Mazmur 118:23

118:23 This is the Lord’s work.

We consider it amazing! ¹ 

Mazmur 139:14

139:14 I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing. ² 

You knew me thoroughly; ³ 

Mazmur 72:18

72:18 The Lord God, the God of Israel, deserves praise! ⁴ 

He alone accomplishes amazing things! ⁵ 

Mazmur 78:43

78:43 when he performed his awesome deeds ⁶  in Egypt,

and his acts of judgment ⁷  in the region of Zoan.

Mazmur 77:11

77:11 I will remember the works of the Lord.

Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago! ⁸ 

[118:23]  ¹ tn Heb “it is amazing in our eyes.” The use of the plural pronoun here and in vv. 24-27 suggests that the psalmist may be speaking for the entire nation. However, it is more likely that vv. 22-27 are the people’s response to the psalmist’s thanksgiving song (see especially v. 26). They rejoice with him because his deliverance on the battlefield (see vv. 10-12) had national repercussions.

[139:14]  ² tc Heb “because awesome things, I am distinct, amazing [are] your works.” The text as it stands is syntactically problematic and makes little, if any, sense. The Niphal of פָּלָה (pala’) occurs elsewhere only in Exod 33:16. Many take the form from פָלָא (pala’; see GKC 216 §75.qq), which in the Niphal perfect means “to be amazing” (see 2 Sam 1:26; Ps 118:23; Prov 30:18). Some, following the LXX and some other ancient witnesses, also prefer to emend the verb from first to second person, “you are amazing” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 249, 251). The present translation assumes the text conflates two variants: נפלאים, the otherwise unattested masculine plural participle of פָלָא, and נִפְלָאוֹת (nifla’ot), the usual (feminine) plural form of the Niphal participle. The latter has been changed to a verb by later scribes in an attempt to accommodate it syntactically. The original text likely read, נוראות נפלאותים מעשׂיך (“your works [are] awesome [and] amazing”).

[139:14]  ³ tc Heb “and my being knows very much.” Better parallelism is achieved (see v. 15a) if one emends יֹדַעַת (yoda’at), a Qal active participle, feminine singular form, to יָדַעְתָּ (yada’ta), a Qal perfect second masculine singular perfect. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 252.

[72:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21; 41:13.

[72:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “[the] one who does amazing things by himself.”

[78:43]  ⁶ tn Or “signs” (see Ps 65:8).

[78:43]  ⁷ tn Or “portents, omens” (see Ps 71:7). The Egyptian plagues are referred to here (see vv. 44-51).

[77:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “yes, I will remember from old your wonders.”

[77:11]  sn The psalmist refuses to allow skepticism to win out. God has revealed himself to his people in tangible, incontrovertible ways in the past and the psalmist vows to remember the historical record as a source of hope for the future.