Mazmur 1:2

1:2 Instead ¹  he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; ² 

he meditates on ³  his commands ⁴  day and night.

Mazmur 18:23

18:23 I was innocent before him,

and kept myself from sinning. ⁵ 

Mazmur 27:14

27:14 Rely ⁶  on the Lord!

Be strong and confident! ⁷ 

Rely on the Lord!

Mazmur 37:21

37:21 Evil men borrow, but do not repay their debt,

but the godly show compassion and are generous. ⁸ 

Mazmur 50:18

50:18 When you see a thief, you join him; ⁹ 

you associate with men who are unfaithful to their wives. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 55:2

55:2 Pay attention to me and answer me!

I am so upset ¹¹  and distressed, ¹²  I am beside myself, ¹³ 

Mazmur 69:22

69:22 May their dining table become a trap before them!

May it be a snare for that group of friends! ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 72:5

72:5 People will fear ¹⁵  you ¹⁶  as long as the sun and moon remain in the sky,

for generation after generation. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 74:15

74:15 You broke open the spring and the stream; ¹⁸ 

you dried up perpetually flowing rivers. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 78:45

78:45 He sent swarms of biting insects against them, ²⁰ 

as well as frogs that overran their land. ²¹ 

Mazmur 79:4

79:4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. ²² 

Mazmur 80:9

80:9 You cleared the ground for it; ²³ 

it took root, ²⁴ 

and filled the land.

Mazmur 89:26

89:26 He will call out to me,

‘You are my father, ²⁵  my God, and the protector who delivers me.’ ²⁶ 

Mazmur 89:43

89:43 You turn back ²⁷  his sword from the adversary, ²⁸ 

and have not sustained him in battle. ²⁹ 

Mazmur 92:3

92:3 to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument and a lyre,

to the accompaniment of the meditative tone of the harp.

Mazmur 100:5

100:5 For the Lord is good.

His loyal love endures, ³⁰ 

and he is faithful through all generations. ³¹ 

Mazmur 104:4

104:4 He makes the winds his messengers,

and the flaming fire his attendant. ³² 

Mazmur 147:5

147:5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power; ³³ 

there is no limit to his wisdom. ³⁴ 

[1:2]  ¹ tn Here the Hebrew expression כִּי־אִם (ki-’im, “instead”) introduces a contrast between the sinful behavior depicted in v. 1 and the godly lifestyle described in v. 2.

[1:2]  ² tn Heb “his delight [is] in the law of the Lord.” In light of the following line, which focuses on studying the Lord’s law, one might translate, “he finds pleasure in studying the Lord’s commands.” However, even if one translates the line this way, it is important to recognize that mere study and intellectual awareness are not ultimately what bring divine favor. Study of the law is metonymic here for the correct attitudes and behavior that should result from an awareness of and commitment to God’s moral will; thus “obeying” has been used in the translation rather than “studying.”

[1:2]  ³ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the characteristic behavior described here and lends support to the hyperbolic adverbial phrase “day and night.” The verb הָגָה (hagag) means “to recite quietly; to meditate” and refers metonymically to intense study and reflection.

[1:2]  ⁴ tn Or “his law.”

[18:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “from my sin,” that is, from making it my own in any way.

[18:23]  sn Kept myself from sinning. Leading a blameless life meant that the king would be loyal to God’s covenant, purge the government and society of evil and unjust officials, and reward loyalty to the Lord (see Ps 101).

[27:14]  ⁶ tn Or “wait.”

[27:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “be strong and let your heart be confident.”

[37:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “an evil [man] borrows and does not repay; but a godly [man] is gracious and gives.” The singular forms are used in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and godly individual are in view. The three active participles and one imperfect (“repay”) draw attention to the characteristic behavior of the two types.

[50:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “you run with him.”

[50:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and with adulterers [is] your portion.”

[55:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “restless” (see Gen 27:40). The Hiphil is intransitive-exhibitive, indicating the outward display of an inner attitude.

[55:2]  ¹² tn Heb “in my complaint.”

[55:2]  ¹³ tn The verb is a Hiphil cohortative from הוּם (hum), which means “to confuse someone” in the Qal and “to go wild” in the Niphal. An Arabic cognate means “to be out of one’s senses, to wander about.” With the vav (ו) conjunctive prefixed to it, the cohortative probably indicates the result or effect of the preceding main verb. Some prefer to emend the form to וְאֵהוֹמָה (vÿ’ehomah), a Niphal of הוּם (hum), or to וְאֶהַמֶה (vÿ’ehameh), a Qal imperfect from הָמָה (hamah, “to moan”). Many also prefer to take this verb with what follows (see v. 3).

[69:22]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “and to the friends for a snare.” The plural of שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) is used in Ps 55:20 of one’s “friends.” If the reading of the MT is retained here, the term depicts the psalmist’s enemies as a close-knit group of friends who are bound together by their hatred for the psalmist. Some prefer to revocalize the text as וּלְשִׁלּוּמִים (ulÿshillumim, “and for retribution”). In this case the noun stands parallel to פַּח (pakh, “trap”) and מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), and one might translate, “may their dining table become a trap before them, [a means of] retribution and a snare” (cf. NIV).

[72:5]  ¹⁵ tn In this context “fear” probably means “to demonstrate respect for the Lord’s power and authority by worshiping him and obeying his commandments.” See Ps 33:8. Some interpreters, with the support of the LXX, prefer to read וְיַאֲרִיךְ (vÿ’a’arikh, “and he [the king in this case] will prolong [days]”), that is, “will live a long time” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[72:5]  ¹⁶ tn God is the addressee (see vv. 1-2).

[72:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “with [the] sun, and before [the] moon [for] a generation, generations.” The rare expression דּוֹר דּוֹרִים (dor dorim, “generation, generations”) occurs only here, in Ps 102:24, and in Isa 51:8.

[74:15]  ¹⁸ sn You broke open the spring and the stream. Perhaps this alludes to the way in which God provided water for the Israelites as they traveled in the wilderness following the exodus (see Ps 78:15-16, 20; 105:41).

[74:15]  ¹⁹ sn Perpetually flowing rivers are rivers that contain water year round, unlike the seasonal streams that flow only during the rainy season. Perhaps the psalmist here alludes to the drying up of the Jordan River when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan under Joshua (see Josh 3-4).

[78:45]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he sent an insect swarm against them and it devoured them.”

[78:45]  ²¹ tn Heb “and a swarm of frogs and it destroyed them.”

[79:4]  ²² tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.

[80:9]  ²³ tn Heb “you cleared away before it.”

[80:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and it took root [with] its roots.”

[89:26]  ²⁵ sn You are my father. The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7). 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.

[89:26]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the rocky summit of my deliverance.”

[89:43]  ²⁷ tn The perfect verbal form predominates in vv. 38-45. The use of the imperfect in this one instance may be for rhetorical effect. The psalmist briefly lapses into dramatic mode, describing the king’s military defeat as if it were happening before his very eyes.

[89:43]  ²⁸ tc Heb “you turn back, rocky summit, his sword.” The Hebrew term צוּר (tsur, “rocky summit”) makes no sense here, unless it is a divine title understood as vocative, “you turn back, O Rocky Summit, his sword.” Some emend the form to צֹר (tsor, “flint”) on the basis of Josh 5:2, which uses the phrase חַרְבוֹת צֻרִים (kharvot tsurim, “flint knives”). The noun צֹר (tsor, “flint”) can then be taken as “flint-like edge,” indicating the sharpness of the sword. Others emend the form to אָחוֹר (’akhor, “backward”) or to מִצַּר (mitsar, “from the adversary”). The present translation reflects the latter, assuming an original reading תָּשִׁיב מִצָּר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv mitsar kharbo), which was corrupted to תָּשִׁיב צָר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv tsar kharbo) by virtual haplography (confusion of bet/mem is well-attested) with צָר (tsar, “adversary”) then being misinterpreted as צוּר in the later tradition.

[89:43]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and you have not caused him to stand in the battle.”

[100:5]  ³⁰ tn Or “is forever.”

[100:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “and to a generation and a generation [is] his faithfulness.”

[104:4]  ³² tc Heb “and his attendants a flaming fire.” The lack of agreement between the singular “fire” and plural “attendants” has prompted various emendations. Some read “fire and flame.” The present translation assumes an emendation to “his attendant” (יו in the Hebrew text being virtually dittographic).

[104:4]  sn In Ugaritic mythology Yam’s messengers appear as flaming fire before the assembly of the gods. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 42.

[147:5]  ³³ tn Heb “and great of strength.”

[147:5]  ³⁴ tn Heb “to his wisdom there is no counting.”