Mazmur 66:8

66:8 Praise ¹⁷  our God, you nations!

Loudly proclaim his praise! ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 67:7

67:7 May God bless us! ¹⁹ 

Then all the ends of the earth will give him the honor he deserves. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 69:13

69:13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me! ²¹ 

O God, because of your great loyal love,

answer me with your faithful deliverance! ²² 

Mazmur 71:12

71:12 O God, do not remain far away from me!

My God, hurry and help me! ²³ 

Mazmur 75:8

75:8 For the Lord holds in his hand a cup full

of foaming wine mixed with spices, ²⁴ 

and pours it out. ²⁵ 

Surely all the wicked of the earth

will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop.” ²⁶ 

Mazmur 78:41

78:41 They again challenged God, ²⁷ 

and offended ²⁸  the Holy One of Israel. ²⁹ 

Mazmur 85:8

85:8 I will listen to what God the Lord says. ³⁰ 

For he will make ³¹  peace with his people, his faithful followers. ³² 

Yet they must not ³³  return to their foolish ways.

Mazmur 86:10

86:10 For you are great and do amazing things.

You alone are God.

Mazmur 87:2

87:2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

Mazmur 104:21

104:21 The lions roar for prey,

seeking their food from God. ³⁴ 

Mazmur 106:44

106:44 Yet he took notice of their distress,

when he heard their cry for help.

Mazmur 107:11

107:11 because they had rebelled against God’s commands, ³⁵ 

and rejected the instructions of the sovereign king. ³⁶ 

Mazmur 115:3

115:3 Our God is in heaven!

He does whatever he pleases! ³⁷ 

Mazmur 121:8

121:8 The Lord will protect you in all you do, ³⁸ 

now and forevermore.

Mazmur 128:6

128:6 and that you might see ³⁹  your grandchildren. ⁴⁰ 

May Israel experience peace! ⁴¹ 

Mazmur 129:3

129:3 The plowers plowed my back;

they made their furrows long.

[2:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 2. In this royal psalm the author asserts the special status of the divinely chosen Davidic king and warns the nations and their rulers to submit to the authority of God and his chosen vice-regent.

[2:1]  ² tn The question is rhetorical. Rather than seeking information, the psalmist expresses his outrage that the nations would have the audacity to rebel against God and his chosen king.

[2:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb רָגַשׁ (ragash) occurs only here. In Dan 6:6, 11, 15 the Aramaic cognate verb describes several officials acting as a group. A Hebrew nominal derivative is used in Ps 55:14 of a crowd of people in the temple.

[2:1]  ⁴ tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).

[2:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew imperfect form describes the rebellion as underway. The verb הָגָה (hagah), which means “to recite quietly, meditate,” here has the metonymic nuance “devise, plan, plot” (see Ps 38:12; Prov 24:2).

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “devising emptiness.” The noun רִיק (riq, “emptiness”) may characterize their behavior as “worthless, morally bankrupt” but more likely refers to the outcome of their plots (i.e., failure). As the rest of the psalm emphasizes, their rebellion will fail.

[34:20]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew participial form suggests such protection is characteristic.

[34:20]  ⁹ tn That is, he protects the godly from physical harm.

[34:20]  ¹⁰ sn Not one of them is broken. The author of the Gospel of John saw a fulfillment of these words in Jesus’ experience on the cross (see John 19:31-37), for the Roman soldiers, when they saw that Jesus was already dead, did not break his legs as was customarily done to speed the death of crucified individuals. John’s use of the psalm seems strange, for the statement in its original context suggests that the Lord protects the godly from physical harm. Jesus’ legs may have remained unbroken, but he was brutally and unjustly executed by his enemies. John seems to give the statement a literal sense that is foreign to its original literary context by applying a promise of divine protection to a man who was seemingly not saved by God. However, John saw in this incident a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ultimate deliverance and vindication. His unbroken bones were a reminder of God’s commitment to the godly and a sign of things to come. Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of the story; God vindicated him, as John goes on to explain in the following context (John 19:38-20:18).

[35:23]  ¹¹ sn Though he is confident that the Lord is aware of his situation (see v. 22a), the psalmist compares the Lord’s inactivity to sleep and urges him to wake up.

[35:23]  ¹² tn Heb “for my justice.”

[35:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “for my cause.”

[39:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “do not be deaf to my tears.”

[39:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “For a resident alien [am] I with you, a sojourner like all my fathers.”

[39:12]  sn Resident aliens were dependent on the mercy and goodwill of others. The Lord was concerned that resident aliens be treated properly. See Deut 24:17-22, Ps 146:9.

[66:1]  ¹⁶ sn Psalm 66. The psalmist praises God because he has delivered his people from a crisis.

[66:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “bless,” in the sense of declaring “God to be the source of…special power” (see HALOT 160 s.v. II ברך pi).

[66:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “cause the voice of his praise to be heard.”

[67:7]  ¹⁹ tn The prefixed verb forms in vv. 6b-7a are understood as jussives.

[67:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “will fear him.” After the jussive of the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive is understood as indicating purpose/result. (Note how v. 3 anticipates the universal impact of God showing his people blessing.) Another option is to take the verb as a jussive and translate, “Let all the ends of the earth fear him.”

[69:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O Lord, [in] a time of favor.”

[69:13]  ²² tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”

[71:12]  ²³ tn Heb “hurry to my help.”

[75:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “for a cup [is] in the hand of the Lord, and wine foams, it is full of a spiced drink.” The noun מֶסֶךְ (mesekh) refers to a “mixture” of wine and spices.

[75:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and he pours out from this.”

[75:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “surely its dregs they slurp up and drink, all the wicked of the earth.”

[75:8]  sn The psalmist pictures God as forcing the wicked to gulp down an intoxicating drink that will leave them stunned and vulnerable. Divine judgment is also depicted this way in Ps 60:3; Isa 51:17-23; and Hab 2:16.

[78:41]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and they returned and tested God.” The Hebrew verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate that an earlier action was repeated.

[78:41]  ²⁸ tn Or “wounded, hurt.” The verb occurs only here in the OT.

[78:41]  ²⁹ sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah.

[85:8]  ³⁰ sn I will listen. Having asked for the Lord’s favor, the psalmist (who here represents the nation) anticipates a divine word of assurance.

[85:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “speak.” The idiom “speak peace” refers to establishing or maintaining peaceful relations with someone (see Gen 37:4; Zech 9:10; cf. Ps 122:8).

[85:8]  ³² tn Heb “to his people and to his faithful followers.” The translation assumes that “his people” and “his faithful followers” are viewed as identical here.

[85:8]  ³³ tn Or “yet let them not.” After the negative particle אֵל (’el), the prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating the speaker’s desire or wish.

[104:21]  ³⁴ sn The lions’ roaring is viewed as a request for food from God.

[107:11]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the words of God.”

[107:11]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the counsel of the Most High.”

[115:3]  ³⁷ sn He does whatever he pleases. Such sovereignty is characteristic of kings (see Eccl 8:3).

[121:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “your going out and your coming in.”

[128:6]  ³⁹ tn The imperative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the jussive in v. 5a.

[128:6]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “sons to your sons.”

[128:6]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “peace [be] upon Israel.” The statement is understood as a prayer (see Ps 125:5).