Mazmur 25:17

25:17 Deliver me from my distress; ¹ 

rescue me from my suffering! ² 

Mazmur 72:11

72:11 All kings will bow down to him;

all nations will serve him.

Mazmur 106:35

106:35 They mixed in with the nations

and learned their ways. ³ 

Mazmur 113:6

113:6 He bends down to look ⁴ 

at the sky and the earth.

Mazmur 119:1

Psalm 119 ⁵ 

א (Alef)

119:1 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, ⁶ 

who obey ⁷  the law of the Lord.

[25:17]  ¹ tc Heb “the distresses of my heart, they make wide.” The text makes little if any sense as it stands, unless this is an otherwise unattested intransitive use of the Hiphil of רָחַב (rakhav, “be wide”). It is preferable to emend the form הִרְחִיבוּ (hirkhivu; Hiphil perfect third plural “they make wide”) to הַרְחֵיב (harkhev; Hiphil imperative masculine singular “make wide”). (The final vav [ו] can be joined to the following word and taken as a conjunction.) In this case one can translate, “[in/from] the distresses of my heart, make wide [a place for me],” that is, “deliver me from the distress I am experiencing.” For the expression “make wide [a place for me],” see Ps 4:1.

[25:17]  ² tn Heb “from my distresses lead me out.”

[106:35]  ³ tn Heb “their deeds.”

[113:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “the one who makes low to see.”

[119:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 119. The psalmist celebrates God’s law and the guidance it provides his people. He expresses his desire to know God’s law thoroughly so that he might experience the blessings that come to those who obey it. This lengthy psalm exhibits an elaborate acrostic pattern. The psalm is divided into twenty-two sections (corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet), each of which is comprised of eight verses. Each of the verses in the first section (vv. 1-8) begins with the letter alef (א), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This pattern continues throughout the psalm as each new section highlights a successive letter of the alphabet. Each verse in section two (vv. 9-16) begins with the second letter of the alphabet, each verse in section three (vv. 17-24) with the third letter, etc. This rigid pattern creates a sense of order and completeness and may have facilitated memorization.

[119:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”

[119:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “walk in.”