Mazmur 8:3

8:3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,

and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place, ¹ 

Mazmur 22:15

22:15 The roof of my mouth ²  is as dry as a piece of pottery;

my tongue sticks to my gums. ³ 

You ⁴  set me in the dust of death. ⁵ 

Mazmur 63:2

63:2 Yes, ⁶  in the sanctuary I have seen you, ⁷ 

and witnessed ⁸  your power and splendor.

Mazmur 40:12

40:12 For innumerable dangers ⁹  surround me.

My sins overtake me

so I am unable to see;

they outnumber the hairs of my head

so my strength fails me. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 22:14

22:14 My strength drains away like water; ¹¹ 

all my bones are dislocated;

my heart ¹²  is like wax;

it melts away inside me.

Mazmur 42:3

42:3 I cannot eat, I weep day and night; ¹³ 

all day long they say to me, ¹⁴  “Where is your God?”

Mazmur 81:11

81:11 But my people did not obey me; ¹⁵ 

Israel did not submit to me. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 89:24

89:24 He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love, ¹⁷ 

and by my name he will win victories. ¹⁸ 

[8:3]  ¹ tn Heb “when I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and stars which you established.” The verb “[and] see” is understood by ellipsis in the second half of the verse.

[22:15]  ² tc Heb “my strength” (כֹּחִי, kokhiy), but many prefer to emend the text to חִכִּי (khikiy, “my palate”; cf. NEB, NRSV “my mouth”) assuming that an error of transposition has occurred in the traditional Hebrew text.

[22:15]  ³ tn Cf. NEB “my jaw”; NASB, NRSV “my jaws”; NIV “the roof of my mouth.”

[22:15]  ⁴ sn Here the psalmist addresses God and suggests that God is ultimately responsible for what is happening because of his failure to intervene (see vv. 1-2, 11).

[22:15]  ⁵ sn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the progressive nature of the action. The psalmist is in the process of dying.

[63:2]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used here to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4).

[63:2]  ⁷ tn The perfect verbal form is understood here as referring to a past experience which the psalmist desires to be repeated. Another option is to take the perfect as indicating the psalmist’s certitude that he will again stand in God’s presence in the sanctuary. In this case one can translate, “I will see you.”

[63:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “seeing.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance.

[40:12]  ⁹ tn Or “sinful deeds.” The Hebrew term used here can have a nonmoral nuance (“dangers”) or a moral one (“sinful deeds”) depending on the context. The next line (see “my sins”) seems to favor the moral sense, but the psalmist also speaks of enemies shortly after this (v. 14).

[40:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and my heart abandons me.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of emotional strength and courage. For a similar idea see Ps 38:10.

[22:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”

[22:14]  ¹² sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s strength and courage.

[42:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “My tears have become my food day and night.”

[42:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “when [they] say to me all the day.” The suffixed third masculine plural pronoun may have been accidentally omitted from the infinitive בֶּאֱמֹר (be’ÿmor, “when [they] say”). Note the term בְּאָמְרָם (bÿ’omram, “when they say”) in v. 10.

[81:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “did not listen to my voice.”

[81:11]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew expression אָבָה לִי (’avah liy) means “submit to me” (see Deut 13:8).

[89:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and my faithfulness and my loyal love [will be] with him.”

[89:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and by my name his horn will be lifted up.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 92:10; Lam 2:17).