Mazmur 3:1

Psalm 3 ¹ 

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. ² 

3:1 Lord, how ³  numerous are my enemies!

Many attack me. ⁴ 

Mazmur 8:1

Psalm 8 ⁵ 

For the music director, according to the gittith style; ⁶  a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord, ⁷ 

how magnificent ⁸  is your reputation ⁹  throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 66:3

66:3 Say to God:

“How awesome are your deeds!

Because of your great power your enemies cower in fear ¹¹  before you.

[3:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).

[3:1]  ² sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).

[3:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “many rise up against me.”

[8:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.

[8:1]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

[8:1]  ⁷ tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

[8:1]  ⁸ tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

[8:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[8:1]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.

[66:3]  ¹¹ tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 81:15 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “be weak, powerless” (see also Ps 109:24).