Mazmur 27:11

27:11 Teach me how you want me to live; ¹ 

lead me along a level path ²  because of those who wait to ambush me! ³ 

Mazmur 40:2

40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit, ⁴ 

out of the slimy mud. ⁵ 

He placed my feet on a rock

and gave me secure footing. ⁶ 

Mazmur 40:1

Psalm 40 ⁷ 

For the music director; By David, a psalm.

40:1 I relied completely ⁸  on the Lord,

and he turned toward me

and heard my cry for help.

1 Samuel 2:9

2:9 He watches over ⁹  his holy ones, ¹⁰ 

but the wicked are made speechless in the darkness,

for it is not by one’s own strength that one prevails.

Amsal 10:9

10:9 The one who conducts himself ¹¹  in integrity ¹²  will live ¹³  securely,

but the one who behaves perversely ¹⁴  will be found out.

[27:11]  ¹ tn Heb “teach me your way.” The Lord’s “way” refers here to the moral principles which he expects the psalmist to follow. See Ps 25:4.

[27:11]  ² sn The level path refers to God’s moral principles (see the parallel line), which, if followed, will keep the psalmist blameless before his accusers (see v. 12).

[27:11]  ³ tn Heb “because of those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 54:5; 56:2.

[40:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (sha’on, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).

[40:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[40:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”

[40:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 40. The psalmist combines a song of thanksgiving for a recent act of divine deliverance (vv. 1-11) with a confident petition for renewed divine intervention (vv. 12-17).

[40:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “relying, I relied.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form to emphasize the verbal idea. The emphasis is reflected in the translation through the adverb “completely.” Another option is to translate, “I waited patiently” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[2:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “guards the feet of.” The expression means that God watches over and protects the godly in all of their activities and movements. The imperfect verbal forms in v. 9 are understood as indicating what is typically true. Another option is to translate them with the future tense. See v. 10b.

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading the plural (“his holy ones”) rather than the singular (“his holy one”) of the Kethib.

[10:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he who walks.” The idiom is used widely in both OT and NT for conduct, behavior, or lifestyle.

[10:9]  ¹² sn “Integrity” here means “blameless” in conduct. Security follows integrity, because the lifestyle is blameless. The righteous is certain of the course to be followed and does not fear retribution from man or God.

[10:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “walks.”

[10:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he who perverts his ways” (so NASB); NIV “who takes crooked paths” (NLT similar). The Piel participle מְעַקֵּשׁ (mÿ’aqqesh) means “make crooked; twisted; perverse.” It is stronger than simply taking crooked paths; it refers to perverting the ways. The one who is devious will not get away with it.