Mazmur 24:8

24:8 Who is this majestic king? ¹ 

The Lord who is strong and mighty!

The Lord who is mighty in battle!

Mazmur 24:10

24:10 Who is this majestic king?

The Lord who commands armies! ² 

He is the majestic king! (Selah)

Mazmur 34:6

34:6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;

he saved him ³  from all his troubles.

Mazmur 48:14

48:14 For God, our God, is our defender forever! ⁴ 

He guides ⁵  us! ⁶ 

Mazmur 49:13

49:13 This is the destiny of fools, ⁷ 

and of those who approve of their philosophy. ⁸  (Selah)

Mazmur 56:9

56:9 My enemies will turn back when I cry out to you for help; ⁹ 

I know that God is on my side. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 74:2

74:2 Remember your people ¹¹  whom you acquired in ancient times,

whom you rescued ¹²  so they could be your very own nation, ¹³ 

as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell!

Mazmur 87:4

87:4 I mention Rahab ¹⁴  and Babylon to my followers. ¹⁵ 

Here are ¹⁶  Philistia and Tyre, ¹⁷  along with Ethiopia. ¹⁸ 

It is said of them, “This one was born there.” ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 104:8

104:8 as the mountains rose up,

and the valleys went down –

to the place you appointed for them. ²⁰ 

[24:8]  ¹ sn Who is this majestic king? Perhaps the personified gates/doors ask this question, in response to the command given in v. 7.

[24:10]  ² tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts,” a title which here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle.

[34:6]  ³ tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.

[48:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “for this is God, our God, forever and ever.” “This” might be paraphrased, “this protector described and praised in the preceding verses.”

[48:14]  ⁵ tn The imperfect highlights the characteristic nature of the generalizing statement.

[48:14]  ⁶ tn In the Hebrew text the psalm ends with the words עַל־מוּת (’al-mut, “upon [unto?] dying”), which make little, if any, sense. M. Dahood (Psalms [AB], 1:293) proposes an otherwise unattested plural form עֹלָמוֹת (’olamot; from עוֹלָם, ’olam, “eternity”). This would provide a nice parallel to עוֹלָם וָעֶד (’olam va’ed, “forever”) in the preceding line, but elsewhere the plural of עוֹלָם appears as עֹלָמִים (’olamim). It is preferable to understand the phrase as a musical direction of some sort (see עַל־מוּת [’al-mut] in the superscription of Ps 9) or to emend the text to עַל־עֲלָמוֹת (’al-’alamot, “according to the alamoth style”; see the heading of Ps 46). In either case it should be understood as belonging with the superscription of the following psalm.

[49:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “this [is] their way, [there is] folly [belonging] to them.” The Hebrew term translated “this” could refer (1) back to the preceding verse[s] or (2) ahead to the subsequent statements. The translation assumes the latter, since v. 12 appears to be a refrain that concludes the psalm’s first major section and marks a structural boundary. (A similar refrain [see v. 20] concludes the second half of the psalm.) The noun דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) often refers to one’s lifestyle, but, if it relates to what follows, then here it likely refers metonymically to one’s destiny (the natural outcome of one’s lifestyle [cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV “fate”]). (See the discussion in K. Koch, TDOT 3:285.) If one prefers the more common nuance (“lifestyle”), then the term would look back to the self-confident attitude described in the earlier verses.

[49:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “and after them, in their mouth they take delight.” The meaning of the MT is not entirely clear. “After them” is understood here as substantival, “those who come after them” or “those who follow them.” “Their mouth” is taken as a metonymy for the arrogant attitude verbalized by the rich. In the expression “take delight in,” the preposition -ב (bet) introduces the object/cause of one’s delight (see Pss 147:10; 149:4). So the idea here is that those who come after/follow the rich find the philosophy of life they verbalize and promote to be attractive and desirable.

[56:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “then my enemies will turn back in the day I cry out.” The Hebrew particle אָז (’az, “then”) is probably used here to draw attention to the following statement.

[56:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “this I know, that God is for me.”

[74:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your assembly,” which pictures God’s people as an assembled community.

[74:2]  ¹² tn Heb “redeemed.” The verb “redeem” casts God in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).

[74:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “the tribe of your inheritance” (see Jer 10:16; 51:19).

[87:4]  ¹⁴ sn “Rahab,” which means “proud one,” is used here as a title for Egypt (see Isa 30:7).

[87:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to those who know me” (see Ps 36:10). Apparently the Lord speaks here. The verbal construction (the Hiphil of זָכַר, zakhar, “remember” followed by the preposition -לְ [le] with a substantive) is rare, but the prepositional phrase is best understood as indicating the recipient of the announcement (see Jer 4:16). Some take the preposition in the sense of “among” and translate, “among those who know me” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). In this case these foreigners are viewed as the Lord’s people and the psalm is interpreted as anticipating a time when all nations will worship the Lord (see Ps 86:9) and be considered citizens of Zion.

[87:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Look.”

[87:4]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[87:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Cush.”

[87:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and this one was born there.” The words “It is said of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarification and stylistic purposes (see v. 5). Those advocating the universalistic interpretation understand “there” as referring to Zion, but it seems more likely that the adverb refers to the nations just mentioned. The foreigners are identified by their native lands.

[104:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from your shout they fled, from the sound of your thunder they hurried off.”

[104:8]  sn Verses 7-8 poetically depict Gen 1:9-10.