Mazmur 7:8

7:8 The Lord judges the nations. ¹ 

Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, ² 

because I am blameless, ³  O Exalted One! ⁴ 

Mazmur 18:47

18:47 The one true God ⁵  completely vindicates me; ⁶ 

he makes nations submit to me. ⁷ 

Mazmur 37:5

37:5 Commit your future to the Lord! ⁸ 

Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf. ⁹ 

Mazmur 60:5

60:5 Deliver by your power ¹⁰  and answer me, ¹¹ 

so that the ones you love may be safe. ¹² 

Mazmur 65:3

65:3 Our record of sins overwhelms me, ¹³ 

but you forgive ¹⁴  our acts of rebellion.

Mazmur 72:18

72:18 The Lord God, the God of Israel, deserves praise! ¹⁵ 

He alone accomplishes amazing things! ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 83:5

83:5 Yes, ¹⁷  they devise a unified strategy; ¹⁸ 

they form an alliance ¹⁹  against you.

Mazmur 94:9

94:9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?

Does the one who forms the human eye not see? ²⁰ 

Mazmur 95:5

95:5 The sea is his, for he made it.

His hands formed the dry land.

Mazmur 104:20

104:20 You make it dark and night comes, ²¹ 

during which all the beasts of the forest prowl around.

Mazmur 122:5

122:5 Indeed, ²²  the leaders sit ²³  there on thrones and make legal decisions,

on the thrones of the house of David. ²⁴ 

[7:8]  ¹ sn The Lord judges the nations. In hyperbolic fashion the psalmist pictures the nations assembled around the divine throne (v. 7a). He urges God to take his rightful place on the throne (v. 7b) and then pictures him making judicial decisions that vindicate the innocent (see vv. 8-16).

[7:8]  ² tn Heb “judge me, O Lord, according to my innocence.”

[7:8]  ³ tn Heb “according to my blamelessness.” The imperative verb translated “vindicate” governs the second line as well.

[7:8]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew form עָלָי (’alay) has been traditionally understood as the preposition עַל (’al, “over”) with a first person suffix. But this is syntactically awkward and meaningless. The form is probably a divine title derived from the verbal root עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”). This relatively rare title appears elsewhere in the OT (see HALOT 824-25 s.v. I עַל, though this text is not listed) and in Ugaritic as an epithet for Baal (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 98). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:44-45, and P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 98.

[18:47]  ⁵ tn Heb “the God.” See v. 32.

[18:47]  ⁶ tn Heb “is the one who grants vengeance to me.” The plural form of the noun indicates degree here, suggesting complete vengeance or vindication.

[18:47]  sn Completely vindicates me. In the ancient Near East military victory was sometimes viewed as a sign that one’s God had judged in favor of the victor, avenging and/or vindicating him. See, for example, Judg 11:27, 32-33, 36.

[18:47]  ⁷ tn Heb “he subdues nations beneath me.” On the meaning of the verb דָּבַר (davar, “subdue,” a homonym of דָּבַר, davar, “speak”), see HALOT 209-10 s.v. I דבר. See also Ps 47:3 and 2 Chr 22:10. 2 Sam 22:48 reads “and [is the one who] brings down nations beneath me.”

[37:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “roll your way upon the Lord.” The noun “way” may refer here to one’s activities or course of life.

[37:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “he will act.” Verse 6 explains what is meant; the Lord will vindicate those who trust in him.

[60:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “right hand.”

[60:5]  ¹¹ tn The Qere (marginal reading) has “me,” while the Kethib (consonantal text) has “us.”

[60:5]  ¹² tn Or “may be rescued.” The lines are actually reversed in the Hebrew text, “So that the ones you love may be rescued, deliver by your power and answer me.”

[65:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “the records of sins are too strong for me.”

[65:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “make atonement for.”

[72:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21; 41:13.

[72:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[the] one who does amazing things by himself.”

[83:5]  ¹⁷ tn Or “for.”

[83:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they consult [with] a heart together.”

[83:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[94:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “The one who plants an ear, does he not hear? The one who forms an eye, does he not see?”

[104:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “you make darkness, so that it might be night.”

[122:5]  ²² tn Or “for.”

[122:5]  ²³ tn Or “sat.”

[122:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Indeed, there they sit [on] thrones for judgment, [on] thrones [belonging] to the house of David.”