2 Samuel 7:13-16

7:13 He will build a house for my name, and I will make his dynasty permanent. ¹  7:14 I will become his father and he will become my son. When he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with wounds inflicted by human beings. 7:15 But my loyal love will not be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 7:16 Your house and your kingdom will stand before me ²  permanently; your dynasty ³  will be permanent.’”

Psalms 112:7-10

112:7 He does not fear bad news.

He ⁴  is confident; he trusts ⁵  in the Lord.

112:8 His resolve ⁶  is firm; he will not succumb to fear

before he looks in triumph on his enemies.

112:9 He generously gives ⁷  to the needy;

his integrity endures. ⁸ 

He will be vindicated and honored. ⁹ 

112:10 When the wicked ¹⁰  see this, they will worry;

they will grind their teeth in frustration ¹¹  and melt away;

the desire of the wicked will perish. ¹² 

Psalms 112:2

112:2 His descendants ¹³  will be powerful on the earth;

the godly ¹⁴  will be blessed.

Psalms 3:3

3:3 But you, Lord, are a shield that protects me; ¹⁵ 

you are my glory ¹⁶  and the one who restores me. ¹⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “and I will establish the throne of his kingdom permanently.”

² tc Heb “before you.” A few medieval Hebrew mss read instead “before me,” which makes better sense contextually. (See also the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta.) The MT reading is probably the result of dittography (note the כ [kaf] at the beginning of the next form), with the extra כ then being interpreted as a pronominal suffix.

³ tn Heb “throne.”

⁴ tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition and emotions (see Ps 108:1).

⁵ tn The passive participle בָּטֻחַ [בָּטוּחַ] (batuakh [batuakh]) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action. See Isa 26:3.

⁶ tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition.

⁷ tn Heb “he scatters, he gives.”

⁸ tn Heb “stands forever.”

⁹ tn Heb “his horn will be lifted up in honor.” 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 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular; the representative wicked individual is in view as typifying the group (note the use of the plural form in v. 10).

¹¹ tn Heb “his teeth he will gnash.” In Pss 35:16 and 37:12 this action is associated with a vicious attack.

¹² tn This could mean that the desires of the wicked will go unfulfilled. Another possibility is that “desire” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired. In this case the point is that the wicked will lose what they desired so badly and acquired by evil means (see Ps 10:3).

¹³ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “His seed will be mighty on the earth, the generation of the godly.” The Hebrew term דוֹר (dor, “generation”) could be taken as parallel to “offspring” and translated “posterity,” but the singular more likely refers to the godly as a class. See BDB 189-90 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.

¹⁵ tn Heb “a shield round about me.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “my glory,” or “my honor.” The psalmist affirms that the Lord is his source of honor, i.e., the one who gives him honor in the sight of others. According to BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 7, the phrase refers to God as the one to whom the psalmist gives honor. But the immediate context focuses on what God does for the psalmist, not vice-versa.

¹⁷ tn Heb “[the one who] lifts my head.” This phrase could be understood to refer to a general strengthening of the psalmist by God during difficult circumstances. However, if one takes the suggestion of the superscription that this is a Davidic psalm written during the revolt of Absalom, the phrase “lift the head” could refer to the psalmist’s desire for restoration to his former position (cf. Gen 40:13 where the same phrase is used). Like the Hebrew text, the present translation (“who restores me”) can be understood in either sense.