Mazmur 21:3

21:3 For you bring him ¹  rich ²  blessings; ³ 

you place a golden crown on his head.

Mazmur 45:16

45:16 Your ⁴  sons will carry ⁵  on the dynasty of your ancestors; ⁶ 

you will make them princes throughout the land.

Mazmur 50:14

50:14 Present to God a thank-offering!

Repay your vows to the sovereign One! ⁷ 

Mazmur 72:3

72:3 The mountains will bring news of peace to the people,

and the hills will announce justice. ⁸ 

Mazmur 73:20

73:20 They are like a dream after one wakes up. ⁹ 

O Lord, when you awake ¹⁰  you will despise them. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 115:14

115:14 May he increase your numbers,

yours and your children’s! ¹² 

Mazmur 137:9

137:9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies

and smashes them on a rock! ¹³ 

[21:3]  ¹ tn Or “meet him [with].”

[21:3]  ² tn Heb “good.”

[21:3]  ³ sn You bring him rich blessings. The following context indicates that God’s “blessings” include deliverance/protection, vindication, sustained life, and a long, stable reign (see also Pss 3:8; 24:5).

[45:16]  ⁴ tn The pronoun is second masculine singular, indicating the king is being addressed from this point to the end of the psalm.

[45:16]  ⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive and the statement interpreted as a prayer, “May your sons carry on the dynasty of your ancestors!” The next line could then be taken as a relative clause, “[your sons] whom you will make princes throughout the land.”

[45:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “in place of your fathers will be your sons.”

[50:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.

[72:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “[the] mountains will bear peace to the people, and [the] hills with justice.” The personified mountains and hills probably represent messengers who will sweep over the land announcing the king’s just decrees and policies. See Isa 52:7 and C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 2:133.

[73:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “like a dream from awakening.” They lack any real substance; their prosperity will last for only a brief time.

[73:20]  ¹⁰ sn When you awake. The psalmist compares God’s inactivity to sleep and the time of God’s judgment to his awakening from sleep.

[73:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you will despise their form.” The Hebrew term צֶלֶם (tselem, “form; image”) also suggests their short-lived nature. Rather than having real substance, they are like the mere images that populate one’s dreams. Note the similar use of the term in Ps 39:6.

[115:14]  ¹² tn Heb “may he add to you, to you and your sons.” The prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating this is a prayer.

[137:9]  ¹³ sn For other references to the wholesale slaughter of babies in the context of ancient Near Eastern warfare, see 2 Kgs 8:12; Isa 13:16; Hos 13:16; Nah 3:10.