Mazmur 125:1

Psalm 125 ¹ 

A song of ascents. ² 

125:1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion;

it cannot be upended and will endure forever.

Mazmur 96:10

96:10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!

The world is established, it cannot be moved.

He judges the nations fairly.”

Mazmur 60:2

60:2 You made the earth quake; you split it open. ³ 

Repair its breaches, for it is ready to fall. ⁴ 

Mazmur 75:3

75:3 When the earth and all its inhabitants dissolve in fear, ⁵ 

I make its pillars secure.” ⁶  (Selah)

Mazmur 46:6

46:6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms are overthrown. ⁷ 

God ⁸  gives a shout, ⁹  the earth dissolves. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 18:7

18:7 The earth heaved and shook; ¹¹ 

the roots of the mountains ¹²  trembled; ¹³ 

they heaved because he was angry.

Mazmur 68:8

68:8 the earth shakes,

yes, the heavens pour down rain

before God, the God of Sinai, ¹⁴ 

before God, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 21:7

21:7 For the king trusts ¹⁶  in the Lord,

and because of the sovereign Lord’s ¹⁷  faithfulness he is not upended. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 10:6

10:6 He says to himself, ¹⁹ 

“I will never ²⁰  be upended,

because I experience no calamity.” ²¹ 

Mazmur 62:2

62:2 He alone is my protector ²²  and deliverer.

He is my refuge; ²³  I will not be upended. ²⁴ 

Mazmur 62:6

62:6 He alone is my protector ²⁵  and deliverer.

He is my refuge; ²⁶  I will not be upended. ²⁷ 

Mazmur 69:23

69:23 May their eyes be blinded! ²⁸ 

Make them shake violently! ²⁹ 

Mazmur 104:5

104:5 He established the earth on its foundations;

it will never be upended.

Mazmur 29:9

29:9 The Lord’s shout bends ³⁰  the large trees ³¹ 

and strips ³²  the leaves from the forests. ³³ 

Everyone in his temple says, “Majestic!” ³⁴ 

Mazmur 93:1

Psalm 93 ³⁵ 

93:1 The Lord reigns!

He is robed in majesty,

the Lord is robed,

he wears strength around his waist. ³⁶ 

Indeed, the world is established, it cannot be moved.

Mazmur 46:5

46:5 God lives within it, ³⁷  it cannot be moved. ³⁸ 

God rescues it ³⁹  at the break of dawn. ⁴⁰ 

Mazmur 77:18

77:18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind;

the lightning bolts lit up the world;

the earth trembled and shook. ⁴¹ 

Mazmur 46:2-3

46:2 For this reason we do not fear ⁴²  when the earth shakes, ⁴³ 

and the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea, ⁴⁴ 

46:3 when its waves ⁴⁵  crash ⁴⁶  and foam,

and the mountains shake ⁴⁷  before the surging sea. ⁴⁸  (Selah)

Mazmur 82:5

82:5 They ⁴⁹  neither know nor understand.

They stumble ⁵⁰  around in the dark,

while all the foundations of the earth crumble. ⁵¹ 

[125:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 125. The psalmist affirms his confidence in the Lord’s protection and justice.

[125:1]  ² sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[60:2]  ³ tn The verb פָּצַם (patsam, “split open”) occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “crack,” and an Aramaic cognate is used in Tg. Jer 22:14 with the meaning “break open, frame.” See BDB 822 s.v. and Jastrow 1205 s.v. פְּצַם.

[60:2]  sn You made the earth quake; you split it open. The psalmist uses the imagery of an earthquake to describe the nation’s defeat.

[60:2]  ⁴ sn It is ready to fall. The earth is compared to a wall that has been broken by the force of the earthquake (note the preceding line) and is ready to collapse.

[75:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “melt.”

[75:3]  ⁶ tn The statement is understood in a generalizing sense; God typically prevents the world from being overrun by chaos. One could take this as referring to an anticipated event, “I will make its pillars secure.”

[46:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “nations roar, kingdoms shake.” The Hebrew verb הָמָה (hamah, “roar, be in uproar”) is used in v. 3 of the waves crashing, while the verb מוֹט (mot, “overthrown”) is used in v. 2 of mountains tumbling into the sea (see also v. 5, where the psalm affirms that Jerusalem “cannot be moved”). The repetition of the verbs suggests that the language of vv. 2-3 is symbolic and depicts the upheaval that characterizes relationships between the nations of the earth. As some nations (symbolized by the surging, chaotic waters) show hostility, others (symbolized by the mountains) come crashing down to destruction. The surging waters are symbolic of chaotic forces in other poetic texts (see, for example, Isa 17:12; Jer 51:42) and mountains can symbolize strong kingdoms (see, for example, Jer 51:25).

[46:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “He.” God is the obvious referent here (see v. 5), and has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[46:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “offers his voice.” In theophanic texts the phrase refers to God’s thunderous shout which functions as a battle cry (see Pss 18:13; 68:33).

[46:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “melts.” See Amos 9:5. The image depicts the nation’s helplessness before Jerusalem’s defender, who annihilates their armies (see vv. 8-9). The imperfect verbal form emphasizes the characteristic nature of the action described.

[18:7]  ¹¹ sn The earth heaved and shook. The imagery pictures an earthquake in which the earth’s surface rises and falls. The earthquake motif is common in OT theophanies of God as warrior and in ancient Near Eastern literary descriptions of warring gods and kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 160-62.

[18:7]  ¹² tn 2 Sam 22:8 has “heavens” which forms a merism with “earth” in the preceding line. The “foundations of the heavens” would be the mountains. However, the reading “foundations of the mountains” has a parallel in Deut 32:22.

[18:7]  ¹³ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the three prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive in the verse.

[68:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “this one of Sinai.” The phrase is a divine title, perhaps indicating that the Lord rules from Sinai.

[68:8]  ¹⁵ sn The language of vv. 7-8 is reminiscent of Judg 5:4-5, which tells how the God of Sinai came in the storm and annihilated the Canaanite forces led by Sisera. The presence of allusion does not mean, however, that this is a purely historical reference. The psalmist is describing God’s typical appearance as a warrior in terms of his prior self-revelation as ancient events are reactualized in the psalmist’s experience. (For a similar literary technique, see Hab 3.)

[21:7]  ¹⁶ tn The active participle draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action.

[21:7]  ¹⁷ tn Traditionally “the Most High’s.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. Note the focus of vv. 8-12 and see Ps 47:2.

[21:7]  ¹⁸ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect verbal form as future, “he will not be upended” (cf. NRSV “he shall not be moved”). Even if one chooses this option, the future tense must be understood in a generalizing sense.

[10:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he says in his heart/mind.”

[10:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for a generation and a generation.” The traditional accentuation of the MT understands these words with the following line.

[10:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “who, not in calamity.” If אֲשֶׁר (’asher) is taken as a relative pronoun here, then one could translate, “[I] who [am] not in calamity.” Some emend אֲשֶׁר to אֹשֶׁר (’osher, “happiness”; see HALOT 99 s.v. אֹשֶׁר); one might then translate, “[I live in] happiness, not in calamity.” The present translation assumes that אֲשֶׁר functions here as a causal conjunction, “because, for.” For this use of אֲשֶׁר, see BDB 83 s.v. אֲשֶׁר 8.c (where the present text is not cited).

[62:2]  ²² tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[62:2]  ²³ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[62:2]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) at the end of the line. It is unusual for this adverb to follow a negated verb. Some see this as qualifying the assertion to some degree, but this would water down the affirmation too much (see v. 6b, where the adverb is omitted). If the adverb has a qualifying function, it would suggest that the psalmist might be upended, though not severely. This is inconsistent with the confident mood of the psalm. The adverb probably has an emphatic force here, “I will not be greatly upended” meaning “I will not be annihilated.”

[62:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[62:6]  ²⁶ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[62:6]  ²⁷ sn The wording is identical to that of v. 2, except that רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) does not appear in v. 6.

[69:23]  ²⁸ tn Heb “may their eyes be darkened from seeing.”

[69:23]  ²⁹ tn Heb “make their hips shake continually.”

[29:9]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form is descriptive in function; the psalmist depicts the action as underway.

[29:9]  ³¹ tc Heb “the deer.” Preserving this reading, some translate the preceding verb, “causes [the deer] to give premature birth” (cf. NEB, NASB). But the Polel of חוּל/חִיל (khul/khil) means “give birth,” not “cause to give birth,” and the statement “the Lord’s shout gives birth to deer” is absurd. In light of the parallelism (note “forests” in the next line) and v. 5, it is preferable to emend אַיָּלוֹת (’ayyalot, “deer”) to אֵילוֹת (’elot, “large trees”) understanding the latter as an alternate form of the usual plural form אַיָּלִים (’ayyalim).

[29:9]  ³² tn The verb is used in Joel 1:7 of locusts stripping the leaves from a tree. The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the descriptive function of the preceding imperfect. See GKC 329 §111.t.

[29:9]  ³³ tn The usual form of the plural of יַעַר (ya’ar, “forest”) is יְעָרִים (yÿ’arim). For this reason some propose an emendation to יְעָלוֹת (yÿ’alot, “female mountain goats”) which would fit nicely in the parallelism with “deer” (cf. NEB “brings kids early to birth”). In this case one would have to understand the verb חָשַׂף (khasaf) to mean “cause premature birth,” an otherwise unattested homonym of the more common חָשַׂף (“strip bare”).

[29:9]  sn The Lord’s thunderous shout is accompanied by high winds which damage the trees of the forest.

[29:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “In his temple, all of it says, ‘Glory.’”

[93:1]  ³⁵ sn Psalm 93. The psalmist affirms that the Lord is the king of the universe who preserves order and suppresses the destructive forces in the world.

[93:1]  ³⁶ sn Strength is compared here to a belt that one wears for support. The Lord’s power undergirds his rule.

[46:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “God [is] within her.” The feminine singular pronoun refers to the city mentioned in v. 4.

[46:5]  ³⁸ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect verbal form as future, “it will not be upended.” Even if one chooses this option, the future tense must be understood in a generalizing sense. The verb מוֹט (mot), translated “upended” here, is used in v. 2 of the mountains “tumbling” into the seas and in v. 6 of nations being “upended.” By way of contrast, Jerusalem, God’s dwelling place, is secure and immune from such turmoil and destruction.

[46:5]  ³⁹ tn Or “helps her.” The imperfect draws attention to the generalizing character of the statement.

[46:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “at the turning of morning.” (For other uses of the expression see Exod 14:27 and Judg 19:26).

[46:5]  sn At the break of dawn. The “morning” is viewed metaphorically as a time of deliverance and vindication after the dark “night” of trouble (see Ps 30:5; Isa 17:14). There may be an allusion here to Exod 14:27 (where the Lord destroyed the Egyptians at the “break of dawn”) or, more likely, to the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian siege, when the people discovered the dead bodies of the Assyrian army in the morning (Isa 37:36).

[77:18]  ⁴¹ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

[77:18]  sn Verses 16-18 depict the Lord coming in the storm to battle his enemies and subdue the sea. There is no record of such a storm in the historical account of the Red Sea crossing. The language the psalmist uses here is stereotypical and originates in Canaanite myth, where the storm god Baal subdues the sea in his quest for kingship. The psalmist has employed the stereotypical imagery to portray the exodus vividly and at the same time affirm that it is not Baal who subdues the sea, but Yahweh.

[46:2]  ⁴² tn The imperfect is taken in a generalizing sense (cf. NEB) because the situation described in vv. 2-3 is understood as symbolizing typical world conditions. In this case the imperfect draws attention to the typical nature of the response. The covenant community characteristically responds with confidence, not fear. Another option is to take the situation described as purely hypothetical. In this case one might translate, “We will not fear, even though the earth should shake” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[46:2]  ⁴³ tn The Hiphil infinitival form is normally taken to mean “when [the earth] is altered,” being derived from מוּר (mur, “to change”). In this case the Hiphil would be intransitive, as in Ps 15:4. HALOT 560 s.v. II מור emends the form to a Niphal and derives it from a homonymic root מוּר attested in Arabic with the meaning “shake.”

[46:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “heart of the seas.” The plural may be used for emphasis, pointing to the deepest sea. Note that the next verse uses a singular pronoun (“its waters,” “its swelling”) in referring back to the plural noun.

[46:3]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “its waters.”

[46:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “roar.”

[46:3]  ⁴⁷ tn The three imperfect verbal forms in v. 3 draw attention to the characteristic nature of the activity described.

[46:3]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “at its swelling.” The Hebrew word often means “pride.” If the sea is symbolic of hostile nations, then this may be a case of double entendre. The surging, swelling sea symbolizes the proud, hostile nations. On the surface the psalmist appears to be depicting a major natural catastrophe, perhaps a tidal wave. If so, then the situation would be hypothetical. However, the repetition of the verbs הָמָה (hamah, “crash; roar,” v. 3) and מוֹט (mot, “shake,” v. 2) in v. 6, where nations/kingdoms “roar” and “shake,” suggests that the language of vv. 2-3 is symbolic and depicts the upheaval that characterizes relationships between the nations of the earth. As some nations (symbolized by the surging, chaotic waters) show hostility, others (symbolized by the mountains) come crashing down to destruction. The surging waters are symbolic of chaotic forces in other poetic texts (see, for example, Isa 17:12; Jer 51:42) and mountains can symbolize strong kingdoms (see, for example, Jer 51:25).

[82:5]  ⁴⁹ sn Having addressed the defendants, God now speaks to those who are observing the trial, referring to the gods in the third person.

[82:5]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “walk.” The Hitpael stem indicates iterative action, picturing these ignorant “judges” as stumbling around in the darkness.

[82:5]  ⁵¹ sn These gods, though responsible for justice, neglect their duty. Their self-imposed ignorance (which the psalmist compares to stumbling around in the dark) results in widespread injustice, which threatens the social order of the world (the meaning of the phrase all the foundations of the earth crumble).