Mazmur 32:9

32:9 Do not be ¹  like an unintelligent horse or mule, ² 

which will not obey you

unless they are controlled by a bridle and bit. ³ 

Mazmur 34:13

34:13 Then make sure you don’t speak evil words ⁴ 

or use deceptive speech! ⁵ 

Mazmur 39:1-2

Psalm 39 ⁶ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

39:1 I decided, ⁷  “I will watch what I say

and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. ⁸ 

I will put a muzzle over my mouth

while in the presence of an evil man.” ⁹ 

39:2 I was stone silent; ¹⁰ 

I held back the urge to speak. ¹¹ 

My frustration grew; ¹² 

Mazmur 141:3

141:3 O Lord, place a guard on my mouth!

Protect the opening ¹³  of my lips! ¹⁴ 

[32:9]  ¹ tn The verb form is plural (i.e., “do not all of you be”); the psalmist addresses the whole group.

[32:9]  ² tn Heb “like a horse, like a mule without understanding.”

[32:9]  ³ tn Heb “with a bridle and bit, its [?] to hold, not to come near to you.” The meaning of the Hebrew noun עֲדִי (’adiy) is uncertain. Normally the word refers to “jewelry,” so some suggest the meaning “trappings” here (cf. NASB). Some emend the form to לְחֵיהֶם (lÿkhehem, “their jawbones”) but it is difficult to see how the present Hebrew text, even if corrupt, could have derived from this proposed original reading. P. C. Craigie (Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 265) takes the form from an Arabic root and translates “whose gallop.” Cf. also NRSV “whose temper must be curbed.”

[34:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “guard your tongue from evil.”

[34:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “and your lips from speaking deception.”

[39:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.

[39:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “I said.”

[39:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”

[39:1]  ⁹ sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the Lord (see vv. 4-6), but he hesitated to do so in the presence of evil men, for such words might be sinful if they gave the wicked an occasion to insult God. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 1:345.

[39:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I was mute [with] silence.”

[39:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I was quiet from good.” He kept quiet, resisting the urge to find emotional release and satisfaction by voicing his lament.

[39:2]  sn I held back the urge to speak. For a helpful discussion of the relationship (and tension) between silence and complaint in ancient Israelite lamentation, see E. S. Gerstenberger, Psalms, Part I (FOTL), 166-67.

[39:2]  ¹² tn Heb “and my pain was stirred up.” Emotional pain is in view here.

[141:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “door.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.

[141:3]  ¹⁴ sn My mouth…my lips. The psalmist asks God to protect him from speaking inappropriately or sinfully.