Mazmur 7:7

7:7 The countries are assembled all around you; ¹ 

take once more your rightful place over them! ² 

Mazmur 10:5

10:5 He is secure at all times. ³ 

He has no regard for your commands; ⁴ 

he disdains all his enemies. ⁵ 

Mazmur 19:14

19:14 May my words and my thoughts

be acceptable in your sight, ⁶ 

O Lord, my sheltering rock ⁷  and my redeemer. ⁸ 

Mazmur 23:6

23:6 Surely your goodness and faithfulness ⁹  will pursue ¹⁰  me all my days, ¹¹ 

and I will live in ¹²  the Lord’s house ¹³  for the rest of my life. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 30:7

30:7 O Lord, in your good favor you made me secure. ¹⁵ 

Then you rejected me ¹⁶  and I was terrified.

Mazmur 39:9-10

39:9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth

because of what you have done. ¹⁷ 

39:10 Please stop wounding me! ¹⁸ 

You have almost beaten me to death! ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 57:10

57:10 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky, ²⁰ 

and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.

Mazmur 68:8

68:8 the earth shakes,

yes, the heavens pour down rain

before God, the God of Sinai, ²¹ 

before God, the God of Israel. ²² 

Mazmur 68:10

68:10 for you live among them. ²³ 

You sustain the oppressed with your good blessings, O God.

Mazmur 69:16

69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! ²⁴ 

Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!

Mazmur 74:4

74:4 Your enemies roar ²⁵  in the middle of your sanctuary; ²⁶ 

they set up their battle flags. ²⁷ 

Mazmur 79:2

79:2 They have given the corpses of your servants

to the birds of the sky; ²⁸ 

the flesh of your loyal followers

to the beasts of the earth.

Mazmur 80:7

80:7 O God, invincible warrior, ²⁹  restore us!

Smile on us! ³⁰  Then we will be delivered! ³¹ 

Mazmur 80:19

80:19 O Lord God, invincible warrior, ³²  restore us!

Smile on us! ³³  Then we will be delivered! ³⁴ 

Mazmur 85:4

85:4 Restore us, O God our deliverer!

Do not be displeased with us! ³⁵ 

Mazmur 85:7

85:7 O Lord, show us your loyal love!

Bestow on us your deliverance!

Mazmur 88:11

88:11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,

or your faithfulness in the place of the dead? ³⁶ 

Mazmur 89:2

89:2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established; ³⁷ 

in the skies you set up your faithfulness.” ³⁸ 

Mazmur 97:8

97:8 Zion hears and rejoices,

the towns ³⁹  of Judah are happy,

because of your judgments, O Lord.

Mazmur 104:29

104:29 When you ignore them, they panic. ⁴⁰ 

When you take away their life’s breath, they die

and return to dust.

Mazmur 108:1

Psalm 108 ⁴¹ 

A song, a psalm of David.

108:1 I am determined, ⁴²  O God!

I will sing and praise you with my whole heart. ⁴³ 

Mazmur 110:1

Psalm 110 ⁴⁴ 

A psalm of David.

110:1 Here is the Lord’s proclamation ⁴⁵  to my lord: ⁴⁶ 

“Sit down at my right hand ⁴⁷  until I make your enemies your footstool!” ⁴⁸ 

Mazmur 119:7

119:7 I will give you sincere thanks, ⁴⁹ 

when I learn your just regulations.

Mazmur 119:40

119:40 Look, I long for your precepts.

Revive me with your deliverance! ⁵⁰ 

Mazmur 119:73

י (Yod)

119:73 Your hands made me and formed me. ⁵¹ 

Give me understanding so that I might learn ⁵²  your commands.

Mazmur 119:78

119:78 May the arrogant be humiliated, for they have slandered me! ⁵³ 

But I meditate on your precepts.

Mazmur 119:85

119:85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me, ⁵⁴ 

which violates your law. ⁵⁵ 

Mazmur 139:12

139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, ⁵⁶ 

and the night is as bright as ⁵⁷  day;

darkness and light are the same to you. ⁵⁸ 

[7:7]  ¹ tn Heb “and the assembly of the peoples surrounds you.” Some understand the prefixed verbal form as a jussive, “may the assembly of the peoples surround you.”

[7:7]  ² tn Heb “over it (the feminine suffix refers back to the feminine noun “assembly” in the preceding line) on high return.” Some emend שׁוּבָה (shuvah, “return”) to שֵׁבָה (shevah, “sit [in judgment]”) because they find the implication of “return” problematic. But the psalmist does not mean to imply that God has abandoned his royal throne and needs to regain it. Rather he simply urges God, as sovereign king of the world, to once more occupy his royal seat of judgment and execute judgment, as the OT pictures God doing periodically.

[10:5]  ³ tn Heb “they are firm, his ways, at every time.” The verb חַיִל (khayil, “be firm, be strong”) occurs only here and in Job 20:21, where it has the sense “endure.”

[10:5]  ⁴ tc Heb “[on a] height, your judgments from before him.” If the MT is retained, then the idea may be that God’s “judgments” are high above (i.e., not recognized) by the wicked man. However, the syntax is awkward. The translation assumes an emendation of מָרוֹם (marom, “height”) to סָרוּ (saru, “[your judgments] are turned aside”), the final mem (ם) being dittographic (note the initial mem on the immediately following word [מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ, mishÿfatekha, “your judgments”). “Judgments” probably refers here to God’s laws or commands, rather than his judicial decisions or acts of judgment.

[10:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “all his enemies, he snorts against them.” This may picture the wicked man defiantly challenging his enemies because he is confident of success. Another option is to take יָפִיחַ (yafiakh) from the root יָפַח (yafakh, “to testify”) and translate “he testifies against all his enemies,” implying that he gets the upper hand over them in legal battles. The noun יָפֵחַ (yafeakh, “witness”) is attested in biblical Hebrew (see Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3). The verb, however, is not clearly attested.

[19:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “may the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart be acceptable before you.” The prefixed verbal form at the beginning of the verse is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate the form as an imperfect continuing the thought of v. 14b: “[Then] the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart will be acceptable before you.”

[19:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

[19:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the one who redeems me.” The metaphor casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis.

[23:6]  ⁹ tn The noun חֶסֶד (khesed; v. 6) has been the subject of several monographs. G. R. Clark concludes that חֶסֶד “is not merely an attitude or an emotion; it is an emotion that leads to an activity beneficial to the recipient.” He explains that an act of חֶסֶד is “a beneficent action performed, in the context of a deep and enduring commitment between two persons or parties, by one who is able to render assistance to the needy party who in the circumstances is unable to help him- or herself.” (See G. R. Clark, The Word Hesed in the Hebrew Bible [JSOTSup], 267.) HALOT 336-37 s.v. defines the word as “loyalty,” or “faithfulness.” Other appropriate meanings might be “commitment” and “devotion.”

[23:6]  ¹⁰ tn The use of רָדַף (radaf, “pursue, chase”) with טוֹב וָחֶסֶד (tov vakhesed, “goodness and faithfulness”) as subject is ironic. This is the only place in the entire OT where either of these nouns appears as the subject of this verb רָדַף (radaf, “pursue”). This verb is often used to describe the hostile actions of enemies. One might expect the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 5) to chase him, but ironically God’s “goodness and faithfulness” (which are personified and stand by metonymy for God himself) pursue him instead. The word “pursue” is used outside of its normal context in an ironic manner and creates a unique, but pleasant word picture of God’s favor (or a kind God) “chasing down” the one whom he loves.

[23:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all the days of my life.”

[23:6]  ¹² tn The verb form וְשַׁבְתִּי (vÿshavtiy) is a Qal perfect (with vav [ו] consecutive), first common singular, from שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) and should be translated, “and I will return.” But this makes no sense when construed with the following phrase, “in the house of the Lord.” The term שׁוּב (shuv) appears only here with the following phrase בְּבֵית (bÿvet). The form should be emended to וְשִׁבְתִּי (vÿshivtiy; an infinitive construct from יָשַׁב, yashav, “live”) with pronominal suffix) or to וְיָשַׁבְתִּי (vÿyashavtiy; a Qal perfect with vav [ו] consecutive, first common singular, from ישׁב [see BHS, note c]). In either case one could then translate, “and I will live [in the house of the Lord].” The phrase “in the house” frequently follows the verb יָשַׁב in the OT.

[23:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “the house of the Lord.” The phrase may be purely metaphorical here, referring to the royal palace where the royal host of v. 5 holds his banquet and lives. If one takes the phrase more literally, it would refer to the earthly tabernacle (if one accepts Davidic authorship) or the later temple (see Judg 19:18; 1 Sam 1:7, 24; 2 Sam 12:20; 1 Kgs 7:12, 40, 45, 51).

[23:6]  ¹⁴ tn The phrase אֹרֶךְ יָמִים (’orekh yamim, “length of days”) is traditionally translated “forever.” However, this phrase, when used elsewhere of people, usually refers to a lengthy period of time, such as one’s lifetime, and does not mean “forever” in the sense of eternity. (Cf. Deut 30:20; Job 12:12; Ps 91:16; Prov 3:2, 16; Lam 5:20.) Furthermore, the parallel phrase “all the days of my life” suggests this more limited meaning. Psalm 21:4, where the phrase is followed by “forever and ever,” may be an exception, though the juxtaposition of the phrases may be an example of intensification, where the second phrase goes beyond the limits of the first, rather than synonymity. Even if one takes both expressions as referring to eternal life, the language is part of the king’s hyperbolic description of the Lord’s blessings and should not be taken literally.

[30:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in your good favor you caused to stand for my mountain strength.” Apparently this means “you established strength for my mountain” (“mountain” in this case representing his rule, which would be centered on Mt. Zion) or “you established strength as my mountain” (“mountain” in this case being a metaphor for security).

[30:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “you hid your face.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or, as here, carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Ps 88:14).

[39:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “because you acted.” The psalmist has in mind God’s disciplinary measures (see vv. 10-13).

[39:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “remove from upon me your wound.”

[39:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the hostility of your hand I have come to an end.”

[57:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for great upon the sky [or “heavens”] [is] your loyal love.”

[68:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “this one of Sinai.” The phrase is a divine title, perhaps indicating that the Lord rules from Sinai.

[68:8]  ²² sn The language of vv. 7-8 is reminiscent of Judg 5:4-5, which tells how the God of Sinai came in the storm and annihilated the Canaanite forces led by Sisera. The presence of allusion does not mean, however, that this is a purely historical reference. The psalmist is describing God’s typical appearance as a warrior in terms of his prior self-revelation as ancient events are reactualized in the psalmist’s experience. (For a similar literary technique, see Hab 3.)

[68:10]  ²³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear; it appears to read, “your animals, they live in it,” but this makes little, if any, sense in this context. Some suggest that חָיָּה (khayah) is a rare homonym here, meaning “community” (BDB 312 s.v.) or “dwelling place” (HALOT 310 s.v. III *הַיָּה). In this case one may take “your community/dwelling place” as appositional to the third feminine singular pronominal suffix at the end of v. 9, the antecedent of which is “your inheritance.” The phrase יָשְׁבוּ־בָהּ (yashvu-vah, “they live in it”) may then be understood as an asyndetic relative clause modifying “your community/dwelling place.” A literal translation of vv. 9b-10a would be, “when it [your inheritance] is tired, you sustain it, your community/dwelling place in [which] they live.”

[69:16]  ²⁴ tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”

[74:4]  ²⁵ tn This verb is often used of a lion’s roar, so the psalmist may be comparing the enemy to a raging, devouring lion.

[74:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “your meeting place.”

[74:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “they set up their banners [as] banners.” The Hebrew noun אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) here refers to the enemy army’s battle flags and banners (see Num 2:12).

[79:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”

[80:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also v. 4 for a similar construction.

[80:7]  ³⁰ tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

[80:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.

[80:19]  ³² tn Heb “O Lord, God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also vv. 4, 7, 14 for a similar construction.

[80:19]  ³³ tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

[80:19]  ³⁴ tn Heb “cause your face to shine in order that we may be delivered.” After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.

[85:4]  ³⁵ tn Heb “break your displeasure with us.” Some prefer to emend הָפֵר (hafer, “break”) to הָסֵר (haser, “turn aside”).

[88:11]  ³⁶ tn Heb “in Abaddon,” a name for Sheol. The noun is derived from a verbal root meaning “to perish,” “to die.”

[89:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “built.”

[89:2]  ³⁸ sn You set up your faithfulness. This may allude to the Lord’s heavenly throne, which symbolizes his just rule and from which the Lord decrees his unconditional promises (see vv. 8, 14).

[97:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “daughters.” The term “daughters” refers to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 48:11 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).

[104:29]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”

[108:1]  ⁴¹ sn Psalm 108. With some minor variations, this psalm is a composite of Ps 57:7-11 (see vv. 1-5) and Ps 60:5-12 (see vv. 6-13).

[108:1]  ⁴² tn Or perhaps “confident”; Heb “my heart is steadfast.” The “heart” is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s volition and/or emotions.

[108:1]  ⁴³ tn Heb “also my glory,” but this makes little sense in the context. Some view the term כָּבוֹד (“glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvodiy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 30:12; 57:9; as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 3:93. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.”

[110:1]  ⁴⁴ sn Psalm 110. In this royal psalm the psalmist announces God’s oracle to the Davidic king. The first part of the oracle appears in v. 1, the second in v. 4. In vv. 2-3 the psalmist addresses the king, while in vv. 5-7 he appears to address God.

[110:1]  ⁴⁵ tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is used frequently in the OT of a formal divine announcement through a prophet.

[110:1]  ⁴⁶ sn My lord. In the psalm’s original context the speaker is an unidentified prophetic voice in the royal court. In the course of time the psalm is applied to each successive king in the dynasty and ultimately to the ideal Davidic king. NT references to the psalm understand David to be speaking about his “lord,” the Messiah. (See Matt 22:43-45; Mark 12:36-37; Luke 20:42-44; Acts 2:34-35).

[110:1]  ⁴⁷ tn To sit at the “right hand” of the king was an honor (see 1 Kgs 2:19). In Ugaritic myth (CTA 4 v. 108-10) the artisan god Kothar-and Khasis is described as sitting at the right hand of the storm god Baal. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 61-62.

[110:1]  sn The Lord’s invitation to the Davidic king to sit down at his right hand reflects the king’s position as the Lord’s vice-regent.

[110:1]  ⁴⁸ sn When the Lord made his covenant with David, he promised to subdue the king’s enemies (see 2 Sam 7:9-11; Ps 89:22-23).

[119:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “I will give you thanks with an upright heart.”

[119:40]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “righteousness.”

[119:73]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “made me and established me.” The two verbs also appear together in Deut 32:6, where God, compared to a father, is said to have “made and established” Israel.

[119:73]  ⁵² tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:78]  ⁵³ tn Heb “for [with] falsehood they have denied me justice.”

[119:85]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “for me.”

[119:85]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “which [is] not according to your law.”

[139:12]  ⁵⁶ tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[139:12]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “shines like.”

[139:12]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”