Mazmur 50:13

50:13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls?

Do I drink the blood of goats? ¹ 

Mazmur 147:8

147:8 He covers ²  the sky with clouds,

provides the earth with rain,

and causes grass to grow on the hillsides. ³ 

Mazmur 23:1

Psalm 23 ⁴ 

A psalm of David.

23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, ⁵ 

I lack nothing. ⁶ 

Mazmur 50:9

50:9 I do not need to take ⁷  a bull from your household

or goats from your sheepfolds.

Mazmur 145:16

145:16 You open your hand,

and fill every living thing with the food they desire. ⁸ 

Mazmur 10:1

Psalm 10 ⁹ 

10:1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you pay no attention during times of trouble? ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 16:5

16:5 Lord, you give me stability and prosperity; ¹¹ 

you make my future secure. ¹² 

Mazmur 27:7

27:7 Hear me, ¹³  O Lord, when I cry out!

Have mercy on me and answer me!

Mazmur 119:19

119:19 I am like a foreigner in this land. ¹⁴ 

Do not hide your commands from me!

Mazmur 132:15

132:15 I will abundantly supply what she needs; ¹⁵ 

I will give her poor all the food they need. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 138:3

138:3 When ¹⁷  I cried out for help, you answered me.

You made me bold and energized me. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 145:15

145:15 Everything looks to you in anticipation, ¹⁹ 

and you provide them with food on a regular basis. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 10:18

10:18 You defend ²¹  the fatherless and oppressed, ²² 

so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them. ²³ 

Mazmur 18:3

18:3 I called ²⁴  to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, ²⁵ 

and I was delivered from my enemies.

Mazmur 34:9

34:9 Remain loyal to ²⁶  the Lord, you chosen people of his, ²⁷ 

for his loyal followers ²⁸  lack nothing!

Mazmur 50:12

50:12 Even if I were hungry, I would not tell you,

for the world and all it contains belong to me.

Mazmur 127:5

127:5 How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!

They will not be put to shame ²⁹  when they confront ³⁰  enemies at the city gate.

Mazmur 142:5

142:5 I cry out to you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my shelter,

my security ³¹  in the land of the living.”

Mazmur 13:1

Psalm 13 ³² 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

13:1 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me? ³³ 

How long will you pay no attention to me? ³⁴ 

Mazmur 77:2

77:2 In my time of trouble I sought ³⁵  the Lord.

I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. ³⁶ 

I ³⁷  refused to be comforted.

Mazmur 101:2

101:2 I will walk in ³⁸  the way of integrity.

When will you come to me?

I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace. ³⁹ 

Mazmur 127:2

127:2 It is vain for you to rise early, come home late,

and work so hard for your food. ⁴⁰ 

Yes, ⁴¹  he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep. ⁴² 

[50:13]  ¹ tn The rhetorical questions assume an emphatic negative response, “Of course not!”

[147:8]  ² tn Heb “the one who covers.”

[147:8]  ³ tn Heb “hills.”

[23:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 23. In vv. 1-4 the psalmist pictures the Lord as a shepherd who provides for his needs and protects him from danger. The psalmist declares, “The Lord is my shepherd,” and then extends and develops that metaphor, speaking as if he were a sheep. In vv. 5-6 the metaphor changes as the psalmist depicts a great royal banquet hosted by the Lord. The psalmist is a guest of honor and recipient of divine favor, who enjoys unlimited access to the divine palace and the divine presence.

[23:1]  ⁵ sn The LORD is my shepherd. The opening metaphor suggests the psalmist is assuming the role of a sheep. In vv. 1b-4 the psalmist extends the metaphor and explains exactly how the LORD is like a shepherd to him. At the surface level the language can be understood in terms of a shepherd’s relationship to his sheep. The translation of vv. 1-4 reflects this level. But, of course, each statement also points to an underlying reality.

[23:1]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verbal form is best understood as generalizing; the psalmist highlights his typical or ongoing experience as a result of having the LORD as his shepherd (habitual present use). The next verse explains more specifically what he means by this statement.

[50:9]  ⁷ tn Or “I will not take.”

[145:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “[with what they] desire.”

[10:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 10. Many Hebrew mss and the ancient Greek version (LXX) combine Psalms 9 and 10 into a single psalm. Taken in isolation, Psalm 10 is a petition for help in which the psalmist urges the Lord to deliver him from his dangerous enemies, whom he describes in vivid and terrifying detail. The psalmist concludes with confidence; he is certain that God’s justice will prevail.

[10:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you hide for times in trouble.” The interrogative “why” is understood by ellipsis; note the preceding line. The Hiphil verbal form “hide” has no expressed object. Some supply “your eyes” by ellipsis (see BDB 761 s.v. I עָלַם Hiph and HALOT 835 s.v. I עלם hif) or emend the form to a Niphal (“you hide yourself,” see BHS, note c; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[16:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “O Lord, the portion of my possession and my cup”; or “the Lord [is] the portion of my possession and my cup.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel, and to a cup of wine, which may symbolize a reward (in Ps 11:6 it symbolizes the judgment one deserves) or divine blessing (see Ps 23:5). The metaphor highlights the fact that God is the psalmist’s source of security and prosperity.

[16:5]  ¹² tc Heb “you take hold of my lot.” The form תּוֹמִיךְ (tomikh) should be emended to a participle, תוֹמֵךְ (tomekh). The psalmist pictures the Lord as casting his lot (a method used to allot landed property) for him, thus assuring that he will receive a fertile piece of land (see v. 6). As in the previous line, land represents security and economic stability, thus “you make my future secure.”

[27:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “my voice.”

[119:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I am a resident alien in the land.” Resident aliens were especially vulnerable and in need of help. They needed to know the social and legal customs of the land to avoid getting into trouble. The translation (note the addition of “like”) assumes the psalmist is speaking metaphorically, not literally.

[132:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will greatly bless her provision.” The infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the verb.

[132:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “her poor I will satisfy [with] food.”

[138:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in the day.”

[138:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you made me bold in my soul [with] strength.”

[145:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the eyes of all wait for you.”

[145:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and you give to them their food in its season” (see Ps 104:27).

[10:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “to judge (on behalf of),” or “by judging (on behalf of).”

[10:18]  ²² tn Heb “crushed.” See v. 10.

[10:18]  ²³ tn Heb “he will not add again [i.e., “he will no longer”] to terrify, man from the earth.” The Hebrew term אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh, “man”) refers here to the wicked nations (v. 16). By describing them as “from the earth,” the psalmist emphasizes their weakness before the sovereign, eternal king.

[18:3]  ²⁴ tn In this song of thanksgiving, where the psalmist recalls how the Lord delivered him, the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect.

[18:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “worthy of praise, I cried out [to] the Lord.” Some take מְהֻלָּל (mÿhullal, “worthy of praise”) with what precedes and translate, “the praiseworthy one,” or “praiseworthy.” However, the various epithets in vv. 1-2 have the first person pronominal suffix, unlike מְהֻלָּל. If one follows the traditional verse division and takes מְהֻלָּל with what follows, it is best understood as substantival and as appositional to יְהוָה (yÿhvah): “[to the] praiseworthy one I cried out, [to the] Lord.”

[34:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “fear.”

[34:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “O holy ones of his.”

[34:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[127:5]  ²⁹ tn Being “put to shame” is here metonymic for being defeated, probably in a legal context, as the reference to the city gate suggests. One could be humiliated (Ps 69:12) or deprived of justice (Amos 5:12) at the gate, but with strong sons to defend the family interests this was less likely to happen.

[127:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “speak with.”

[142:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “my portion.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel.

[13:1]  ³² sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.

[13:1]  ³³ tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”

[13:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”

[77:2]  ³⁵ tn Here the psalmist refers back to the very recent past, when he began to pray for divine help.

[77:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “my hand [at] night was extended and was not growing numb.” The verb נָגַר (nagar), which can mean “flow” in certain contexts, here has the nuance “be extended.” The imperfect form (תָפוּג, tafug, “to be numb”) is used here to describe continuous action in the past.

[77:2]  ³⁷ tn Or “my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[101:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “take notice of.”

[101:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “I will walk about in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.”

[127:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “[it is] vain for you, you who are early to rise, who delay sitting, who eat the food of hard work.” The three substantival participles are parallel and stand in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the preposition. See לָכֶם (lakhem, “for you”).

[127:2]  ⁴¹ tn Here the Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4; Ps 63:2).

[127:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “he gives to his beloved, sleep.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew term שֵׁנָא (shena’, “sleep,” an alternate form of שֵׁנָה, shenah) is an adverbial accusative. The point seems to be this: Hard work by itself is not what counts, but one’s relationship to God, for God is able to bless an individual even while he sleeps. (There may even be a subtle allusion to the miracle of conception following sexual intercourse; see the reference to the gift of sons in the following verse.) The statement is not advocating laziness, but utilizing hyperbole to give perspective and to remind the addressees that God must be one’s first priority. Another option is to take “sleep” as the direct object: “yes, he gives sleep to his beloved” (cf. NIV, NRSV). In this case the point is this: Hard work by itself is futile, for only God is able to bless one with sleep, which metonymically refers to having one’s needs met. He blesses on the basis of one’s relationship to him, not on the basis of physical energy expended.