Mazmur 2:10-12

2:10 So now, you kings, do what is wise; ¹ 

you rulers of the earth, submit to correction! ² 

2:11 Serve ³  the Lord in fear!

Repent in terror! ⁴ 

2:12 Give sincere homage! ⁵ 

Otherwise he ⁶  will be angry, ⁷ 

and you will die because of your behavior, ⁸ 

when his anger quickly ignites. ⁹ 

How blessed ¹⁰  are all who take shelter in him! ¹¹ 

Mazmur 22:27-29

22:27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him! ¹² 

Let all the nations ¹³  worship you! ¹⁴ 

22:28 For the Lord is king ¹⁵ 

and rules over the nations.

22:29 All of the thriving people ¹⁶  of the earth will join the celebration and worship; ¹⁷ 

all those who are descending into the grave ¹⁸  will bow before him,

including those who cannot preserve their lives. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 66:1-4

Psalm 66 ²⁰ 

For the music director; a song, a psalm.

66:1 Shout out praise to God, all the earth!

66:2 Sing praises about the majesty of his reputation! ²¹ 

Give him the honor he deserves! ²² 

66:3 Say to God:

“How awesome are your deeds!

Because of your great power your enemies cower in fear ²³  before you.

66:4 All the earth worships ²⁴  you

and sings praises to you!

They sing praises to your name!” (Selah)

Mazmur 68:31-32

68:31 They come with red cloth ²⁵  from Egypt,

Ethiopia ²⁶  voluntarily offers tribute ²⁷  to God.

68:32 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God!

Sing praises to the Lord, (Selah)

Mazmur 72:10-11

72:10 The kings of Tarshish ²⁸  and the coastlands will offer gifts;

the kings of Sheba ²⁹  and Seba ³⁰  will bring tribute.

72:11 All kings will bow down to him;

all nations will serve him.

Mazmur 86:9

86:9 All the nations, whom you created,

will come and worship you, ³¹  O Lord.

They will honor your name.

Mazmur 102:15

102:15 The nations will respect the reputation of the Lord, ³² 

and all the kings of the earth will respect ³³  his splendor,

Mazmur 138:4-5

138:4 Let all the kings of the earth give thanks ³⁴  to you, O Lord,

when they hear the words you speak. ³⁵ 

138:5 Let them sing about the Lord’s deeds, ³⁶ 

for the Lord’s splendor is magnificent. ³⁷ 

Amsal 8:15-16

8:15 Kings reign by means of me,

and potentates ³⁸  decree ³⁹  righteousness;

8:16 by me princes rule,

as well as nobles and ⁴⁰  all righteous judges. ⁴¹ 

Yesaya 49:23

49:23 Kings will be your children’s ⁴²  guardians;

their princesses will nurse your children. ⁴³ 

With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you

and they will lick the dirt on ⁴⁴  your feet.

Then you will recognize that I am the Lord;

those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.

Yesaya 60:3

60:3 Nations come to your light,

kings to your bright light.

Wahyu 21:24

21:24 The nations ⁴⁵  will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their grandeur ⁴⁶  into it.

[2:10]  ¹ sn The speaker here is either the psalmist or the Davidic king, who now addresses the rebellious kings.

[2:10]  ² tn The Niphal has here a tolerative nuance; the kings are urged to submit themselves to the advice being offered.

[2:11]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb translated “serve” refers here to submitting to the Lord’s sovereignty as expressed through the rule of the Davidic king. Such “service” would involve maintaining allegiance to the Davidic king by paying tribute on a regular basis.

[2:11]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “rejoice with trembling” (KJV). The verb גִּיל (gil) normally means “rejoice,” but this meaning does not fit well here in conjunction with “in trembling.” Some try to understand “trembling” (and the parallel יִרְאָה, yir’ah, “fear”) in the sense of “reverential awe” and then take the verbs “serve” and “rejoice” in the sense of “worship” (cf. NASB). But רְעָדָה (rÿ’adah, “trembling”) and its related terms consistently refer to utter terror and fear (see Exod 15:15; Job 4:14; Pss 48:6; 55:5; 104:32; Isa 33:14; Dan 10:11) or at least great emotional distress (Ezra 10:9). It seems more likely here that גִּיל carries its polarized meaning “mourn, lament,” as in Hos 10:5. “Mourn, lament” would then be metonymic in this context for “repent” (referring to one’s rebellious ways). On the meaning of the verb in Hos 10:5, see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea (AB), 556-57.

[2:12]  ⁵ tn Traditionally, “kiss the son” (KJV). But בַּר (bar) is the Aramaic word for “son,” not the Hebrew. For this reason many regard the reading as suspect. Some propose emendations of vv. 11b-12a. One of the more popular proposals is to read בִּרְעָדָה נַשְּׁקוּ לְרַגְלָיו (bir’adah nashÿqu lÿraslayv, “in trembling kiss his feet”). It makes better sense to understand בַּר (bar) as an adjective meaning “pure” (see Pss 24:4; 73:1 and BDB 141 s.v. בַּר 3) functioning here in an adverbial sense. If read this way, then the syntactical structure of exhortation (imperative followed by adverbial modifier) corresponds to the two preceding lines (see v. 11). The verb נָשַׁק (nashaq, “kiss”) refers metonymically to showing homage (see 1 Sam 10:1; Hos 13:2). The exhortation in v. 12a advocates a genuine expression of allegiance and warns against insincerity. When swearing allegiance, vassal kings would sometimes do so insincerely, with the intent of rebelling when the time was right. The so-called “Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon” also warn against such an attitude. In this treaty the vassal is told: “If you, as you stand on the soil where this oath [is sworn], swear the oath with your words and lips [only], do not swear with your entire heart, do not transmit it to your sons who will live after this treaty, if you take this curse upon yourselves but do not plan to keep the treaty of Esarhaddon…may your sons and grandsons because of this fear in the future” (see J. B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East, 2:62).

[2:12]  ⁶ tn Throughout the translation of this verse the third person masculine pronouns refer to the Lord (cf. v. 11).

[2:12]  ⁷ tn The implied subject of the verb is the Lord, mentioned in v. 11. Elsewhere the subject of this verb is consistently the Lord, suggesting it may be a technical term for divine anger. Anger is here used metonymically for judgment, as the following statement makes clear. A Moabite cognate occurs in the Mesha inscription, where it is used of the Moabite god Chemosh’s anger at his people (see J. B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East, 1:209).

[2:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “and you will perish [in the] way.” The Hebrew word דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) here refers to their rebellious behavior (not to a pathway, as often understood). It functions syntactically as an adverbial accusative in relation to the verb “perish.”

[2:12]  ⁹ tn Or “burns.” The Lord’s anger is compared here to fire, the most destructive force known in ancient Israel.

[2:12]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[2:12]  ¹¹ sn Who take shelter in him. “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).

[22:27]  ¹² tn Heb “may all the ends of the earth remember and turn to the Lord.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27 are understood as jussives (cf. NEB). Another option (cf. NIV, NRSV) is to take the forms as imperfects and translate, “all the people of the earth will acknowledge and turn…and worship.” See vv. 29-32.

[22:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “families of the nations.”

[22:27]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “before you.”

[22:28]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for to the Lord [is] dominion.”

[22:29]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “fat [ones].” This apparently refers to those who are healthy and robust, i.e., thriving. In light of the parallelism, some prefer to emend the form to יְשֵׁנֵי (yÿsheney, “those who sleep [in the earth]”; cf. NAB, NRSV), but דִּשְׁנֵי (dishney, “fat [ones]”) seems to form a merism with “all who descend into the grave” in the following line. The psalmist envisions all people, whether healthy or dying, joining in worship of the Lord.

[22:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “eat and worship.” The verb forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [ו] consecutive) are normally used in narrative to relate completed actions. Here the psalmist uses the forms rhetorically as he envisions a time when the Lord will receive universal worship. The mood is one of wishful thinking and anticipation; this is not prophecy in the strict sense.

[22:29]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all of the ones going down [into] the dust.” This group stands in contrast to those mentioned in the previous line. Together the two form a merism encompassing all human beings – the healthy, the dying, and everyone in between.

[22:29]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and his life he does not revive.”

[66:1]  ²⁰ sn Psalm 66. The psalmist praises God because he has delivered his people from a crisis.

[66:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “his name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[66:2]  ²² tn Heb “make honorable his praise.”

[66:3]  ²³ tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 81:15 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “be weak, powerless” (see also Ps 109:24).

[66:4]  ²⁴ tn Or “bows down to.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 4 are taken (1) as imperfects expressing what is typical. Another option (2) is to interpret them as anticipatory (“all the earth will worship you”) or (3) take them as jussives, expressing a prayer or wish (“may all the earth worship you”).

[68:31]  ²⁵ tn This noun, which occurs only here in the OT, apparently means “red cloth” or “bronze articles” (see HALOT 362 s.v. חַשְׁמַן; cf. NEB “tribute”). Traditionally the word has been taken to refer to “nobles” (see BDB 365 s.v. חַשְׁמַן; cf. NIV “envoys”). Another option would be to emend the text to הַשְׁמַנִּים (hashmannim, “the robust ones,” i.e., leaders).

[68:31]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Cush.”

[68:31]  ²⁷ tn Heb “causes its hands to run,” which must mean “quickly stretches out its hands” (to present tribute).

[72:10]  ²⁸ sn Tarshish was a distant western port, the precise location of which is uncertain.

[72:10]  ²⁹ sn Sheba was located in Arabia.

[72:10]  ³⁰ sn Seba was located in Africa.

[86:9]  ³¹ tn Or “bow down before you.”

[102:15]  ³² tn Heb “will fear the name of the Lord.” To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for his revealed reputation which in turn motivates one to obey God’s commands (see Ps 86:11).

[102:15]  ³³ tn The verb “will fear” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).

[138:4]  ³⁴ tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in the following verse are understood as jussives, for the psalmist appears to be calling upon the kings to praise God. Another option is to take them as imperfects and translate, “the kings of the earth will give thanks…and will sing.” In this case the psalmist anticipates a universal response to his thanksgiving song.

[138:4]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the words of your mouth.”

[138:5]  ³⁶ tn Heb “ways.”

[138:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “great.”

[8:15]  ³⁸ tn The verb רָזַן (razan) means “to be weighty; to be judicious; to be commanding.” It only occurs in the Qal active participle in the plural as a substantive, meaning “potentates; rulers” (e.g., Ps 1:1-3). Cf. KJV, ASV “princes”; NAB “lawgivers.”

[8:15]  ³⁹ sn This verb יְחֹקְקוּ (yÿkhoqqu) is related to the noun חֹק (khoq), which is a “statute; decree.” The verb is defined as “to cut in; to inscribe; to decree” (BDB 349 s.v. חָקַק). The point the verse is making is that when these potentates decree righteousness, it is by wisdom. History records all too often that these rulers acted as fools and opposed righteousness (cf. Ps 2:1-3). But people in power need wisdom to govern the earth (e.g., Isa 11:1-4 which predicts how Messiah will use wisdom to do this very thing). The point is underscored with the paronomasia in v. 15 with “kings” and “will reign” from the same root, and then in v. 16 with both “princes” and “rule” being cognate. The repetition of sounds and meanings strengthens the statements.

[8:16]  ⁴⁰ tn The term “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and readability.

[8:16]  ⁴¹ tc Many of the MT mss read “sovereigns [princes], all the judges of the earth.” The LXX has “sovereigns…rule the earth.” But the MT manuscript in the text has “judges of righteousness.” C. H. Toy suggests that the Hebrew here has assimilated Psalm 148:11 in its construction (Proverbs [ICC], 167). The expression “judges of the earth” is what one would expect, but the more difficult and unexpected reading, the one scribes might change, would be “judges of righteousness.” If that reading stands, then it would probably be interpreted as using an attributive genitive.

[49:23]  ⁴² tn Heb “your,” but Zion here stands by metonymy for her children (see v. 22b).

[49:23]  ⁴³ tn Heb “you.” See the preceding note.

[49:23]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “at your feet” (NAB, NIV); NLT “from your feet.”

[21:24]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[21:24]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “splendor”; Grk “glory.”