Mazmur 34:11

34:11 Come children! Listen to me!

I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord. ¹ 

Mazmur 50:14

50:14 Present to God a thank-offering!

Repay your vows to the sovereign One! ² 

Mazmur 73:10

73:10 Therefore they have more than enough food to eat,

and even suck up the water of the sea. ³ 

Mazmur 89:37

89:37 it will remain stable, like the moon, ⁴ 

his throne will endure like the skies.” ⁵  (Selah)

Mazmur 101:4

101:4 I will have nothing to do with a perverse person; ⁶ 

I will not permit ⁷  evil.

Mazmur 111:7

111:7 His acts are characterized by ⁸  faithfulness and justice;

all his precepts are reliable. ⁹ 

Mazmur 119:38

119:38 Confirm to your servant your promise, ¹⁰ 

which you made to the one who honors you. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 119:63

119:63 I am a friend to all your loyal followers, ¹² 

and to those who keep your precepts.

Mazmur 119:140

119:140 Your word is absolutely pure,

and your servant loves it!

Mazmur 128:1

Psalm 128 ¹³ 

A song of ascents. ¹⁴ 

128:1 How blessed is every one of the Lord’s loyal followers, ¹⁵ 

each one who keeps his commands! ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 130:5

130:5 I rely on ¹⁷  the Lord,

I rely on him with my whole being; ¹⁸ 

I wait for his assuring word. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 135:20

135:20 O family of Levi, praise the Lord!

You loyal followers ²⁰  of the Lord, praise the Lord!

[34:11]  ¹ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord I will teach you.” In vv. 13-14 the psalmist explains to his audience what it means to “fear” the Lord.

[50:14]  ² tn Heb “Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.

[73:10]  ³ tc Heb “therefore his people return [so Qere (marginal reading); Kethib (consonantal text) has “he brings back”] to here, and waters of abundance are sucked up by them.” The traditional Hebrew text (MT) defies explanation. The present translation reflects M. Dahood’s proposed emendations (Psalms [AB], 2:190) and reads the Hebrew text as follows: לָכֵן יִשְׂבְעוּם לֶחֶם וּמֵי מָלֵא יָמֹצּוּ לָמוֹ (“therefore they are filled with food, and waters of abundance they suck up for themselves”). The reading יִשְׂבְעוּם לֶחֶם (yisvÿ’um lekhem, “they are filled with food”) assumes (1) an emendation of יָשׁיּב עַמּוֹ (yashyyv, “he will bring back his people”) to יִשְׂבְעוּם (yisvÿ’um, “they will be filled”; a Qal imperfect third masculine plural form from שָׂבַע [sava’] with enclitic mem [ם]), and (2) an emendation of הֲלֹם (halom, “to here”) to לֶחֶם (“food”). The expression “be filled/fill with food” appears elsewhere at least ten times (see Ps 132:15, for example). In the second line the Niphal form יִמָּצוּ (yimmatsu, derived from מָצָה, matsah, “drain”) is emended to a Qal form יָמֹצּוּ (yamotsu), derived from מָצַץ (matsats, “to suck”). In Isa 66:11 the verbs שָׂבַע (sava’; proposed in Ps 73:10a) and מָצַץ (proposed in Ps 73:10b) are parallel. The point of the emended text is this: Because they are seemingly sovereign (v. 9), they become greedy and grab up everything they need and more.

[89:37]  ⁴ tn Heb “like the moon it will be established forever.”

[89:37]  ⁵ tn Heb “and a witness in the sky, secure.” Scholars have offered a variety of opinions as to the identity of the “witness” referred to here, none of which is very convincing. It is preferable to join וְעֵד (vÿ’ed) to עוֹלָם (’olam) in the preceding line and translate the commonly attested phrase עוֹלָם וְעֵד (“forever”). In this case one may translate the second line, “[it] will be secure like the skies.” Another option (the one reflected in the present translation) is to take עד as a rare noun meaning “throne” or “dais.” This noun is attested in Ugaritic; see, for example, CTA 16 vi 22-23, where ksi (= כִּסֵּא, kisse’, “throne”) and ’d (= עד, “dais”) appear as synonyms in the poetic parallelism (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 91). Emending בַּשַּׁחַק (bashakhaq, “in the heavens”) to כַּשַׁחַק (kashakhaq, “like the heavens”) – bet/kaf (כ/ב) confusion is widely attested – one can then read “[his] throne like the heavens [is] firm/stable.” Verse 29 refers to the enduring nature of the heavens, while Job 37:18 speaks of God spreading out the heavens (שְׁחָקִים, shÿkhaqim) and compares their strength to a bronze mirror. Ps 89:29 uses the term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim, “skies”) which frequently appears in parallelism to שְׁחָקִים.

[101:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “a perverse heart will turn aside from me.” The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse (see Ps 18:26). It appears frequently in the Book of Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20), and life styles (2:15; 28:6).

[101:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “know.” The king will not willingly allow perverse individuals to remain in his royal court.

[111:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “the deeds of his hands [are].”

[111:7]  ⁹ tn That is, fair and for man’s good.

[119:38]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “word.”

[119:38]  ¹¹ tn Heb “which [is] for your fear,” that is, the promise made to those who exhibit fear of God.

[119:63]  ¹² tn Heb “to all who fear you.”

[128:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 128. The psalmist observes that the godly individual has genuine happiness because the Lord rewards such a person with prosperity and numerous children.

[128:1]  ¹⁴ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[128:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “every fearer of the Lord.”

[128:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the one who walks in his ways.”

[130:5]  ¹⁷ tn Or “wait for.”

[130:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “my soul waits.”

[130:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his word.”

[135:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “fearers.”