“To King Artaxerxes, 1 from your servants in 2 Trans-Euphrates: 4:12 Now 3 let the king be aware that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and odious city. 4 They are completing its walls and repairing its foundations. 4:13 Let the king also be aware that if this city is built and its walls are completed, no more tax, custom, or toll will be paid, and the royal treasury 5 will suffer loss. 4:14 In light of the fact that we are loyal to the king, 6 and since it does not seem appropriate to us that the king should sustain damage, 7 we are sending the king this information 8 4:15 so that he may initiate a search of the records 9 of his predecessors 10 and discover in those records 11 that this city is rebellious 12 and injurious to both kings and provinces, producing internal revolts 13 from long ago. 14 It is for this very reason that this city was destroyed. 4:16 We therefore are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will not retain control 15 of this portion of Trans-Euphrates.”
8:21 I called for a fast there by the Ahava Canal, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and seek from him a safe journey 16 for us, our children, and all our property. 8:22 I was embarrassed to request soldiers and horsemen from the king to protect us from the enemy 17 along the way, because we had said to the king, “The good hand of our God is on everyone who is seeking him, but his great anger 18 is against everyone who forsakes him.”
By David.
27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! 20
I fear no one! 21
The Lord protects my life!
I am afraid of no one! 22
27:2 When evil men attack me 23
to devour my flesh, 24
when my adversaries and enemies attack me, 25
they stumble and fall. 26
56:2 Those who anticipate my defeat 27 attack me all day long.
Indeed, 28 many are fighting against me, O Exalted One. 29
56:3 When 30 I am afraid,
I trust in you.
56:4 In God – I boast in his promise 31 –
in God I trust, I am not afraid.
What can mere men 32 do to me? 33
1 tn The Masoretic accents indicate that the phrase “to Artaxerxes the king” goes with what precedes and that the letter begins with the words “from your servants.” But it seems better to understand the letter to begin by identifying the addressee.
2 tn Aram “men of.”
3 tn The MT takes this word with the latter part of v. 11, but in English style it fits better with v. 12.
4 sn Management of the provinces that were distantly removed from the capital was difficult, and insurrection in such places was a perennial problem. The language used in this report about Jerusalem (i.e., “rebellious,” “odious”) is intentionally inflammatory. It is calculated to draw immediate attention to the perceived problem.
5 tn Aram “the treasury of kings.” The plural “kings” is Hebrew, not Aramaic. If the plural is intended in a numerical sense the reference is not just to Artaxerxes but to his successors as well. Some scholars understand this to be the plural of majesty, referring to Artaxerxes. See F. C. Fensham, Ezra and Nehemiah (NICOT), 74.
6 tn Aram “we eat the salt of the palace.”
7 tn Aram “the dishonor of the king is not fitting for us to see.”
8 tn Aram “and we have made known.”
9 tn Aram “the book of the minutes.”
10 tn Aram “of your fathers.”
11 tn Aram “discover…and learn.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a single concept.
12 tn Aram “is a rebellious city.”
13 tn Aram “revolts they are making in its midst.”
14 tn Aram “from olden days.” So also in v. 19.
15 tn Aram “will not be to you.”
16 tn Heb “a straight way.”
17 tn A number of modern translations regard this as a collective singular and translate “from enemies” (also in v. 31).
18 tn Heb “his strength and his anger.” The expression is a hendiadys (one concept expressed through two terms).
19 sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.
20 tn Heb “the
21 tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
22 tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
23 tn Heb “draw near to me.”
24 sn To devour my flesh. The psalmist compares his enemies to dangerous, hungry predators (see 2 Kgs 9:36; Ezek 39:17).
25 tn Heb “my adversaries and my enemies against me.” The verb “draw near” (that is, “attack”) is understood by ellipsis; see the previous line.
26 tn The Hebrew verbal forms are perfects. The translation assumes the psalmist is generalizing here, but another option is to take this as a report of past experience, “when evil men attacked me…they stumbled and fell.”
27 tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 59:10.
28 tn Or “for.”
29 tn Some take the Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “on high; above”) as an adverb modifying the preceding participle and translate, “proudly” (cf. NASB; NIV “in their pride”). The present translation assumes the term is a divine title here. The
30 tn Heb “[in] a day.”
31 tn Heb “in God I boast, his word.” The syntax in the Hebrew text is difficult. (1) The line could be translated, “in God I boast, [in] his word.” Such a translation assumes that the prepositional phrase “in God” goes with the following verb “I boast” (see Ps 44:8) and that “his word” is appositional to “in God” and more specifically identifies the basis for the psalmist’s confidence. God’s “word” is here understood as an assuring promise of protection. Another option (2) is to translate, “in God I will boast [with] a word.” In this case, the “word” is a song of praise. (In this view the pronominal suffix “his” must be omitted as in v. 10.) The present translation reflects yet another option (3): In this case “I praise his word” is a parenthetical statement, with “his word” being the object of the verb. The sentence begun with the prepositional phrase “in God” is then completed in the next line, with the prepositional phrase being repeated after the parenthesis.
32 tn Heb “flesh,” which refers by metonymy to human beings (see v. 11, where “man” is used in this same question), envisioned here as mortal and powerless before God.
33 tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.