Mazmur 2:6

2:6 “I myself ¹  have installed ²  my king

on Zion, my holy hill.”

Mazmur 25:20

25:20 Protect me ³  and deliver me!

Please do not let me be humiliated,

for I have taken shelter in you!

Mazmur 62:11

62:11 God has declared one principle;

two principles I have heard: ⁴ 

God is strong, ⁵ 

Mazmur 75:2

75:2 God says, ⁶ 

“At the appointed times, ⁷ 

I judge ⁸  fairly.

Mazmur 87:7

87:7 As for the singers, as well as the pipers –

all of them sing within your walls. ⁹ 

Mazmur 89:26

89:26 He will call out to me,

‘You are my father, ¹⁰  my God, and the protector who delivers me.’ ¹¹ 

Mazmur 90:3

90:3 You make mankind return ¹²  to the dust, ¹³ 

and say, “Return, O people!”

Mazmur 94:4

94:4 They spew out threats ¹⁴  and speak defiantly;

all the evildoers boast. ¹⁵ 

[2:6]  ¹ tn The first person pronoun appears before the first person verbal form for emphasis, reflected in the translation by “myself.”

[2:6]  ² tn Or perhaps “consecrated.”

[25:20]  ³ tn Or “my life.”

[62:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “one God spoke, two which I heard.” This is a numerical saying utilizing the “x” followed by “x + 1” pattern to facilitate poetic parallelism. (See W. M. W. Roth, Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament [VTSup], 55-56.) As is typical in such sayings, a list corresponding to the second number (in this case “two”) follows. Another option is to translate, “God has spoken once, twice [he has spoken] that which I have heard.” The terms אַחַת (’akhat, “one; once”) and שְׁתַּיִם (shÿtayim, “two; twice”) are also juxtaposed in 2 Kgs 6:10 (where they refer to an action that was done more than “once or twice”) and in Job 33:14 (where they refer to God speaking “one way” and then in “another manner”).

[62:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “that strength [belongs] to God.”

[75:2]  ⁶ tn The words “God says” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify that God speaks in vv. 2-3.

[75:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “when I take an appointed time.”

[75:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “I, [in] fairness, I judge.” The statement is understood in a generalizing sense; God typically executes fair judgment as he governs the world. One could take this as referring to an anticipated (future) judgment, “I will judge.”

[87:7]  ⁹ tc Heb “and singers, like pipers, all my springs [are] in you.” The participial form חֹלְלִים (kholÿlim) appears to be from a denominative verb meaning “play the pipe,” though some derive the form from חוּל (khul, “dance”). In this case the duplicated lamed (ל) requires an emendation to מְחֹלְלִים (mÿkholÿlim, “a Polel form). The words are addressed to Zion. As it stands, the Hebrew text makes little, if any, sense. “Springs” are often taken here as a symbol of divine blessing and life”), but this reading does not relate to the preceding line in any apparent way. The present translation assumes an emendation of כָּל־מַעְיָנַי (kol-ma’yanay, “all my springs”) to כֻּלָּם עָנוּ (kullam ’anu, “all of them sing,” with the form עָנוּ being derived from עָנָה, ’anah, “sing”).

[89:26]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the rocky summit of my deliverance.”

[90:3]  ¹² tn In this context the shortened prefix form does not function as a preterite, but indicates what is typical of the world.

[90:3]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term דַּכָּא (daka’) carries the basic sense of “crushed.” Elsewhere it refers to those who are “crushed” in spirit or contrite of heart (see Ps 34:18; Isa 57:15). If one understands this nuance here, then v. 3 is observing that God leads mankind to repentance (the term שׁוּב, shuv, “return,” which appears twice in this verse, is sometimes used of repentance.) However, the following context laments mankind’s mortality and the brevity of life, so it is doubtful if v. 3 should be understood so positively. It is more likely that דַּכָּא here refers to “crushed matter,” that is, the dust that fills the grave (see HALOT 221 s.v. s.v. I דַּכָּא; BDB 194 s.v. דַּכָּא). In this case one may hear an echo of Gen 3:19.

[94:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they gush forth [words].”

[94:4]  ¹⁵ tn The Hitpael of אָמַר (’amar) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6).