Mazmur 31:18

31:18 May lying lips be silenced –

lips ¹  that speak defiantly against the innocent ² 

with arrogance and contempt!

Mazmur 58:8

58:8 Let them be ³  like a snail that melts away as it moves along! ⁴ 

Let them be like ⁵  stillborn babies ⁶  that never see the sun!

Mazmur 63:7

63:7 For you are my deliverer; ⁷ 

under your wings ⁸  I rejoice.

Mazmur 79:2

79:2 They have given the corpses of your servants

to the birds of the sky; ⁹ 

the flesh of your loyal followers

to the beasts of the earth.

Mazmur 84:6

84:6 As they pass through the Baca Valley, ¹⁰ 

he provides a spring for them. ¹¹ 

The rain ¹²  even covers it with pools of water. ¹³ 

Mazmur 104:29

104:29 When you ignore them, they panic. ¹⁴ 

When you take away their life’s breath, they die

and return to dust.

[31:18]  ¹ tn Heb “the [ones which].”

[31:18]  ² tn Or “godly.”

[58:8]  ³ tn There is no “to be” verb in the Hebrew text at this point, but a jussive tone can be assumed based on vv. 6-7.

[58:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “like a melting snail [that] moves along.” A. Cohen (Psalms [SoBB], 184) explains that the text here alludes “to the popular belief that the slimy trail which the snail leaves in its track is the dissolution of its substance.”

[58:8]  ⁵ tn The words “let them be like” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The jussive mood is implied from the preceding context, and “like” is understood by ellipsis (see the previous line).

[58:8]  ⁶ tn This rare word also appears in Job 3:16 and Eccles 6:3.

[63:7]  ⁷ tn Or “[source of] help.”

[63:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the shadow of your wings.”

[79:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”

[84:6]  ¹⁰ tn The translation assumes that the Hebrew phrase עֵמֶק הַבָּכָא (’emeq habbakha’) is the name of an otherwise unknown arid valley through which pilgrims to Jerusalem passed. The term בָּכָא (bakha’) may be the name of a particular type of plant or shrub that grew in this valley. O. Borowski (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 130) suggests it is the black mulberry. Some take the phrase as purely metaphorical and relate בָּכָא to the root בָּכָה (bakhah, “to weep”). In this case one might translate, “the valley of weeping” or “the valley of affliction.”

[84:6]  ¹¹ tc The MT reads “a spring they make it,” but this makes little sense. Many medieval Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX, understand God to be the subject and the valley to be the object, “he [God] makes it [the valley] [into] a spring.”

[84:6]  ¹² tn This rare word may refer to the early (or autumn) rains (see Joel 2:23).

[84:6]  ¹³ tc The MT reads בְּרָכוֹת (bÿrakhot, “blessings”) but the preceding reference to a “spring” favors an emendation to בְּרֵכוֹת (bÿrekhot, “pools”).

[84:6]  sn Pools of water. Because water is so necessary for life, it makes an apt symbol for divine favor and blessing. As the pilgrims traveled to Jerusalem, God provided for their physical needs and gave them a token of his favor and of the blessings awaiting them at the temple.

[104:29]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”