3:5 I rested and slept;
I awoke, 8 for the Lord protects 9 me.
4:8 I will lie down and sleep peacefully, 10
for you, Lord, make me safe and secure. 11
3:24 When 12 you lie down you will not be filled with fear; 13
when 14 you lie down your sleep will be pleasant. 15
3:25 You will not be afraid 16 of sudden 17 disaster, 18
or when destruction overtakes 19 the wicked; 20
3:26 for the Lord will be 21 the source of your confidence, 22
and he will guard your foot 23 from being caught in a trap. 24
1 tn Heb “will reach for you the vintage season.”
2 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
3 tn Heb “to satisfaction”; KJV, ASV, NASB “to the full.”
4 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
5 tn Heb “and there will be no one who terrifies.” The words “to sleep” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “harmful animal,” singular, but taken here as a collective plural (so almost all English versions).
7 tn Heb “no sword”; the words “of war” are supplied in the translation to indicate what the metaphor of the sword represents.
8 tn The three verbal forms that appear in succession here (perfect + vav [ו] consecutive with preterite + perfect) are most naturally taken as narrational. When the psalmist received an assuring word from the
9 tn Or “supports”; “sustains.” In this explanatory causal clause the imperfect verbal form probably has a habitual or present progressive nuance, for the psalmist is confident of God’s continual protection (see v. 3). Another option is to take the verb as a preterite, “for the
10 tn Heb “in peace at the same time I will lie down and sleep.”
11 tn Heb “for you,
12 tn The particle אִם (’im, “if”) here functions in its rare temporal sense (“when”) followed by an imperfect tense (e.g., Num 36:4; BDB 50 s.v. 1.b.4.b).
13 tn Heb “terror.” The verb פָּחַד (pakhad, “terror”) describes emotion that is stronger than mere fear – it is dread.
14 tn The construction of vav consecutive + perfect tense followed by vav (ו) consecutive + perfect tense depicts a temporal clause. The temporal nuance is also suggested by the parallelism of the preceding colon.
15 tn The verb עָרְבָה (’orvah) is from III עָרַב (“to be sweet; to be pleasing; to be pleasant”; BDB 787 s.v. III עָרַב). It should not be confused with the other five homonymic roots that are also spelled עָרַב (’arav; see BDB 786-88).
16 tn Heb “do not be afraid.” The negative exhortation אַל־תִּירָא (’al-tira’, “do not be afraid”) is used rhetorically to emphasize that the person who seeks wisdom will have no reason to fear the consequences of wicked actions.
17 tn Heb “terror of suddenness.” The noun פִּתְאֹם (pit’om, “sudden”) functions as an attributive genitive: “sudden terror” (e.g., Job 22:10; BDB 837 s.v.).
18 tn Heb “terror.” The noun פַּחַד (pakhad, “terror”) is a metonymy of effect for cause (= disaster); see BDB 808 s.v. 2. This is suggested by the parallelism with the noun מִשֹּׁאַת (misho’at, “destruction”) in the following colon. The term פַּחַד (“terror”) often refers to the object (or cause) of terror (e.g., Job 3:25; 15:21; 22:10; 31:23; Pss 31:12; 36:2; Isa 24:18; Jer 48:44).
19 tn Heb “or the destruction of the wicked when it comes.”
20 tn Heb “destruction of the wicked.” The noun רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked ones”) probably functions as an objective genitive (the destruction that comes on the wicked) or a genitive of source (the destruction that the wicked bring on others).
21 tn Or “the
22 tn Heb “your confidence” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV) or “at your side.” There is debate whether the term כֶּסֶל (kesel) is related to the root I כָסַל “loins; side” (so HALOT 489 s.v. I כֶּסֶל 2) or II כָסַל “confidence” (so BDB 492 s.v. כֶּסֶל 3). The Vulgate relates it to I כָסַל and offers “the
23 sn The term רַגְלְךָ (raglekha, “your foot”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= your foot) for the whole person (= you). This synecdoche develops the extended comparison between the hunter’s snare and calamity that afflicts the wicked.
24 tn Heb “from capture.” The noun לָכֶד (lakhed, “capture; snare”) occurs only here in OT (BDB 540 s.v.; HALOT 530 s.v. לֶכֶד). It is figurative for the calamity of v. 25. God will protect the wise (or, righteous) from the consequences of sin (snares) that afflict the wicked.