Mazmur 9:14

9:14 Then I will ¹  tell about all your praiseworthy acts; ² 

in the gates of Daughter Zion ³  I will rejoice because of your deliverance.” ⁴ 

Mazmur 31:13

31:13 For I hear what so many are saying, ⁵ 

the terrifying news that comes from every direction. ⁶ 

When they plot together against me,

they figure out how they can take my life.

Mazmur 41:2

41:2 May the Lord protect him and save his life! ⁷ 

May he be blessed ⁸  in the land!

Do not turn him over ⁹  to his enemies! ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 44:5

44:5 By your power ¹¹  we will drive back ¹²  our enemies;

by your strength ¹³  we will trample down ¹⁴  our foes! ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 52:8

52:8 But I ¹⁶  am like a flourishing ¹⁷  olive tree in the house of God;

I continually ¹⁸  trust in God’s loyal love.

Mazmur 58:9

58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, ¹⁹ 

he ²⁰  will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat. ²¹ 

Mazmur 68:6

68:6 God settles those who have been deserted in their own homes; ²² 

he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity. ²³ 

But sinful rebels live in the desert. ²⁴ 

Mazmur 77:2

77:2 In my time of trouble I sought ²⁵  the Lord.

I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. ²⁶ 

I ²⁷  refused to be comforted.

Mazmur 88:9

88:9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression.

I call out to you, O Lord, all day long;

I spread out my hands in prayer to you. ²⁸ 

Mazmur 140:5

140:5 Proud men hide a snare for me;

evil men ²⁹  spread a net by the path;

they set traps for me. (Selah)

[9:14]  ¹ tn Or “so that I might.”

[9:14]  ² tn Heb “all your praise.” “Praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt it.

[9:14]  ³ sn Daughter Zion is an idiomatic title for Jerusalem. It appears frequently in the prophets, but only here in the psalms.

[9:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “in your deliverance.”

[31:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “the report of many.”

[31:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “the terror from all around.”

[41:2]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “do not give him over to the desire of his enemies” (see Ps 27:12).

[44:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “by you.”

[44:5]  ¹² tn Heb “gore” (like an ox). If this portion of the psalm contains the song of confidence/petition the Israelites recited prior to battle, then the imperfects here and in the next line may express their expectation of victory. Another option is that the imperfects function in an emphatic generalizing manner. In this case one might translate, “you [always] drive back…you [always] trample down.”

[44:5]  sn The Hebrew verb translated “drive back” is literally “gore”; the imagery is that of a powerful wild ox that “gores” its enemies and tramples them underfoot.

[44:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “in your name.” The Lord’s “name” refers here to his revealed character or personal presence. Specifically in this context his ability to deliver, protect, and energize for battle is in view (see Ps 54:1).

[44:5]  ¹⁴ sn The image of the powerful wild ox continues; see the note on the phrase “drive back” in the preceding line.

[44:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “those who rise up [against] us.”

[52:8]  ¹⁶ tn The disjunctive construction (vav [ו] + subject) highlights the contrast between the evildoer’s destiny (vv. 5-7) and that of the godly psalmist’s security.

[52:8]  ¹⁷ tn Or “luxuriant, green, leafy.”

[52:8]  ¹⁸ tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever and ever.”

[58:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “before your pots perceive thorns.”

[58:9]  ²⁰ tn Apparently God (v. 6) is the subject of the verb here.

[58:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “like living, like burning anger he will sweep it away.” The meaning of the text is unclear. The translation assumes that within the cooking metaphor (see the previous line) חַי (khay, “living”) refers here to raw meat (as in 1 Sam 2:15, where it modifies בָּשָׂר, basar, “flesh”) and that חָרוּן (kharun; which always refers to God’s “burning anger” elsewhere) here refers to food that is cooked. The pronominal suffix on the verb “sweep away” apparently refers back to the “thorns” of the preceding line. The image depicts swift and sudden judgment. Before the fire has been adequately kindled and all the meat cooked, the winds of judgment will sweep away everything in their path.

[68:6]  ²² tn Heb “God causes the solitary ones to dwell in a house.” The participle suggests this is what God typically does.

[68:6]  ²³ tn Heb “he brings out prisoners into prosperity.” Another option is to translate, “he brings out prisoners with singing” (cf. NIV). The participle suggests this is what God typically does.

[68:6]  ²⁴ tn Or “in a parched [land].”

[68:6]  sn God delivers the downtrodden and oppressed, but sinful rebels who oppose his reign are treated appropriately.

[77:2]  ²⁵ tn Here the psalmist refers back to the very recent past, when he began to pray for divine help.

[77:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “my hand [at] night was extended and was not growing numb.” The verb נָגַר (nagar), which can mean “flow” in certain contexts, here has the nuance “be extended.” The imperfect form (תָפוּג, tafug, “to be numb”) is used here to describe continuous action in the past.

[77:2]  ²⁷ tn Or “my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[88:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “I spread out my hands to you.” Spreading out the hands toward God was a prayer gesture (see Exod 9:29, 33; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; 2 Chr 6:12-13, 29; Ezra 9:15; Job 11:13; Isa 1:15). The words “in prayer” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this.

[140:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khovÿlim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).