Mazmur 5:11

5:11 But may all who take shelter ¹  in you be happy! ² 

May they continually ³  shout for joy! ⁴ 

Shelter them ⁵  so that those who are loyal to you ⁶  may rejoice! ⁷ 

Mazmur 70:4

70:4 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you!

May those who love to experience ⁸  your deliverance say continually, ⁹ 

“May God ¹⁰  be praised!” ¹¹ 

Mazmur 119:105

נ (Nun)

119:105 Your word ¹²  is a lamp to walk by,

and a light to illumine my path. ¹³ 

[5:11]  ¹ sn Take shelter. “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 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[5:11]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive of wish or prayer. The psalmist calls on God to reward his faithful followers.

[5:11]  ³ tn Or perhaps more hyperbolically, “forever.”

[5:11]  ⁴ tn As in the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form is a jussive of wish or prayer.

[5:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “put a cover over them.” The verb form is a Hiphil imperfect from סָכַךְ (sakhakh, “cover, shut off”). The imperfect expresses the psalmist’s wish or request.

[5:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “the lovers of your name.” The phrase refers to those who are loyal to the Lord. See Pss 69:36; 119:132; Isa 56:6.

[5:11]  ⁷ tn The vav (ו) with prefixed verbal form following the volitional “shelter them” indicates purpose or result (“so that those…may rejoice).

[70:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “those who love,” which stands metonymically for its cause, the experience of being delivered by God.

[70:4]  ⁹ tn The three prefixed verbal forms prior to the quotation are understood as jussives. The psalmist balances out his imprecation against his enemies with a prayer of blessing on the godly.

[70:4]  ¹⁰ tn Ps 40:16 uses the divine name “Lord” here instead of “God.”

[70:4]  ¹¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the Lord be magnified [in praise].” Another option is to take the verb as an imperfect, “the Lord is great.” See Ps 35:27.

[119:105]  ¹² tn Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural (“words”).

[119:105]  ¹³ tn Heb “[is] a lamp for my foot and a light for my path.”