Mazmur 3:2

3:2 Many say about me,

“God will not deliver him.” ¹  (Selah) ² 

Mazmur 10:7

10:7 His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words; ³ 

his tongue injures and destroys. ⁴ 

Mazmur 16:3

16:3 As for God’s chosen people who are in the land,

and the leading officials I admired so much ⁵  –

Mazmur 18:5

18:5 The ropes of Sheol tightened around me, ⁶ 

the snares of death trapped me. ⁷ 

Mazmur 18:22

18:22 For I am aware of all his regulations, ⁸ 

and I do not reject his rules. ⁹ 

Mazmur 22:11

22:11 Do not remain far away from me,

for trouble is near and I have no one to help me. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 72:7

72:7 During his days the godly will flourish; ¹¹ 

peace will prevail as long as the moon remains in the sky. ¹² 

Mazmur 76:2

76:2 He lives in Salem; ¹³ 

he dwells in Zion. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 88:18

88:18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance; ¹⁵ 

those who know me leave me alone in the darkness. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 89:36-37

89:36 His dynasty will last forever. ¹⁷ 

His throne will endure before me, like the sun, ¹⁸ 

89:37 it will remain stable, like the moon, ¹⁹ 

his throne will endure like the skies.” ²⁰  (Selah)

Mazmur 107:4

107:4 They wandered through the wilderness on a desert road;

they found no city in which to live.

Mazmur 107:10

107:10 They sat in utter darkness, ²¹ 

bound in painful iron chains, ²² 

Mazmur 107:17

107:17 They acted like fools in their rebellious ways, ²³ 

and suffered because of their sins.

Mazmur 109:11

109:11 May the creditor seize ²⁴  all he owns!

May strangers loot his property! ²⁵ 

Mazmur 110:5

110:5 O sovereign Lord, ²⁶  at your right hand

he strikes down ²⁷  kings in the day he unleashes his anger. ²⁸ 

Mazmur 115:5

115:5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,

eyes, but cannot see,

Mazmur 119:165

119:165 Those who love your law are completely secure; ²⁹ 

nothing causes them to stumble. ³⁰ 

Mazmur 139:24

139:24 See if there is any idolatrous tendency ³¹  in me,

and lead me in the reliable ancient path! ³² 

[3:2]  ¹ tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”

[3:2]  ² sn The function of the Hebrew term סֶלָה (selah), transliterated here “Selah,” is uncertain. It may be a musical direction of some kind.

[10:7]  ³ tn Heb “[with] a curse his mouth is full, and lies and injury.”

[10:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “under his tongue are destruction and wickedness.” The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 90:10. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10.

[16:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “regarding the holy ones who [are] in the land, they; and the mighty [ones] in [whom is/was] all my desire.” The difficult syntax makes the meaning of the verse uncertain. The phrase “holy ones” sometimes refers to God’s angelic assembly (see Ps 89:5, 7), but the qualifying clause “who are in the land” suggests that here it refers to God’s people (Ps 34:9) or to their priestly leaders (2 Chr 35:3).

[18:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “surrounded me.”

[18:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “confronted me.”

[18:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “for all his regulations [are] before me.” The Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim, “regulations”) refers to God’s covenantal requirements, especially those which the king is responsible to follow (cf. Deut 17:18-20). See also Pss 19:9 (cf. vv. 7-8); 89:30; 147:20 (cf. v. 19), as well as the numerous uses of the term in Ps 119.

[18:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “and his rules I do not turn aside from me.” 2 Sam 22:23 reads, “and his rules, I do not turn aside from it.” The prefixed verbal form is probably an imperfect; the psalmist here generalizes about his loyalty to God’s commands. The Lord’s “rules” are the stipulations of the covenant which the king was responsible to obey (see Ps 89:31; cf. v. 30 and Deut 17:18-20).

[22:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and there is no helper.”

[72:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “sprout up,” like crops. This verse continues the metaphor of rain utilized in v. 6.

[72:7]  ¹² tn Heb “and [there will be an] abundance of peace until there is no more moon.”

[76:2]  ¹³ sn Salem is a shorter name for Jerusalem (see Gen 14:18).

[76:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and his place of refuge is in Salem, and his lair in Zion.” God may be likened here to a lion (see v. 4).

[88:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you cause to be far from me friend and neighbor.”

[88:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “those known by me, darkness.”

[89:36]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “his offspring forever will be.”

[89:36]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and his throne like the sun before me.”

[89:37]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “like the moon it will be established forever.”

[89:37]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and a witness in the sky, secure.” Scholars have offered a variety of opinions as to the identity of the “witness” referred to here, none of which is very convincing. It is preferable to join וְעֵד (vÿ’ed) to עוֹלָם (’olam) in the preceding line and translate the commonly attested phrase עוֹלָם וְעֵד (“forever”). In this case one may translate the second line, “[it] will be secure like the skies.” Another option (the one reflected in the present translation) is to take עד as a rare noun meaning “throne” or “dais.” This noun is attested in Ugaritic; see, for example, CTA 16 vi 22-23, where ksi (= כִּסֵּא, kisse’, “throne”) and ’d (= עד, “dais”) appear as synonyms in the poetic parallelism (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 91). Emending בַּשַּׁחַק (bashakhaq, “in the heavens”) to כַּשַׁחַק (kashakhaq, “like the heavens”) – bet/kaf (כ/ב) confusion is widely attested – one can then read “[his] throne like the heavens [is] firm/stable.” Verse 29 refers to the enduring nature of the heavens, while Job 37:18 speaks of God spreading out the heavens (שְׁחָקִים, shÿkhaqim) and compares their strength to a bronze mirror. Ps 89:29 uses the term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim, “skies”) which frequently appears in parallelism to שְׁחָקִים.

[107:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “those who sat in darkness and deep darkness.” Synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of “darkness” experienced by the exiles. The Hebrew term צַלְמָוֶת (tsalmavet, “deep darkness”) has traditionally been understood as a compound noun, meaning “shadow of death” (צֵל + מָוֶת [tsel + mavet]; see BDB 853 s.v. צַלְמָוֶת; cf. NASB). Other authorities prefer to vocalize the form צַלְמוּת (tsalmut) and understand it as an abstract noun (from the root צלם) meaning “darkness.” An examination of the word’s usage favors the latter derivation. It is frequently associated with darkness/night and contrasted with light/morning (see Job 3:5; 10:21-22; 12:22; 24:17; 28:3; 34:22; Ps 107:10, 14; Isa 9:1; Jer 13:16; Amos 5:8). In some cases the darkness described is associated with the realm of death (Job 10:21-22; 38:17), but this is a metaphorical application of the word and does not reflect its inherent meaning. In Ps 107:10 the word refers metonymically to a dungeon, which in turn metaphorically depicts the place of Israel’s exile (see vv. 2-3).

[107:10]  ²² tn Heb “those bound in suffering and iron.” “Suffering and iron” is a hendiadys (like English “good and angry”), where both words contribute to one idea. In this case the first word characterizes the second; the iron (chains) contribute to the prisoners’ pain and suffering.

[107:17]  ²³ tn Heb “fools [they were] because of the way of their rebellion.”

[109:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “lay snares for” (see Ps 38:12).

[109:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the product of his labor.”

[110:5]  ²⁶ tn As pointed in the Hebrew text, this title refers to God (many medieval Hebrew mss read יְהוָה, yehveh, “Lord” here). The present translation assumes that the psalmist here addresses the Lord as he celebrates what the king is able to accomplish while positioned at God’s “right hand.” According to this view the king is the subject of the third person verb forms in vv. 5b-7. (2) Another option is to understand the king as the addressee (as in vv. 2-3). In this case “the Lord” is the subject of the third person verbs throughout vv. 5-7 and is depicted as a warrior in a very anthropomorphic manner. In this case the Lord is pictured as being at the psalmist’s right hand (just the opposite of v. 1). See Pss 16:8; 121:5. (3) A third option is to revocalize אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”) as אֲדֹנִי (’adoniy, “my lord”; see v. 1). In this case one may translate, “My lord, at his [God’s] right hand, strikes down.” In this case the king is the subject of the third person verbs in vv. 5b-7.

[110:5]  ²⁷ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 5-6 are understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing. Another option is to take them as rhetorical. In this case the psalmist describes anticipated events as if they had already taken place.

[110:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in the day of his anger.”

[119:165]  ²⁹ tn Heb “great peace [is] to the lovers of your law.”

[119:165]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and there is no stumbling to them.”

[139:24]  ³¹ tn Many understand the Hebrew term עֹצֶב (’otsev) as a noun meaning “pain,” and translate the phrase דֶּרֶךְ עֹצֶב (derekh ’otsev) as “of pain,” but this makes little sense here. (Some interpret it to refer to actions which bring pain to others.) It is preferable to take עֹצֶב as “idol” (see HALOT 865 s.v. I עֹצֶב) and understand “way of an idol” to refer to idolatrous actions or tendency. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.

[139:24]  ³² tn Heb “in the path of antiquity.” This probably refers to the moral path prescribed by the Lord at the beginning of Israel’s history. See Jer 6:16; 18:15, as well as L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.