Mazmur 1:5

1:5 For this reason ¹  the wicked cannot withstand ²  judgment, ³ 

nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly. ⁴ 

Mazmur 37:12

37:12 Evil men plot against the godly ⁵ 

and viciously attack them. ⁶ 

Mazmur 38:5

38:5 My wounds ⁷  are infected and starting to smell, ⁸ 

because of my foolish sins. ⁹ 

Mazmur 52:2

52:2 Your tongue carries out your destructive plans; ¹⁰ 

it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 57:8

57:8 Awake, my soul! ¹² 

Awake, O stringed instrument and harp!

I will wake up at dawn! ¹³ 

Mazmur 63:6

63:6 whenever ¹⁴  I remember you on my bed,

and think about you during the nighttime hours.

Mazmur 73:17

73:17 Then I entered the precincts of God’s temple, ¹⁵ 

and understood the destiny of the wicked. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 74:16

74:16 You established the cycle of day and night; ¹⁷ 

you put the moon ¹⁸  and sun in place. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 77:6

77:6 I said, “During the night I will remember the song I once sang;

I will think very carefully.”

I tried to make sense of what was happening. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 81:4

81:4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel; ²¹ 

it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.

Mazmur 104:19

104:19 He made the moon to mark the months, ²² 

and the sun sets according to a regular schedule. ²³ 

Mazmur 105:28

105:28 He made it dark; ²⁴ 

they did not disobey his orders. ²⁵ 

Mazmur 128:5

128:5 May the Lord bless you ²⁶  from Zion,

that you might see ²⁷  Jerusalem ²⁸  prosper

all the days of your life,

[1:5]  ¹ tn Or “Therefore.”

[1:5]  ² tn Heb “arise in,” but the verb is used metonymically here in the sense of “stand”; “endure,” as in 1 Sam 13:14 and Job 8:15. The negated Hebrew imperfect verbal form is here taken as indicating incapability or lack of potential, though one could understand the verb form as indicating what is typical (“do not withstand”) or what will happen (“will not withstand”).

[1:5]  ³ tn Heb “the judgment.” The article indicates a judgment that is definite in the mind of the speaker. In the immediate context this probably does not refer to the “final judgment” described in later biblical revelation, but to a temporal/historical judgment which the author anticipates. Periodically during the OT period, God would come in judgment, removing the wicked from the scene, while preserving a godly remnant (see Gen 6-9; Ps 37; Hab 3).

[1:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and sinners in the assembly (or “circle”) of [the] godly.” The negative particle and verb from the preceding line are assumed by ellipsis here (“will not arise/stand”).

[1:5]  sn The assembly of the godly is insulated from divine judgment (Ps 37:12-17, 28-29).

[37:12]  ⁵ tn Or “innocent.” The singular is used here in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and the typical godly individual are in view.

[37:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “and gnashes at him with his teeth” (see Ps 35:16). The language may picture the evil men as wild animals. The active participles in v. 12 are used for purposes of dramatic description.

[38:5]  ⁷ sn The reference to wounds may be an extension of the metaphorical language of v. 2. The psalmist pictures himself as one whose flesh is ripped and torn by arrows.

[38:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “my wounds stink, they are festering” (cf. NEB).

[38:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “from before my foolishness.”

[52:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “destruction your tongue devises.”

[52:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like a sharpened razor, doer of deceit.” The masculine participle עָשָׂה (’asah) is understood as a substantival vocative, addressed to the powerful man.

[57:8]  ¹² tn Heb “glory,” but that makes little sense in the context. Some view כָּבוֹד (kavod, “glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 30:12; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.”

[57:8]  ¹³ tn BDB 1007 s.v. שַׁחַר takes “dawn” as an adverbial accusative, though others understand it as a personified direct object. “Dawn” is used metaphorically for the time of deliverance and vindication the psalmist anticipates. When salvation “dawns,” the psalmist will “wake up” in praise.

[63:6]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew term אִם (’im) is used here in the sense of “when; whenever,” as in Ps 78:34.

[73:17]  ¹⁵ tn The plural of the term מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash) probably refers to the temple precincts (see Ps 68:35; Jer 51:51).

[73:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I discerned their end.” At the temple the psalmist perhaps received an oracle of deliverance announcing his vindication and the demise of the wicked (see Ps 12) or heard songs of confidence (for example, Ps 11), wisdom psalms (for example, Pss 1, 37), and hymns (for example, Ps 112) that describe the eventual downfall of the proud and wealthy.

[74:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “To you [is] day, also to you [is] night.”

[74:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[the] light.” Following the reference to “day and night” and in combination with “sun,” it is likely that the Hebrew term מָאוֹר (ma’or, “light”) refers here to the moon.

[74:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you established [the] light and [the] sun.”

[77:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I will remember my song in the night, with my heart I will reflect. And my spirit searched.” As in v. 4, the words of v. 6a are understood as what the psalmist said earlier. Consequently the words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 10). The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive at the beginning of the final line is taken as sequential to the perfect “I thought” in v. 6.

[81:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “because a statute for Israel [is] it.”

[104:19]  ²² tn Heb “he made [the] moon for appointed times.” The phrase “appointed times” probably refers to the months of the Hebrew lunar calendar.

[104:19]  ²³ tn Heb more metaphorically, “knows its setting.”

[105:28]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he sent darkness and made it dark.”

[105:28]  sn He made it dark. The psalmist begins with the ninth plague (see Exod 10:21-29).

[105:28]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they did not rebel against his words.” Apparently this refers to Moses and Aaron, who obediently carried out God’s orders.

[128:5]  ²⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer (note the imperatives that are subordinated to this clause in vv. 5b-6a). Having described the blessings that typically come to the godly, the psalmist concludes by praying that this ideal may become reality for the representative godly man being addressed.

[128:5]  ²⁷ tn The imperative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding jussive.

[128:5]  ²⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.