Mazmur 2:7

2:7 The king says, ¹  “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: ² 

‘You are my son! ³  This very day I have become your father!

Mazmur 12:5

12:5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed, ⁴ 

because of the painful cries ⁵  of the needy,

I will spring into action,” ⁶  says the Lord.

“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” ⁷ 

Mazmur 60:6

60:6 God has spoken in his sanctuary: ⁸ 

“I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem;

the Valley of Succoth I will measure off. ⁹ 

Mazmur 108:7

108:7 God has spoken in his sanctuary: ¹⁰ 

“I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem,

the valley of Succoth I will measure off. ¹¹ 

[2:7]  ¹ tn The words “the king says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The speaker is the Lord’s chosen king.

[2:7]  ² tn Or “I will relate the decree. The Lord said to me” (in accordance with the Masoretic accentuation).

[2:7]  ³ sn ‘You are my son!’ The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26-27). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.

[12:5]  ⁴ tn The term translated “oppressed” is an objective genitive; the oppressed are the recipients/victims of violence.

[12:5]  ⁵ tn Elsewhere in the psalms this noun is used of the painful groans of prisoners awaiting death (79:11; 102:20). The related verb is used of the painful groaning of those wounded in combat (Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15) and of the mournful sighing of those in grief (Ezek 9:4; 24:17).

[12:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will rise up.”

[12:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will place in deliverance, he pants for it.” The final two words in Hebrew (יָפִיחַ לוֹ, yafiakh lo) comprise an asyndetic relative clause, “the one who pants for it.” “The one who pants” is the object of the verb “place” and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix (in the phrase “for it”) is “deliverance.” Another option is to translate, “I will place in deliverance the witness for him,” repointing יָפִיחַ (a Hiphil imperfect from פּוּחַ, puakh, “pant”) as יָפֵחַ (yafeakh), a noun meaning “witness.” In this case the Lord would be promising protection to those who have the courage to support the oppressed in the court of law. However, the first part of the verse focuses on the oppressed, not their advocates.

[60:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “in his holy place.”

[60:6]  ⁹ sn Shechem stands for the territory west of the Jordan, the Valley of Succoth for the region east of the Jordan.

[108:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in his holy place.”

[108:7]  ¹¹ sn Shechem stands for the territory west of the Jordan River; the valley of Succoth represents the region east of the Jordan.