Mazmur 4:6
Konteks4:6 Many say, “Who can show us anything good?”
Smile upon us, Lord! 1
Mazmur 5:8
Konteks5:8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness 2
because of those who wait to ambush me, 3
remove the obstacles in the way in which you are guiding me! 4
Mazmur 17:15
Konteks17:15 As for me, because I am innocent I will see your face; 5
when I awake you will reveal yourself to me. 6
Mazmur 22:9
Konteks22:9 Yes, you are the one who brought me out 7 from the womb
and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.
Mazmur 22:29
Konteks22:29 All of the thriving people 8 of the earth will join the celebration and worship; 9
all those who are descending into the grave 10 will bow before him,
including those who cannot preserve their lives. 11
Mazmur 27:4
Konteks27:4 I have asked the Lord for one thing –
this is what I desire!
I want to live 12 in the Lord’s house 13 all the days of my life,
so I can gaze at the splendor 14 of the Lord
and contemplate in his temple.
Mazmur 28:1
KonteksBy David.
28:1 To you, O Lord, I cry out!
My protector, 16 do not ignore me! 17
If you do not respond to me, 18
I will join 19 those who are descending into the grave. 20
Mazmur 30:5
Konteks30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,
and his good favor restores one’s life. 21
One may experience sorrow during the night,
but joy arrives in the morning. 22
Mazmur 32:5
Konteks32:5 Then I confessed my sin;
I no longer covered up my wrongdoing.
I said, “I will confess 23 my rebellious acts to the Lord.”
And then you forgave my sins. 24 (Selah)
Mazmur 39:1
KonteksFor the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.
39:1 I decided, 26 “I will watch what I say
and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. 27
I will put a muzzle over my mouth
while in the presence of an evil man.” 28
Mazmur 41:2
Konteks41:2 May the Lord protect him and save his life! 29
May he be blessed 30 in the land!
Do not turn him over 31 to his enemies! 32
Mazmur 50:21
Konteks50:21 When you did these things, I was silent, 33
so you thought I was exactly like you. 34
But now I will condemn 35 you
and state my case against you! 36
Mazmur 59:11
Konteks59:11 Do not strike them dead suddenly,
because then my people might forget the lesson. 37
Use your power to make them homeless vagabonds and then bring them down,
O Lord who shields us! 38
Mazmur 59:13
Konteks59:13 Angrily wipe them out! Wipe them out so they vanish!
Let them know that God rules
in Jacob and to the ends of the earth! (Selah)
Mazmur 62:9
Konteks62:9 Men are nothing but a mere breath;
human beings are unreliable. 39
When they are weighed in the scales,
all of them together are lighter than air. 40
Mazmur 65:9
Konteks65:9 You visit the earth and give it rain; 41
you make it rich and fertile 42
with overflowing streams full of water. 43
You provide grain for them, 44
for you prepare the earth to yield its crops. 45
Mazmur 66:3
Konteks66:3 Say to God:
“How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power your enemies cower in fear 46 before you.
Mazmur 78:4
Konteks78:4 we will not hide from their 47 descendants.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, 48
about his strength and the amazing things he has done.
Mazmur 79:1
KonteksA psalm of Asaph.
79:1 O God, foreigners 50 have invaded your chosen land; 51
they have polluted your holy temple
and turned Jerusalem 52 into a heap of ruins.
Mazmur 81:7
Konteks81:7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud. 53
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 54 (Selah)
Mazmur 108:7
Konteks108:7 God has spoken in his sanctuary: 55
“I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem,
the valley of Succoth I will measure off. 56
Mazmur 127:1-2
KonteksA song of ascents, 58 by Solomon.
127:1 If the Lord does not build a house, 59
then those who build it work in vain.
If the Lord does not guard a city, 60
then the watchman stands guard in vain.
127:2 It is vain for you to rise early, come home late,
and work so hard for your food. 61
Yes, 62 he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep. 63
Mazmur 132:12
Konteks132:12 If your sons keep my covenant
and the rules I teach them,
their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
Mazmur 141:5
Konteks141:5 May the godly strike me in love and correct me!
May my head not refuse 64 choice oil! 65
Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds. 66
Mazmur 142:3
Konteks142:3 Even when my strength leaves me, 67
you watch my footsteps. 68
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
[4:6] 1 tn Heb “lift up upon us the light of your face,
[4:6] sn Smile upon us. Though many are discouraged, the psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and transform the situation.
[5:8] 2 tn God’s providential leading is in view. His צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”) includes here the deliverance that originates in his righteousness; he protects and vindicates the one whose cause is just. For other examples of this use of the word, see BDB 842 s.v.
[5:8] 3 tn Heb “because of those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 27:11; 56:2.
[5:8] 4 tn Heb “make level before me your way.” The imperative “make level” is Hiphil in the Kethib (consonantal text); Piel in the Qere (marginal reading). God’s “way” is here the way in which he leads the psalmist providentially (see the preceding line, where the psalmist asks the Lord to lead him).
[17:15] 5 tn Heb “I, in innocence, I will see your face.” To “see” God’s “face” means to have access to his presence and to experience his favor (see Ps 11:7; see also Job 33:26 [where רָאָה (ra’ah), not חָזַה (khazah), is used]). Here, however, the psalmist may be anticipating a mystical experience. See the following note on the word “me.”
[17:15] 6 tn Heb “I will be satisfied, when I awake, [with] your form.” The noun תְּמוּנָה (tÿmunah) normally carries the nuance “likeness” or “form.” In Job 4:16 it refers to a ghostlike spiritual entity (see v. 15) that revealed itself to Eliphaz during the night. The psalmist may anticipate a mystical encounter with God in which he expects to see a manifestation of God’s presence (i.e., a theophany), perhaps in conjunction with an oracle of deliverance. During the quiet darkness of the night, God examines the psalmist’s inner motives and finds them to be pure (see v. 3). The psalmist is confident that when he awakens, perhaps sometime during the night or in the morning, he will be visited by God and assured of vindication.
[17:15] sn When I awake you will reveal yourself to me. Some see in this verse an allusion to resurrection. According to this view, when the psalmist awakens from the sleep of death, he will see God. It is unlikely that the psalmist had such a highly developed personal eschatology. As noted above, it is more likely that he is anticipating a divine visitation and mystical encounter as a prelude to his deliverance from his enemies.
[22:9] 7 tn Or “the one who pulled me.” The verb is derived from either גָחָה (gakhah; see HALOT 187 s.v. גחה) or גִּיחַ (giyakh; see BDB 161 s.v. גִּיחַ) and seems to carry the nuance “burst forth” or “pull out.”
[22:29] 8 tn Heb “fat [ones].” This apparently refers to those who are healthy and robust, i.e., thriving. In light of the parallelism, some prefer to emend the form to יְשֵׁנֵי (yÿsheney, “those who sleep [in the earth]”; cf. NAB, NRSV), but דִּשְׁנֵי (dishney, “fat [ones]”) seems to form a merism with “all who descend into the grave” in the following line. The psalmist envisions all people, whether healthy or dying, joining in worship of the
[22:29] 9 tn Heb “eat and worship.” The verb forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [ו] consecutive) are normally used in narrative to relate completed actions. Here the psalmist uses the forms rhetorically as he envisions a time when the
[22:29] 10 tn Heb “all of the ones going down [into] the dust.” This group stands in contrast to those mentioned in the previous line. Together the two form a merism encompassing all human beings – the healthy, the dying, and everyone in between.
[22:29] 11 tn Heb “and his life he does not revive.”
[27:4] 13 sn The
[28:1] 15 sn Psalm 28. The author looks to the Lord for vindication, asks that the wicked be repaid in full for their evil deeds, and affirms his confidence that the Lord will protect his own.
[28:1] 16 tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.
[28:1] 17 tn Heb “do not be deaf from me.”
[28:1] 18 tn Heb “lest [if] you are silent from me.”
[28:1] 19 tn Heb “I will be equal with.”
[28:1] 20 tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.
[30:5] 21 tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).
[30:5] 22 tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.
[32:5] 23 tn The Hiphil of ידה normally means “give thanks, praise,” but here, as in Prov 28:13, it means “confess.”
[32:5] 24 tn Heb “the wrongdoing of my sin.” By joining synonyms for “sin” in this way, the psalmist may be emphasizing the degree of his wrongdoing.
[39:1] 25 sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.
[39:1] 27 tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”
[39:1] 28 sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the
[41:2] 29 tn The prefixed verbal forms are taken as jussives in the translation because the jussive is clearly used in the final line of the verse, suggesting that this is a prayer. The psalmist stops to pronounce a prayer of blessing on the godly individual envisioned in v. 1. Of course, he actually has himself primarily in view. He mixes confidence (vv. 1, 3) with petition (v. 2) because he stands in the interval between the word of assurance and the actual intervention by God.
[41:2] 30 tc The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib), which has a Pual (passive) prefixed form, regarded here as a jussive. The Pual of the verb אָשַׁר (’ashar) also appears in Prov 3:18. The marginal reading (Qere) assumes a vav (ו) consecutive and Pual perfect. Some, with the support of the LXX, change the verb to a Piel (active) form with an objective pronominal suffix, “and may he bless him,” or “and he will bless him” (cf. NIV).
[41:2] 31 tn The negative particle אַל (’al) before the prefixed verbal form indicates the verb is a jussive and the statement a prayer. Those who want to take v. 2 as a statement of confidence suggest emending the negative particle to לֹא (lo’), which is used with the imperfect. See the earlier note on the verbal forms in line one of this verse. According to GKC 322 §109.e, this is a case where the jussive is used rhetorically to “express that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one might translate, “you will not turn him over to his enemies,” and take the preceding verbal forms as indicative in mood.
[41:2] 32 tn Heb “do not give him over to the desire of his enemies” (see Ps 27:12).
[50:21] 33 tn Heb “these things you did and I was silent.” Some interpret the second clause (“and I was silent”) as a rhetorical question expecting a negative answer, “[When you do these things], should I keep silent?” (cf. NEB). See GKC 335 §112.cc.
[50:21] sn The Lord was silent in the sense that he delayed punishment. Of course, God’s patience toward sinners eventually runs out. The divine “silence” is only temporary (see v. 3, where the psalmist, having described God’s arrival, observes that “he is not silent”).
[50:21] 34 tn The Hebrew infinitive construct (הֱיוֹת, heyot) appears to function like the infinitive absolute here, adding emphasis to the following finite verbal form (אֶהְיֶה, ’ehyeh). See GKC 339-40 §113.a. Some prefer to emend הֱיוֹת (heyot) to the infinitive absolute form הָיוֹ (hayo).
[50:21] 35 tn Or “rebuke” (see v. 8).
[50:21] 36 tn Heb “and I will set in order [my case against you] to your eyes.” The cohortative form expresses the
[59:11] 37 tn Heb “do not kill them, lest my people forget.”
[59:11] sn My people might forget the lesson. Swift, sudden destruction might be quickly forgotten. The psalmist wants God’s judgment to be prolonged so that it might be a continual reminder of divine justice.
[59:11] 38 tn Heb “make them roam around by your strength and bring them down, O our shield, the Lord.”
[62:9] 39 tn Heb “only a breath [are] the sons of mankind, a lie [are] the sons of man.” The phrases “sons of mankind” and “sons of man” also appear together in Ps 49:2. Because of the parallel line there, where “rich and poor” are mentioned, a number of interpreters and translators treat these expressions as polar opposites, בְּנֵי אָדָם (bÿney ’adam) referring to the lower classes and בְּנֵי אִישׁ (bÿney ’ish) to higher classes. But usage does not support such a view. The rare phrase בְּנֵי אִישׁ (“sons of man”) appears to refer to human beings in general in its other uses (see Pss 4:2; Lam 3:33). It is better to understand the phrases as synonymous expressions.
[62:9] 40 tn The noun הֶבֶל (hevel), translated “a breath” earlier in the verse, appears again here.
[65:9] 41 tn The verb form is a Polel from שׁוּק (shuq, “be abundant”), a verb which appears only here and in Joel 2:24 and 3:13, where it is used in the Hiphil stem and means “overflow.”
[65:9] 42 tn Heb “you greatly enrich it.”
[65:9] 43 tn Heb “[with] a channel of God full of water.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very deep stream (“a stream fit for God,” as it were).
[65:9] 44 tn The pronoun apparently refers to the people of the earth, mentioned in v. 8.
[65:9] 45 tn Heb “for thus [referring to the provision of rain described in the first half of the verse] you prepare it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix attached to the verb “prepare” refers back to the “earth,” which is a feminine noun with regard to grammatical form.
[66:3] 46 tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 81:15 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “be weak, powerless” (see also Ps 109:24).
[78:4] 47 tn The pronominal suffix refers back to the “fathers” (“our ancestors,” v. 3).
[78:4] 48 tn Heb “to a following generation telling the praises of the
[79:1] 49 sn Psalm 79. The author laments how the invading nations have destroyed the temple and city of Jerusalem. He asks God to forgive his people and to pour out his vengeance on those who have mistreated them.
[79:1] 51 tn Heb “have come into your inheritance.”
[79:1] 52 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[81:7] 53 tn Heb “I answered you in the hidden place of thunder.” This may allude to God’s self-revelation at Mount Sinai, where he appeared in a dark cloud accompanied by thunder (see Exod 19:16).
[81:7] 54 sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at the place called Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.
[108:7] 55 tn Heb “in his holy place.”
[108:7] 56 sn Shechem stands for the territory west of the Jordan River; the valley of Succoth represents the region east of the Jordan.
[127:1] 57 sn Psalm 127. In this wisdom psalm the psalmist teaches that one does not find security by one’s own efforts, for God alone gives stability and security.
[127:1] 58 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.
[127:1] 59 sn The expression build a house may have a double meaning here. It may refer on the surface level to a literal physical structure in which a family lives, but at a deeper, metaphorical level it refers to building, perpetuating, and maintaining a family line. See Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; 1 Sam 2:35; 2 Sam 7:27; 1 Kgs 11:38; 1 Chr 17:10, 25. Having a family line provided security in ancient Israel.
[127:1] 60 sn The city symbolizes community security, which is the necessary framework for family security.
[127:2] 61 tn Heb “[it is] vain for you, you who are early to rise, who delay sitting, who eat the food of hard work.” The three substantival participles are parallel and stand in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the preposition. See לָכֶם (lakhem, “for you”).
[127:2] 62 tn Here the Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4; Ps 63:2).
[127:2] 63 tn Heb “he gives to his beloved, sleep.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew term שֵׁנָא (shena’, “sleep,” an alternate form of שֵׁנָה, shenah) is an adverbial accusative. The point seems to be this: Hard work by itself is not what counts, but one’s relationship to God, for God is able to bless an individual even while he sleeps. (There may even be a subtle allusion to the miracle of conception following sexual intercourse; see the reference to the gift of sons in the following verse.) The statement is not advocating laziness, but utilizing hyperbole to give perspective and to remind the addressees that God must be one’s first priority. Another option is to take “sleep” as the direct object: “yes, he gives sleep to his beloved” (cf. NIV, NRSV). In this case the point is this: Hard work by itself is futile, for only God is able to bless one with sleep, which metonymically refers to having one’s needs met. He blesses on the basis of one’s relationship to him, not on the basis of physical energy expended.
[141:5] 64 tn The form יָנִי (yaniy) appears to be derived from the verbal root נוּא (nu’). Another option is to emend the form to יְנָא (yÿna’), a Piel from נָאָה (na’ah), and translate “may choice oil not adorn my head” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 271). In this case, choice oil, like delicacies in v. 4, symbolize the pleasures of sin.
[141:5] 65 sn May my head not refuse choice oil. The psalmist compares the constructive criticism of the godly (see the previous line) to having refreshing olive oil poured over one’s head.
[141:5] 66 tc Heb “for still, and my prayer [is] against their evil deeds.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult; the sequence -כִּי־עוֹד וּ (kiy-’od u-, “for still and”) occurs only here. The translation assumes an emendation to כִּי עֵד תְפלָּתִי (“indeed a witness [is] my prayer”). The psalmist’s lament about the evil actions of sinful men (see v. 4) testifies against the wicked in the divine court.
