17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed 1 as he said to himself, 2 “Can 3 a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? 4 Can Sarah 5 bear a child at the age of ninety?” 6
21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. 7 Everyone who hears about this 8 will laugh 9 with me.”
28:7 The Lord strengthens and protects me; 10
I trust in him with all my heart. 11
I am rescued 12 and my heart is full of joy; 13
I will sing to him in gratitude. 14
30:11 Then you turned my lament into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and covered me with joy. 15
30:12 So now 16 my heart 17 will sing to you and not be silent;
O Lord my God, I will always 18 give thanks to you.
A song of ascents. 20
126:1 When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion, 21
we thought we were dreaming. 22
126:2 At that time we laughed loudly
and shouted for joy. 23
At that time the nations said, 24
“The Lord has accomplished great things for these people.”
12:1 At that time 25 you will say:
“I praise you, O Lord,
for even though you were angry with me,
your anger subsided, and you consoled me.
12:2 Look, God is my deliverer! 26
I will trust in him 27 and not fear.
For the Lord gives me strength and protects me; 28
he has become my deliverer.” 29
65:14 Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts! 30
But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; 31
you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. 32
1 sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.
2 tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”
3 tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.
4 tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”
5 sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).
6 tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”
7 tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”
8 tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
9 sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).
10 tn Heb “The
11 tn Heb “in him my heart trusts.”
12 tn Or “I am helped.”
13 tn Heb “and my heart exults.”
14 tn Heb “and from my song I will thank him.” As pointed in the Hebrew text, מִשִּׁירִי (mishiri) appears to be “from my song,” but the preposition “from” never occurs elsewhere with the verb “to thank” (Hiphil of יָדָה, yadah). Perhaps משׁיר is a noun form meaning “song.” If so, it can be taken as an adverbial accusative, “and [with] my song I will thank him.” See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 236.
15 sn Covered me with joy. “Joy” probably stands metonymically for festive attire here.
16 tn Heb “so that”; or “in order that.”
17 tn Heb “glory.” Some view כָבוֹד (khavod, “glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 57:9; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.” “Heart” is used in the translation above for the sake of English idiom; the expression “my liver sings” would seem odd indeed to the modern reader.
18 tn Or “forever.”
19 sn Psalm 126. Recalling the joy of past deliverance, God’s covenant community asks for a fresh display of God’s power and confidently anticipate their sorrow being transformed into joy.
20 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
21 tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew noun שִׁיבַת (shivat) occurs only here in the OT. For this reason many prefer to emend the form to the more common שְׁבִית (shevit) or שְׁבוּת (shÿvut), both of which are used as a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv; see Ps 14:7). However an Aramaic cognate of שְׁבִית appears in an eighth century
22 tn Heb “we were like dreamers.” This could mean the speakers were so overcome with ecstatic joy (see v. 3b) that they were like those who fantasize about pleasurable experiences in their sleep (see Isa 29:7-8). Since dreams are more commonly associated in the OT with prophetic visions, the community may be comparing their experience of God’s renewed favor to a prophet’s receiving divine visions. Just as a prophetic dream sweeps the individual into a different dimension and sometimes brings one face-to-face with God himself (see Gen 28:11-15; 1 Kgs 3:5-15), so the community was aware of God’s presence in a special way in the day of Zion’s restoration. Though the MT as it stands makes good sense, some choose to understand a homonymic root here meaning “to be healthy; to be strong” (see BDB 321 s.v. I חָלַם) and translate, “we were like those restored to health.” This reading appears to have the support of several ancient translations as well as 11QPsa. See L. C. Allen (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 170-71) for a discussion of the viewpoints.
23 tn Heb “then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with a shout.”
24 tn Heb “they said among the nations.”
25 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
26 tn Or “salvation” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).
27 tn The words “in him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
28 tc The Hebrew text has, “for my strength and protection [is] the Lord, the Lord (Heb “Yah, Yahweh).” The word יְהוָה (yehvah) is probably dittographic or explanatory here (note that the short form of the name [יָהּ, yah] precedes, and that the graphically similar וַיְהִי [vayÿhi] follows). Exod 15:2, the passage from which the words of v. 2b are taken, has only יָהּ. The word זִמְרָת (zimrat) is traditionally understood as meaning “song,” in which case one might translate, “for the Lord gives me strength and joy” (i.e., a reason to sing); note that in v. 5 the verb זָמַר (zamar, “sing”) appears. Many recent commentators, however, have argued that the noun is here instead a homonym, meaning “protection” or “strength.” See HALOT 274 s.v. III *זמר.
29 tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions, e.g., KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “my savior.”
30 tn Heb “from the good of the heart.”
31 tn Heb “from the pain of the heart.”
32 tn Heb “from the breaking of the spirit.”