Text -- Psalms 92:10-15 (NET)

92:10 You exalt my horn like that of a wild ox. I am covered with fresh oil. 92:11 I gloat in triumph over those who tried to ambush me; I hear the defeated cries of the evil foes who attacked me. 92:12 The godly grow like a palm tree; they grow high like a cedar in Lebanon. 92:13 Planted in the Lord’s house, they grow in the courts of our God. 92:14 They bear fruit even when they are old; they are filled with vitality and have many leaves. 92:15 So they proclaim that the Lord, my protector, is just and never unfair.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 92:10

¹ sn The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “to exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:24; Lam 2:17).

² tn The Hebrew verb בָּלַל (balal) usually has the nuance “to mix.” Here it seems to mean “to smear” or “to anoint.” Some emend the form to בַּלֹּתַנִי (ballotaniy; a second person form of the verb with a first person suffix) and read, “you anoint me.”

NET Notes: Psa 92:11

¹ tn Heb “my eye gazes upon those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2. The form שׁוּרָי (shuray) should be emended to שׁוֹרְרָי (shorÿray).

² tn Heb “those who rise up against me, evil [foes], my ears hear.”

NET Notes: Psa 92:12

¹ tn The singular is used in a representative sense, with the typical godly person being in view.

² sn The cedars of the Lebanon forest were well-known in ancient Israel for their immense size.

NET Notes: Psa 92:14

¹ tn Heb “they are juicy and fresh.”

NET Notes: Psa 92:15

¹ tn Heb “so that [they] proclaim that upright [is] the Lord, my rocky summit, and there is no injustice in him.”