Kejadian 25:21

25:21 Isaac prayed to ¹  the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

Mazmur 20:4-6

20:4 May he grant your heart’s desire; ² 

may he bring all your plans to pass! ³ 

20:5 Then we will shout for joy over your ⁴  victory;

we will rejoice ⁵  in the name of our God!

May the Lord grant all your requests!

20:6 Now I am sure ⁶  that the Lord will deliver ⁷  his chosen king; ⁸ 

he will intervene for him ⁹  from his holy heavenly temple, ¹⁰ 

and display his mighty ability to deliver. ¹¹ 

[25:21]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb עָתַר (’atar), translated “prayed [to]” here, appears in the story of God’s judgment on Egypt in which Moses asked the Lord to remove the plagues. The cognate word in Arabic means “to slaughter for sacrifice,” and the word is used in Zeph 3:10 to describe worshipers who bring offerings. Perhaps some ritual accompanied Isaac’s prayer here.

[20:4]  ² tn Heb “may he give to you according to your heart.” This probably refers to the king’s prayer for protection and victory in battle. See vv. 5-6.

[20:4]  ³ sn May he bring all your plans to pass. This probably refers to the king’s strategy for battle.

[20:5]  ⁴ sn Your victory. Here the king is addressed (see v. 1).

[20:5]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew verb דָּגַל (dagal) occurs only here in the Qal. If accepted as original, it may carry the nuance “raise a banner,” but it is preferable to emend the form to נגיל (“we will rejoice”) which provides better parallelism with “shout for joy” and fits well with the prepositional phrase “in the name of our God” (see Ps 89:16).

[20:6]  ⁶ tn Or “know.”

[20:6]  sn Now I am sure. The speaker is not identified. It is likely that the king, referring to himself in the third person (note “his chosen king”), responds to the people’s prayer. Perhaps his confidence is due to the reception of a divine oracle of salvation.

[20:6]  ⁷ tn The perfect verbal form is probably used rhetorically to state that the deliverance is as good as done. In this way the speaker emphasizes the certainty of the deliverance. Another option is to take the statement as generalizing; the psalmist affirms that the Lord typically delivers the king.

[20:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “his anointed one.” This title refers to the Davidic king. See Pss 2:2 and 18:50.

[20:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “he will answer him.”

[20:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from his holy heavens.”

[20:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “with mighty acts of deliverance of his right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver (see Ps 17:7).