21:14 So they say to God, ‘Turn away from us!
We do not want to 2 know your ways. 3
21:15 Who is the Almighty, that 4 we should serve him?
What would we gain
if we were to pray 5 to him?’ 6
51:11 Do not reject me! 7
Do not take your Holy Spirit 8 away from me! 9
51:12 Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance!
Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey! 10
51:13 Then I will teach 11 rebels your merciful ways, 12
and sinners will turn 13 to you.
51:14 Rescue me from the guilt of murder, 14 O God, the God who delivers me!
Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your deliverance. 15
143:7 Answer me quickly, Lord!
My strength is fading. 16
Do not reject me, 17
or I will join 18 those descending into the grave. 19
25:41 “Then he will say 20 to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!
1 sn The name Nod means “wandering” in Hebrew (see vv. 12, 14).
2 tn The absence of the preposition before the complement adds greater vividness to the statement: “and knowing your ways – we do not desire.”
3 sn Contrast Ps 25:4, which affirms that walking in God’s ways means to obey God’s will – the Torah.
4 tn The interrogative clause is followed by ki, similar to Exod 5:2, “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey him?”
5 tn The verb פָּגַע (paga’) means “to encounter; to meet,” but also “to meet with request; to intercede; to interpose.” The latter meaning is a derived meaning by usage.
6 tn The verse is not present in the LXX. It may be that it was considered too blasphemous and therefore omitted.
7 tn Heb “do not cast me away from before you.”
8 sn Your Holy Spirit. The personal Spirit of God is mentioned frequently in the OT, but only here and in Isa 63:10-11 is he called “your/his Holy Spirit.”
9 sn Do not take…away. The psalmist expresses his fear that, due to his sin, God will take away the Holy Spirit from him. NT believers enjoy the permanent gift of the Holy Spirit and need not make such a request nor fear such a consequence. However, in the OT God’s Spirit empowered certain individuals for special tasks and only temporarily resided in them. For example, when God rejected Saul as king and chose David to replace him, the divine Spirit left Saul and came upon David (1 Sam 16:13-14).
10 tn Heb “and [with] a willing spirit sustain me.” The psalmist asks that God make him the kind of person who willingly obeys the divine commandments. The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
11 tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. This may be a vow or promise. If forgiven, the psalmist will “repay” the Lord by declaring God’s mercy and motivating other sinners to repent.
12 tn Heb “your ways.” The word “merciful” is added for clarification. God’s “ways” are sometimes his commands, but in this context, where the teaching of God’s ways motivates repentance (see the next line), it is more likely that God’s merciful and compassionate way of dealing with sinners is in view. Thanksgiving songs praising God for his deliverance typically focus on these divine attributes (see Pss 34, 41, 116, 138).
13 tn Or “return,” i.e., in repentance.
14 tn Heb “from bloodshed.” “Bloodshed” here stands by metonymy for the guilt which it produces.
15 tn Heb “my tongue will shout for joy your deliverance.” Another option is to take the prefixed verbal form as a jussive, “may my tongue shout for joy.” However, the pattern in vv. 12-15 appears to be prayer/request (see vv. 12, 14a, 15a) followed by promise/vow (see vv. 13, 14b, 15b).
16 tn Heb “my spirit is failing.”
17 tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” (1) can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) can carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).
18 tn Heb “I will be equal with.”
19 tn Heb “the pit.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit; cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See Ps 28:1.
20 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
21 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
22 tn Grk “Five of them.”