Mazmur 45:10

45:10 Listen, O princess! ¹ 

Observe and pay attention! ² 

Forget your homeland ³  and your family! ⁴ 

Mazmur 45:12

45:12 Rich people from Tyre ⁵ 

will seek your favor by bringing a gift. ⁶ 

Mazmur 58:8

58:8 Let them be ⁷  like a snail that melts away as it moves along! ⁸ 

Let them be like ⁹  stillborn babies ¹⁰  that never see the sun!

Mazmur 97:8

97:8 Zion hears and rejoices,

the towns ¹¹  of Judah are happy,

because of your judgments, O Lord.

Mazmur 137:8

137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! ¹² 

How blessed will be the one who repays you

for what you dished out to us! ¹³ 

[45:10]  ¹ tn Heb “daughter.” The Hebrew noun בת (“daughter”) can sometimes refer to a young woman in a general sense (see H. Haag, TDOT 2:334).

[45:10]  sn Listen, O princess. The poet now addresses the bride.

[45:10]  ² tn Heb “see and turn your ear.” The verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “see”) is used here of mental observation.

[45:10]  ³ tn Heb “your people.” This reference to the “people” of the princess suggests she was a foreigner. Perhaps the marriage was arranged as part of a political alliance between Israel (or Judah) and a neighboring state. The translation “your homeland” reflects such a situation.

[45:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the house of your father.”

[45:12]  ⁵ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[45:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “and a daughter of Tyre with a gift, your face they will appease, the rich of people.” The phrase “daughter of Tyre” occurs only here in the OT. It could be understood as addressed to the bride, indicating she was a Phoenician (cf. NEB). However, often in the OT the word “daughter,” when collocated with the name of a city or country, is used to personify the referent (see, for example, “Daughter Zion” in Ps 9:14, and “Daughter Babylon” in Ps 137:8). If that is the case here, then “Daughter Tyre” identifies the city-state of Tyre as the place from which the rich people come (cf. NRSV). The idiom “appease the face” refers to seeking one’s favor (see Exod 32:11; 1 Sam 13:12; 1 Kgs 13:6; 2 Kgs 13:4; 2 Chr 33:12; Job 11:19; Ps 119:58; Prov 19:6; Jer 26:19; Dan 9:13; Zech 7:2; 8:21-22; Mal 1:9).

[58:8]  ⁷ tn There is no “to be” verb in the Hebrew text at this point, but a jussive tone can be assumed based on vv. 6-7.

[58:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “like a melting snail [that] moves along.” A. Cohen (Psalms [SoBB], 184) explains that the text here alludes “to the popular belief that the slimy trail which the snail leaves in its track is the dissolution of its substance.”

[58:8]  ⁹ tn The words “let them be like” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The jussive mood is implied from the preceding context, and “like” is understood by ellipsis (see the previous line).

[58:8]  ¹⁰ tn This rare word also appears in Job 3:16 and Eccles 6:3.

[97:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “daughters.” The term “daughters” refers to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 48:11 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).

[137:8]  ¹² tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.

[137:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”