Mazmur 12:1

Psalm 12 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the sheminith style; ²  a psalm of David.

12:1 Deliver, Lord!

For the godly ³  have disappeared; ⁴ 

people of integrity ⁵  have vanished. ⁶ 

Mazmur 18:2

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ⁷  my stronghold, ⁸  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ⁹  I take shelter, ¹⁰ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ¹¹  and my refuge. ¹² 

Mazmur 22:1

Psalm 22 ¹³ 

For the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” ¹⁴  a psalm of David.

22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ¹⁵ 

I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 31:13

31:13 For I hear what so many are saying, ¹⁷ 

the terrifying news that comes from every direction. ¹⁸ 

When they plot together against me,

they figure out how they can take my life.

Mazmur 36:8

36:8 They are filled with food from your house,

and you allow them to drink from the river of your delicacies.

Mazmur 39:1

Psalm 39 ¹⁹ 

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

39:1 I decided, ²⁰  “I will watch what I say

and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. ²¹ 

I will put a muzzle over my mouth

while in the presence of an evil man.” ²² 

Mazmur 39:5

39:5 Look, you make my days short-lived, ²³ 

and my life span is nothing from your perspective. ²⁴ 

Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. ²⁵ 

Mazmur 42:5

42:5 Why are you depressed, ²⁶  O my soul? ²⁷ 

Why are you upset? ²⁸ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ²⁹ 

Mazmur 42:8

42:8 By day the Lord decrees his loyal love, ³⁰ 

and by night he gives me a song, ³¹ 

a prayer ³²  to the living God.

Mazmur 42:11

42:11 Why are you depressed, ³³  O my soul? ³⁴ 

Why are you upset? ³⁵ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ³⁶ 

Mazmur 43:5

43:5 Why are you depressed, ³⁷  O my soul? ³⁸ 

Why are you upset? ³⁹ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ⁴⁰ 

Mazmur 50:21

50:21 When you did these things, I was silent, ⁴¹ 

so you thought I was exactly like you. ⁴² 

But now I will condemn ⁴³  you

and state my case against you! ⁴⁴ 

Mazmur 54:3

54:3 For foreigners ⁴⁵  attack me; ⁴⁶ 

ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life. ⁴⁷  (Selah)

Mazmur 59:12

59:12 They speak sinful words. ⁴⁸ 

So let them be trapped by their own pride

and by the curses and lies they speak!

Mazmur 61:2

61:2 From the most remote place on earth ⁴⁹ 

I call out to you in my despair. ⁵⁰ 

Lead me ⁵¹  up to an inaccessible rocky summit! ⁵² 

Mazmur 63:11

63:11 But the king ⁵³  will rejoice in God;

everyone who takes oaths in his name ⁵⁴  will boast,

for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up. ⁵⁵ 

Mazmur 65:8

65:8 Even those living in the most remote areas are awestruck by your acts; ⁵⁶ 

you cause those living in the east and west to praise you. ⁵⁷ 

Mazmur 68:11

68:11 The Lord speaks; ⁵⁸ 

many, many women spread the good news. ⁵⁹ 

Mazmur 68:35

68:35 You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple! ⁶⁰ 

It is the God of Israel ⁶¹  who gives the people power and strength.

God deserves praise! ⁶² 

Mazmur 74:9

74:9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence; ⁶³ 

there are no longer any prophets ⁶⁴ 

and we have no one to tell us how long this will last. ⁶⁵ 

Mazmur 110:3

110:3 Your people willingly follow you ⁶⁶  when you go into battle. ⁶⁷ 

On the holy hills ⁶⁸  at sunrise ⁶⁹  the dew of your youth ⁷⁰  belongs to you. ⁷¹ 

Mazmur 138:7

138:7 Even when I must walk in the midst of danger, ⁷²  you revive me.

You oppose my angry enemies, ⁷³ 

and your right hand delivers me.

Mazmur 139:16

139:16 Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. ⁷⁴ 

All the days ordained for me

were recorded in your scroll

before one of them came into existence. ⁷⁵ 

[12:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 12. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene, for society is overrun by deceitful, arrogant oppressors and godly individuals are a dying breed. When the Lord announces his intention to defend the oppressed, the psalmist affirms his confidence in the divine promise.

[12:1]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

[12:1]  ³ tn The singular form is collective or representative. Note the plural form “faithful [ones]” in the following line. A “godly [one]” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[12:1]  ⁴ tn Or “have come to an end.”

[12:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “the faithful [ones] from the sons of man.”

[12:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew verb פָּסַס (pasas) occurs only here. An Akkadian cognate means “efface, blot out.”

[18:2]  ⁷ sn My high ridge. This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[18:2]  ⁸ sn My stronghold. David often found safety in such strongholds. See 1 Sam 22:4-5; 24:22; 2 Sam 5:9, 17; 23:14.

[18:2]  ⁹ tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ¹⁰ sn Take shelter. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[18:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”

[18:2]  sn Though some see “horn” as referring to a horn-shaped peak of a hill, or to the “horns” of an altar where one could find refuge, it is more likely that the horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (cf. Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). In the ancient Near East powerful warrior-kings would sometimes compare themselves to a goring bull that uses its horns to kill its enemies. For examples, see P. Miller, “El the Warrior,” HTR 60 (1967): 422-25, and R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 135-36. Ps 18:2 uses the metaphor of the horn in a slightly different manner. Here the Lord himself is compared to a horn. He is to the psalmist what the horn is to the ox, a source of defense and victory.

[18:2]  ¹² tn Or “my elevated place.” The parallel version of this psalm in 2 Sam 22:3 adds at this point, “my refuge, my savior, [you who] save me from violence.”

[22:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 22. The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his dangerous enemies, who have surrounded him and threaten his life. Confident that the Lord will intervene, he then vows to thank the Lord publicly for his help and anticipates a time when all people will recognize the Lord’s greatness and worship him.

[22:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “according to the doe of the dawn.” Apparently this refers to a particular musical tune or style.

[22:1]  ¹⁵ sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).

[22:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “far from my deliverance [are] the words of my groaning.” The Hebrew noun שְׁאָגָה (shÿ’agah) and its related verb שָׁאַג (sha’ag) are sometimes used of a lion’s roar, but they can also describe human groaning (see Job 3:24 and Pss 32:3 and 38:8.

[31:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the report of many.”

[31:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the terror from all around.”

[39:1]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I said.”

[39:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”

[39:1]  ²² 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.

[39:5]  ²³ tn Heb “Look, handbreadths you make my days.” The “handbreadth” (equivalent to the width of four fingers) was one of the smallest measures used by ancient Israelites. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 309.

[39:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “is like nothing before you.”

[39:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “surely, all vapor [is] all mankind, standing firm.” Another option is to translate, “Surely, all mankind, though seemingly secure, is nothing but a vapor.”

[42:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:5]  ²⁷ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and [why] are you in turmoil upon me?” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries on the descriptive present nuance of the preceding imperfect. See GKC 329 §111.t.

[42:5]  ²⁹ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of his face.” The verse division in the Hebrew text is incorrect. אֱלֹהַי (’elohay, “my God”) at the beginning of v. 7 belongs with the end of v. 6 (see the corresponding refrains in 42:11 and 43:5, both of which end with “my God” after “saving acts of my face”). The Hebrew term פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”) should be emended to פְּנֵי (pÿney, “face of”). The emended text reads, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention.

[42:8]  ³⁰ sn The psalmist believes that the Lord has not abandoned him, but continues to extend his loyal love. To this point in the psalm, the author has used the name “God,” but now, as he mentions the divine characteristic of loyal love, he switches to the more personal divine name Yahweh (rendered in the translation as “the Lord”).

[42:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “his song [is] with me.”

[42:8]  ³² tc A few medieval Hebrew mss read תְּהִלָּה (tÿhillah, “praise”) instead of תְּפִלָּה (tÿfillah, “prayer”).

[42:11]  ³³ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:11]  ³⁴ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:11]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[42:11]  ³⁶ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God”), that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is almost identical to the one in v. 5. See also Ps 43:5.

[43:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[43:5]  ³⁸ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[43:5]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[43:5]  ⁴⁰ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is identical to the one in Ps 42:11. See also 42:5, which differs only slightly.

[50:21]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “these things you did and I was silent.” Some interpret the second clause (“and I was silent”) as a rhetorical question expecting a negative answer, “[When you do these things], should I keep silent?” (cf. NEB). See GKC 335 §112.cc.

[50:21]  sn The Lord was silent in the sense that he delayed punishment. Of course, God’s patience toward sinners eventually runs out. The divine “silence” is only temporary (see v. 3, where the psalmist, having described God’s arrival, observes that “he is not silent”).

[50:21]  ⁴² tn The Hebrew infinitive construct (הֱיוֹת, heyot) appears to function like the infinitive absolute here, adding emphasis to the following finite verbal form (אֶהְיֶה, ’ehyeh). See GKC 339-40 §113.a. Some prefer to emend הֱיוֹת (heyot) to the infinitive absolute form הָיוֹ (hayo).

[50:21]  ⁴³ tn Or “rebuke” (see v. 8).

[50:21]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and I will set in order [my case against you] to your eyes.” The cohortative form expresses the Lord’s resolve to accuse and judge the wicked.

[54:3]  ⁴⁵ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read זֵדִים (zedim, “proud ones”) rather than זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”). (No matter which reading one chooses as original, dalet-resh confusion accounts for the existence of the variant.) The term זֵדִים (“proud ones”) occurs in parallelism with עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) is parallel to עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.

[54:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “rise against me.”

[54:3]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”

[59:12]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “the sin of their mouth [is] the word of their lips.”

[61:2]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “from the end of the earth.” This may indicate (1) the psalmist is exiled in a distant land, or (2) it may be hyperbolic (the psalmist feels alienated from God’s presence, as if he were in a distant land).

[61:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “while my heart faints.”

[61:2]  ⁵¹ tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.

[61:2]  ⁵² tn Heb “on to a rocky summit [that] is higher than I.”

[63:11]  ⁵³ sn The psalmist probably refers to himself in the third person here.

[63:11]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “who swears [an oath] by him.”

[63:11]  ⁵⁵ tn The Niphal of this verb occurs only here and in Gen 8:2, where it is used of God “stopping” or “damming up” the great deep as he brought the flood to an end.

[65:8]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the ends fear because of your signs.” God’s “signs” are the “awesome acts” (see v. 5) he performs in the earth.

[65:8]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “the goings out of the morning and the evening you cause to shout for joy.” The phrase “goings out of the morning and evening” refers to the sunrise and sunset, that is, the east and the west.

[68:11]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “gives a word.” Perhaps this refers to a divine royal decree or battle cry.

[68:11]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “the ones spreading the good news [are] a large army.” The participle translated “the ones spreading the good news” is a feminine plural form. Apparently the good news here is the announcement that enemy kings have been defeated (see v. 12).

[68:35]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “awesome [is] God from his holy places.” The plural of מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “holy places”) perhaps refers to the temple precincts (see Ps 73:17; Jer 51:51).

[68:35]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “the God of Israel, he.”

[68:35]  ⁶² tn Heb “blessed [be] God.”

[74:9]  ⁶³ tn Heb “our signs we do not see.” Because of the reference to a prophet in the next line, it is likely that the “signs” in view here include the evidence of God’s presence as typically revealed through the prophets. These could include miraculous acts performed by the prophets (see, for example, Isa 38:7-8) or object lessons which they acted out (see, for example, Isa 20:3).

[74:9]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “there is not still a prophet.”

[74:9]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “and [there is] not with us one who knows how long.”

[110:3]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “your people, free will offerings.” Perhaps the people, in their willingness to volunteer, are compared metaphorically to freewill offerings. Following the LXX, some revocalize the text and read “with you is nobility.”

[110:3]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “in the day of your power.”

[110:3]  ⁶⁸ tc Heb “in splendor of holiness.” The plural construct form הַדְרֵי (hadrey, from הָדַר, hadar, “splendor”) occurs only here; it may indicate degree or perhaps refer by metonymy to garments (see Pss 29:2 and 96:9, where the phrase הַדְרַת קֹדֶשׁ [hadrat qodesh] refers to “holy attire”). If one retains the reading of the MT, this phrase should probably be taken with the preceding line. However, because of the subsequent references to “dawn” and to “dew,” it is better to emend the text to הַרְרֵי קֹדֶשׁ (harrey qodesh, “mountains of holiness”), a reading found in many medieval Hebrew mss and in some other ancient witnesses (see Joel 2:2; Ps 133:3, as well as L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 80). The “mountains of holiness” are probably the hills surrounding Zion (see Ps 87:1; 125:2; 133:3).

[110:3]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “from the womb of dawn.” The Hebrew noun רֶחֶם (rekhem, “womb”) is probably used here metonymically for “birth.” The form מִשְׁחָר (mishkhar) occurs only here and should be emended to שַׁחַר (shakhar, “dawn”) with the mem (מ) being understood as dittographic (note the final mem [ם] on the preceding word). The phrase “womb [i.e., “birth”] of dawn” refers to sunrise.

[110:3]  ⁷⁰ sn The point of the metaphor is not entirely clear. The dew may symbolize the king’s youthful vitality or, more likely (note the parallelism), may refer to his army of strong, youthful warriors.

[110:3]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “to you [is].”

[138:7]  ⁷² tn Or “distress.”

[138:7]  ⁷³ tn Heb “against the anger of my enemies you extend your hand.”

[139:16]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “Your eyes saw my shapeless form.” The Hebrew noun גֹּלֶם (golem) occurs only here in the OT. In later Hebrew the word refers to “a lump, a shapeless or lifeless substance,” and to “unfinished matter, a vessel wanting finishing” (Jastrow 222 s.v. גּוֹלֶם). The translation employs the dynamic rendering “when I was inside the womb” to clarify that the speaker was still in his mother’s womb at the time he was “seen” by God.

[139:16]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “and on your scroll all of them were written, [the] days [which] were formed, and [there was] not one among them.” This “scroll” may be the “scroll of life” mentioned in Ps 69:28 (see the note on the word “living” there).