Mazmur 34:20

34:20 He protects ¹  all his bones; ² 

not one of them is broken. ³ 

Mazmur 38:7

38:7 For I am overcome with shame ⁴ 

and my whole body is sick. ⁵ 

Mazmur 50:17

50:17 For you hate instruction

and reject my words. ⁶ 

Mazmur 66:18

66:18 If I had harbored sin in my heart, ⁷ 

the Lord would not have listened.

Mazmur 78:64

78:64 Their ⁸  priests fell by the sword,

but their ⁹  widows did not weep. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 82:4

82:4 Rescue the poor and needy!

Deliver them from the power ¹¹  of the wicked!

Mazmur 106:11

106:11 The water covered their enemies;

not even one of them survived. ¹² 

Mazmur 106:25

106:25 They grumbled in their tents; ¹³ 

they did not obey ¹⁴  the Lord.

Mazmur 106:35

106:35 They mixed in with the nations

and learned their ways. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 116:11

116:11 I rashly declared, ¹⁶ 

“All men are liars.”

Mazmur 118:17

118:17 I will not die, but live,

and I will proclaim what the Lord has done. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 119:6

119:6 Then I would not be ashamed,

if ¹⁸  I were focused on ¹⁹  all your commands.

Mazmur 119:46

119:46 I will speak ²⁰  about your regulations before kings

and not be ashamed.

Mazmur 121:4

121:4 Look! Israel’s protector ²¹ 

does not sleep or slumber!

Mazmur 121:6

121:6 The sun will not harm you by day,

or the moon by night. ²² 

Mazmur 129:7

129:7 which cannot fill the reaper’s hand,

or the lap of the one who gathers the grain!

Mazmur 132:3

132:3 He said, ²³  “I will not enter my own home, ²⁴ 

or get into my bed. ²⁵ 

Mazmur 135:17

135:17 and ears, but cannot hear.

Indeed, they cannot breathe. ²⁶ 

Mazmur 146:3

146:3 Do not trust in princes,

or in human beings, who cannot deliver! ²⁷ 

[34:20]  ¹ tn The Hebrew participial form suggests such protection is characteristic.

[34:20]  ² tn That is, he protects the godly from physical harm.

[34:20]  ³ sn Not one of them is broken. The author of the Gospel of John saw a fulfillment of these words in Jesus’ experience on the cross (see John 19:31-37), for the Roman soldiers, when they saw that Jesus was already dead, did not break his legs as was customarily done to speed the death of crucified individuals. John’s use of the psalm seems strange, for the statement in its original context suggests that the Lord protects the godly from physical harm. Jesus’ legs may have remained unbroken, but he was brutally and unjustly executed by his enemies. John seems to give the statement a literal sense that is foreign to its original literary context by applying a promise of divine protection to a man who was seemingly not saved by God. However, John saw in this incident a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ultimate deliverance and vindication. His unbroken bones were a reminder of God’s commitment to the godly and a sign of things to come. Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of the story; God vindicated him, as John goes on to explain in the following context (John 19:38-20:18).

[38:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “for my loins are filled with shame.” The “loins” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. The present translation assumes that נִקְלֶה (niqleh) is derived from קָלָה (qalah, “be dishonored”). Some derive it instead from a homonymic root קָלָה (qalah), meaning “to roast.” In this case one might translate “fever” (cf. NEB “my loins burn with fever”).

[38:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).

[50:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “and throw my words behind you.”

[66:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “sin if I had seen in my heart.”

[78:64]  ⁸ tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

[78:64]  ⁹ tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

[78:64]  ¹⁰ sn Because of the invading army and the ensuing panic, the priests’ widows had no time to carry out the normal mourning rites.

[82:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “hand.”

[106:11]  ¹² tn Heb “remained.”

[106:25]  ¹³ sn They grumbled in their tents. See Deut 1:27.

[106:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “did not listen to the voice of.”

[106:35]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “their deeds.”

[116:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I said in my haste.”

[118:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the works of the Lord.”

[119:6]  ¹⁸ tn Or “when.”

[119:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I gaze at.”

[119:46]  ²⁰ tn The series of four cohortatives with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive in vv. 46-48 list further consequences of the anticipated positive divine response to the request made in v. 43.

[121:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “the one who guards Israel.”

[121:6]  ²² sn One hardly thinks of the moon’s rays as being physically harmful, like those of the sun. The reference to the moon may simply lend poetic balance to the verse, but it is likely that the verse reflects an ancient, primitive belief that the moon could have an adverse effect on the mind (note the English expression “moonstruck,” which reflects such a belief). Another possibility is that the sun and moon stand by metonymy for harmful forces characteristic of the day and night, respectively.

[132:3]  ²³ tn The words “he said” are supplied in the translation to clarify that what follows is David’s vow.

[132:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the tent of my house.”

[132:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “go up upon the bed of my couch.”

[135:17]  ²⁶ tn Heb “indeed, there is not breath in their mouth.” For the collocation אַף אֵין (’af ’en, “indeed, there is not”) see Isa 41:26. Another option is to take אַף as “nose” (see Ps 115:6), in which case one might translate, “a nose, [but] they have no breath in their mouths.”

[146:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in a son of man, to whom there is no deliverance.”