Mazmur 11:4
Konteks11:4 The Lord is in his holy temple; 1
the Lord’s throne is in heaven. 2
his eyes 5 examine 6 all people. 7
Mazmur 18:30
Konteks18:30 The one true God acts in a faithful manner; 8
the Lord’s promise 9 is reliable; 10
he is a shield to all who take shelter 11 in him.
Mazmur 37:28
Konteks37:28 For the Lord promotes 12 justice,
and never abandons 13 his faithful followers.
They are permanently secure, 14
but the children 15 of evil men are wiped out. 16
Mazmur 51:4
Konteks51:4 Against you – you above all 17 – I have sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
So 18 you are just when you confront me; 19
you are right when you condemn me. 20
Mazmur 53:1
KonteksFor the music director; according to the machalath style; 22 a well-written song 23 by David.
53:1 Fools say to themselves, 24 “There is no God.” 25
They sin and commit evil deeds; 26
none of them does what is right. 27
Mazmur 58:1
KonteksFor the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; 29 a prayer 30 of David.
58:1 Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions? 31
Do you judge people 32 fairly?
Mazmur 65:5
Konteks65:5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,
O God, our savior. 33
All the ends of the earth trust in you, 34
as well as those living across the wide seas. 35
Mazmur 105:5
Konteks105:5 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed,
his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed, 36
Mazmur 141:5
Konteks141:5 May the godly strike me in love and correct me!
May my head not refuse 37 choice oil! 38
Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds. 39
[11:4] 1 tn Because of the royal imagery involved here, one could translate “lofty palace.” The
[11:4] 2 sn The
[11:4] 3 sn His eyes. The anthropomorphic language draws attention to God’s awareness of and interest in the situation on earth. Though the enemies are hidden by the darkness (v. 2), the Lord sees all.
[11:4] 4 tn The two Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this verse describe the
[11:4] 6 tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 7:9; 26:2; 139:23.
[11:4] 7 tn Heb “test the sons of men.”
[18:30] 8 tn Heb “[As for] the God, his way is blameless.” The term הָאֵל (ha’el, “the God”) stands as a nominative (or genitive) absolute in apposition to the resumptive pronominal suffix on “way.” The prefixed article emphasizes his distinctiveness as the one true God (cf. Deut 33:26). God’s “way” in this context refers to his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 103:7; 138:5; 145:17).
[18:30] 9 sn The
[18:30] 10 tn Heb “the word of the
[18:30] 11 sn Take shelter. See the note on the word “shelter” in v. 2.
[37:28] 12 tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the
[37:28] 13 tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.
[37:28] 14 tn Or “protected forever.”
[37:28] 15 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
[37:28] 16 tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.
[51:4] 17 tn Heb “only you,” as if the psalmist had sinned exclusively against God and no other. Since the Hebrew verb חָטָא (hata’, “to sin”) is used elsewhere of sinful acts against people (see BDB 306 s.v. 2.a) and David (the presumed author) certainly sinned when he murdered Uriah (2 Sam 12:9), it is likely that the psalmist is overstating the case to suggest that the attack on Uriah was ultimately an attack on God himself. To clarify the point of the hyperbole, the translation uses “especially,” rather than the potentially confusing “only.”
[51:4] 18 tn The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) normally indicates purpose (“in order that”), but here it introduces a logical consequence of the preceding statement. (Taking the clause as indicating purpose here would yield a theologically preposterous idea – the psalmist purposely sinned so that God’s justice might be vindicated!) For other examples of לְמַעַן indicating result, see 2 Kgs 22:17; Jer 27:15; Amos 2:7, as well as IBHS 638-40 §38.3.
[51:4] 19 tn Heb “when you speak.” In this context the psalmist refers to God’s word of condemnation against his sin delivered through Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 12:7-12).
[51:4] 20 tn Heb “when you judge.”
[53:1] 21 sn Psalm 53. This psalm is very similar to Ps 14. The major difference comes in v. 5, which corresponds to, but differs quite a bit from, Ps 14:5-6, and in the use of the divine name. Ps 14 uses “the
[53:1] 22 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מָחֲלַת (makhalat, “machalath”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. The term also appears in the heading of Ps 88.
[53:1] 23 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.
[53:1] 24 tn Heb “a fool says in his heart.” The singular is used here in a collective or representative sense; the typical fool is envisioned.
[53:1] 25 sn There is no God. This statement is probably not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see Ps 10:4, 11).
[53:1] 26 tn Heb “they act corruptly, they do evil [with] injustice.” Ps 14:1 has עֲלִילָה (’alilah, “a deed”) instead of עָוֶל (’aval, “injustice”). The verbs describe the typical behavior of the wicked. The subject of the plural verbs is “sons of man” (v. 2). The entire human race is characterized by sinful behavior. This practical atheism – living as if there is no God who will hold them accountable for their actions – makes them fools, for one of the earmarks of folly is to fail to anticipate the long range consequences of one’s behavior.
[53:1] 27 tn Heb “there is none that does good.”
[58:1] 28 sn Psalm 58. The psalmist calls on God to punish corrupt judges because a vivid display of divine judgment will convince observers that God is the just judge of the world who vindicates the godly.
[58:1] 29 tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 57, 59, and 75.
[58:1] 30 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam) which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 56-57, 59-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
[58:1] 31 tn Heb “Really [in] silence, what is right do you speak?” The Hebrew noun אֵלֶם (’elem, “silence”) makes little, if any, sense in this context. Some feel that this is an indictment of the addressees’ failure to promote justice; they are silent when they should make just decisions. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֵלִם (’elim), which in turn is understood as a defectively written form of אֵילִים (’elim, “rulers,” a metaphorical use of אַיִל, ’ayil, “ram”; see Exod 15:15; Ezek 17:13). The rhetorical question is sarcastic, challenging their claim to be just. Elsewhere the collocation of דָּבַר (davar, “speak”) with צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “what is right”) as object means “to speak the truth” (see Ps 52:3; Isa 45:19). Here it refers specifically to declaring what is right in a legal setting, as the next line indicates.
[58:1] 32 tn Heb “the sons of mankind.” The translation assumes the phrase is the object of the verb “to judge.” Some take it as a vocative, “Do you judge fairly, O sons of mankind?” (Cf. NASB; see Ezek 20:4; 22:2; 23:36.)
[65:5] 33 tn Heb “[with] awesome acts in deliverance you answer us, O God of our salvation.”
[65:5] 34 tn Heb “a source of confidence [for] all the ends of the earth.”
[65:5] sn All the ends of the earth trust in you. This idealistic portrayal of universal worship is typical hymnic hyperbole, though it does anticipate eschatological reality.
[65:5] 35 tc Heb “and [the] distant sea.” The plural adjective is problematic after the singular form “sea.” One could emend יָם (yam, “sea”) to יָמִים (yamim, “seas”), or emend the plural form רְחֹקִים (rÿkhoqim, “far”) to the singular רָחֹק (rakhoq). In this case the final mem (ם) could be treated as dittographic; note the mem on the beginning of the first word in v. 6.
[105:5] 36 tn Heb “and the judgments of his mouth.”
[141:5] 37 tn The form יָנִי (yaniy) appears to be derived from the verbal root נוּא (nu’). Another option is to emend the form to יְנָא (yÿna’), a Piel from נָאָה (na’ah), and translate “may choice oil not adorn my head” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 271). In this case, choice oil, like delicacies in v. 4, symbolize the pleasures of sin.
[141:5] 38 sn May my head not refuse choice oil. The psalmist compares the constructive criticism of the godly (see the previous line) to having refreshing olive oil poured over one’s head.
[141:5] 39 tc Heb “for still, and my prayer [is] against their evil deeds.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult; the sequence -כִּי־עוֹד וּ (kiy-’od u-, “for still and”) occurs only here. The translation assumes an emendation to כִּי עֵד תְפלָּתִי (“indeed a witness [is] my prayer”). The psalmist’s lament about the evil actions of sinful men (see v. 4) testifies against the wicked in the divine court.