Mazmur 34:11

34:11 Come children! Listen to me!

I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord. ¹ 

Mazmur 73:10

73:10 Therefore they have more than enough food to eat,

and even suck up the water of the sea. ² 

Mazmur 101:4

101:4 I will have nothing to do with a perverse person; ³ 

I will not permit ⁴  evil.

Mazmur 119:38

119:38 Confirm to your servant your promise, ⁵ 

which you made to the one who honors you. ⁶ 

Mazmur 119:63

119:63 I am a friend to all your loyal followers, ⁷ 

and to those who keep your precepts.

Mazmur 135:20

135:20 O family of Levi, praise the Lord!

You loyal followers ⁸  of the Lord, praise the Lord!

[34:11]  ¹ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord I will teach you.” In vv. 13-14 the psalmist explains to his audience what it means to “fear” the Lord.

[73:10]  ² tc Heb “therefore his people return [so Qere (marginal reading); Kethib (consonantal text) has “he brings back”] to here, and waters of abundance are sucked up by them.” The traditional Hebrew text (MT) defies explanation. The present translation reflects M. Dahood’s proposed emendations (Psalms [AB], 2:190) and reads the Hebrew text as follows: לָכֵן יִשְׂבְעוּם לֶחֶם וּמֵי מָלֵא יָמֹצּוּ לָמוֹ (“therefore they are filled with food, and waters of abundance they suck up for themselves”). The reading יִשְׂבְעוּם לֶחֶם (yisvÿ’um lekhem, “they are filled with food”) assumes (1) an emendation of יָשׁיּב עַמּוֹ (yashyyv, “he will bring back his people”) to יִשְׂבְעוּם (yisvÿ’um, “they will be filled”; a Qal imperfect third masculine plural form from שָׂבַע [sava’] with enclitic mem [ם]), and (2) an emendation of הֲלֹם (halom, “to here”) to לֶחֶם (“food”). The expression “be filled/fill with food” appears elsewhere at least ten times (see Ps 132:15, for example). In the second line the Niphal form יִמָּצוּ (yimmatsu, derived from מָצָה, matsah, “drain”) is emended to a Qal form יָמֹצּוּ (yamotsu), derived from מָצַץ (matsats, “to suck”). In Isa 66:11 the verbs שָׂבַע (sava’; proposed in Ps 73:10a) and מָצַץ (proposed in Ps 73:10b) are parallel. The point of the emended text is this: Because they are seemingly sovereign (v. 9), they become greedy and grab up everything they need and more.

[101:4]  ³ tn Heb “a perverse heart will turn aside from me.” The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse (see Ps 18:26). It appears frequently in the Book of Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20), and life styles (2:15; 28:6).

[101:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “know.” The king will not willingly allow perverse individuals to remain in his royal court.

[119:38]  ⁵ tn Heb “word.”

[119:38]  ⁶ tn Heb “which [is] for your fear,” that is, the promise made to those who exhibit fear of God.

[119:63]  ⁷ tn Heb “to all who fear you.”

[135:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “fearers.”