Mazmur 35:18

35:18 Then I will give you thanks in the great assembly; ¹ 

I will praise you before a large crowd of people! ² 

Mazmur 145:7

145:7 They will talk about the fame of your great kindness, ³ 

and sing about your justice. ⁴ 

Mazmur 18:14

18:14 He shot his ⁵  arrows and scattered them, ⁶ 

many lightning bolts ⁷  and routed them. ⁸ 

Mazmur 19:11

19:11 Yes, your servant finds moral guidance there; ⁹ 

those who obey them receive a rich reward. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 25:11

25:11 For the sake of your reputation, ¹¹  O Lord,

forgive my sin, because it is great. ¹² 

Mazmur 37:11

37:11 But the oppressed will possess the land

and enjoy great prosperity. ¹³ 

Mazmur 68:11

68:11 The Lord speaks; ¹⁴ 

many, many women spread the good news. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 119:162

119:162 I rejoice in your instructions,

like one who finds much plunder. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 119:165

119:165 Those who love your law are completely secure; ¹⁷ 

nothing causes them to stumble. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 123:3

123:3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!

For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 19:10

19:10 They are of greater value ²⁰  than gold,

than even a great amount of pure gold;

they bring greater delight ²¹  than honey,

than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb.

Mazmur 22:25

22:25 You are the reason I offer praise ²²  in the great assembly;

I will fulfill my promises before the Lord’s loyal followers. ²³ 

Mazmur 40:9

40:9 I have told the great assembly ²⁴  about your justice. ²⁵ 

Look! I spare no words! ²⁶ 

O Lord, you know this is true.

Mazmur 19:13

19:13 Moreover, keep me from committing flagrant ²⁷  sins;

do not allow such sins to control me. ²⁸ 

Then I will be blameless,

and innocent of blatant ²⁹  rebellion.

Mazmur 31:19

31:19 How great is your favor, ³⁰ 

which you store up for your loyal followers! ³¹ 

In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter ³²  in you. ³³ 

Mazmur 40:10

40:10 I have not failed to tell about your justice; ³⁴ 

I spoke about your reliability and deliverance;

I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness. ³⁵ 

Mazmur 48:2

48:2 It is lofty and pleasing to look at, ³⁶ 

a source of joy to the whole earth. ³⁷ 

Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon; ³⁸ 

it is the city of the great king.

Mazmur 106:7

106:7 Our ancestors in Egypt failed to appreciate your miraculous deeds,

they failed to remember your many acts of loyal love,

and they rebelled at the sea, by the Red Sea. ³⁹ 

[35:18]  ¹ sn The great assembly is also mentioned in Ps 22:25.

[35:18]  ² tn Heb “among numerous people.”

[145:7]  ³ tn Heb “the fame of the greatness of your goodness.”

[145:7]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 7 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may they talk…and sing.”

[18:14]  ⁵ tn 2 Sam 22:15 omits the pronominal suffix (“his”).

[18:14]  ⁶ tn The pronominal suffixes on the verbs “scattered” and “routed” (see the next line) refer to the psalmist’s enemies. Some argue that the suffixes refer to the arrows, in which case one might translate “shot them far and wide” and “made them move noisily,” respectively. They argue that the enemies have not been mentioned since v. 4 and are not again mentioned until v. 17. However, usage of the verbs פוּץ (puts, “scatter”) and הָמַם (hamam, “rout”) elsewhere in Holy War accounts suggests the suffixes refer to enemies. Enemies are frequently pictured in such texts as scattered and/or routed (see Exod 14:24; 23:27; Num 10:35; Josh 10:10; Judg 4:15; 1 Sam 7:10; 11:11; Ps 68:1).

[18:14]  ⁷ sn Lightning is a common motif in in OT theophanies and in ancient Near Eastern portrayals of the storm god and warring kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 190-92.

[18:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “lightning bolts, many.” 2 Sam 22:15 has simply “lightning” (בָּרָק, baraq). The identity of the word רָב (rav) in Ps 18:14 is problematic. (1) It may be a form of a rare verb רָבַב (ravav, “to shoot”), perhaps attested in Gen 49:23 as well. In this case one might translate, “he shot lightning bolts and routed them.” Other options include (2) understanding רָב (rav) as an adverbial use of the adjective, “lightning bolts in abundance,” or (3) emending the form to רַבּוּ (rabbu), from רָבַב (ravav, “be many”) or to רָבוּ (ravu), from רָבָה (ravah, “be many”) – both a haplography of the vav (ו); note the initial vav on the immediately following form – and translating “lightning bolts were in abundance.”

[18:14]  sn Arrows and lightning bolts are associated in other texts (see Pss 77:17-18; 144:6; Zech 9:14), as well as in ancient Near Eastern art (see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” [Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983], 187).

[19:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “moreover your servant is warned by them.”

[19:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the keeping of them [there is] a great reward.”

[25:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “name.” By forgiving the sinful psalmist, the Lord’s reputation as a merciful God will be enhanced.

[25:11]  ¹² sn Forgive my sin, because it is great. The psalmist readily admits his desperate need for forgiveness.

[37:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they will take delight in (see v. 4) abundance of peace.”

[68:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “gives a word.” Perhaps this refers to a divine royal decree or battle cry.

[68:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the ones spreading the good news [are] a large army.” The participle translated “the ones spreading the good news” is a feminine plural form. Apparently the good news here is the announcement that enemy kings have been defeated (see v. 12).

[119:162]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “like one who finds great plunder.” See Judg 5:30. The image is that of a victorious warrior who finds a large amount of plunder on the field of battle.

[119:165]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “great peace [is] to the lovers of your law.”

[119:165]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and there is no stumbling to them.”

[123:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for greatly we are filled [with] humiliation.”

[19:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “more desirable.”

[19:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “are sweeter.” God’s law is “sweet’ in the sense that, when obeyed, it brings a great reward (see v. 11b).

[22:25]  ²² tn Heb “from with you [is] my praise.”

[22:25]  ²³ tn Heb “my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him.” When asking the Lord for help, the psalmists would typically promise to praise the Lord publicly if he intervened and delivered them.

[40:9]  ²⁴ sn The great assembly is also mentioned in Pss 22:25 and 35:18.

[40:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I proclaim justice in the great assembly.” Though “justice” appears without a pronoun here, the Lord’s just acts are in view (see v. 10). His “justice” (צֶדֶק, tsedeq) is here the deliverance that originates in his justice; he protects and vindicates the one whose cause is just.

[40:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Look! My lips I do not restrain.”

[19:13]  ²⁷ tn Or “presumptuous.”

[19:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “let them not rule over me.”

[19:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “great.”

[31:19]  ³⁰ tn Or “How abundant are your blessings!”

[31:19]  ³¹ tn Heb “for those who fear you.”

[31:19]  ³² tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 34:21-22).

[31:19]  ³³ tn Heb “you work [your favor] for the ones seeking shelter in you before the sons of men.”

[40:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “your justice I have not hidden in the midst of my heart.”

[40:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “I have not hidden your loyal love and reliability.”

[48:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “beautiful of height.” The Hebrew term נוֹף (nof, “height”) is a genitive of specification after the qualitative noun “beautiful.” The idea seems to be that Mount Zion, because of its lofty appearance, is pleasing to the sight.

[48:2]  ³⁷ sn A source of joy to the whole earth. The language is hyperbolic. Zion, as the dwelling place of the universal king, is pictured as the world’s capital. The prophets anticipated this idealized picture becoming a reality in the eschaton (see Isa 2:1-4).

[48:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Mount Zion, the peaks of Zaphon.” Like all the preceding phrases in v. 2, both phrases are appositional to “city of our God, his holy hill” in v. 1, suggesting an identification in the poet’s mind between Mount Zion and Zaphon. “Zaphon” usually refers to the “north” in a general sense (see Pss 89:12; 107:3), but here, where it is collocated with “peaks,” it refers specifically to Mount Zaphon, located in the vicinity of ancient Ugarit and viewed as the mountain where the gods assembled (see Isa 14:13). By alluding to West Semitic mythology in this way, the psalm affirms that Mount Zion is the real divine mountain, for it is here that the Lord God of Israel lives and rules over the nations. See P. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 353, and T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 103.

[106:7]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Reed Sea” (also in vv. 9, 22). “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See the note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.

[106:7]  sn They rebelled. The psalmist recalls the people’s complaint recorded in Exod 14:12.