Text -- Psalms 66:7-20 (NET)

66:7 He rules by his power forever; he watches the nations. Stubborn rebels should not exalt themselves. (Selah) 66:8 Praise our God, you nations! Loudly proclaim his praise! 66:9 He preserves our lives and does not allow our feet to slip. 66:10 For you, O God, tested us; you purified us like refined silver. 66:11 You led us into a trap; you caused us to suffer. 66:12 You allowed men to ride over our heads; we passed through fire and water, but you brought us out into a wide open place. 66:13 I will enter your temple with burnt sacrifices; I will fulfill the vows I made to you, 66:14 which my lips uttered and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble. 66:15 I will offer up to you fattened animals as burnt sacrifices, along with the smell of sacrificial rams. I will offer cattle and goats. (Selah) 66:16 Come! Listen, all you who are loyal to God! I will declare what he has done for me. 66:17 I cried out to him for help and praised him with my tongue. 66:18 If I had harbored sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. 66:19 However, God heard; he listened to my prayer. 66:20 God deserves praise, for he did not reject my prayer or abandon his love for me!

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 66:7

¹ tn Heb “[the] one who rules.”

² tn Heb “his eyes watch.” “Eyes” are an anthropomorphism, attributed to God here to emphasize his awareness of all that happens on earth.

³ tn The verb form is jussive (note the negative particle אַל, ’al). The Kethib (consonantal text) has a Hiphil form of the verb, apparently to be understood in an exhibitive sense (“demonstrate stubborn rebellion”; see BDB 927 s.v. רוּם Hiph), while the Qere (marginal reading) has a Qal form, to be understood in an intransitive sense. The preposition -לְ (lamed) with pronominal suffix should be understood in a reflexive sense (“for themselves”) and indicates that the action is performed with the interest of the subject in mind.

NET Notes: Psa 66:8

¹ tn Heb “bless,” in the sense of declaring “God to be the source of…special power” (see HALOT 160 s.v. II ברך pi).

² tn Heb “cause the voice of his praise to be heard.”

NET Notes: Psa 66:9

¹ tn Heb “the one who places our soul in life.”

NET Notes: Psa 66:10

¹ tn Or “indeed.”

NET Notes: Psa 66:11

¹ tn Heb “you brought us into a net.” This rare word for “net” also occurs in Ezek 12:13; 13:21; 17:20.

² tn Heb “you placed suffering on our hips.” The noun מוּעָקָה (mu’aqah, “suffering”) occurs only here in the OT.

NET Notes: Psa 66:12

¹ tc The MT reads רְוָיָה (“saturation”) but this should be emended to רְוָחָה (rÿvakhah, “wide open place”; i.e., “relief”), a reading supported by several ancient versions (LXX, Syriac, Jerome, Targum).

NET Notes: Psa 66:13

¹ sn Here the psalmist switches to the singular; he speaks as the representative of the nation.

NET Notes: Psa 66:16

¹ tn Heb “all of the fearers of God.”

NET Notes: Psa 66:17

¹ tn Heb “to him [with] my mouth I called.”

² tn Heb “and he was extolled under my tongue.” The form רוֹמַם (romam) appears to be a polal (passive) participle from רוּם (rum, “be exalted”), but many prefer to read רוֹמָם, “high praise [was under my tongue]” (cf. NEB). See BDB 928 s.v. רוֹמָם.

NET Notes: Psa 66:18

¹ tn Heb “sin if I had seen in my heart.”

NET Notes: Psa 66:20

¹ tn Heb “blessed [be] God.”

² tn Or “who.” In a blessing formula after בָּרוּךְ (barukh, “blessed be”) the form אֲשֶׁר (’asher), whether taken as a relative pronoun or causal particle, introduces the basis for the blessing/praise.

³ tn Heb “did not turn aside my prayer and his loyal love with me.”