37:17 for evil men will lose their power, 1
but the Lord sustains 2 the godly.
37:24 Even if 3 he trips, he will not fall headlong, 4
for the Lord holds 5 his hand.
41:12 As for me, you uphold 6 me because of my integrity; 7
you allow 8 me permanent access to your presence. 9
63:8 My soul 10 pursues you; 11
your right hand upholds me.
145:14 12 The Lord supports all who fall,
and lifts up all who are bent over. 13
1 tn Heb “for the arms of the evil ones will be broken.”
2 tn The active participle here indicates this is characteristically true.
3 tn Other translation options for כִּי in this context are “when” (so NASB) or “though” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).
4 tn Heb “be hurled down.”
5 tn The active participle indicates this is characteristically true. See v. 17.
6 tn Or “have upheld.” The perfect verbal form can be taken as generalizing/descriptive (present) or as a present perfect.
7 sn Because of my integrity. See Pss 7:8; 25:21; 26:1, 11.
8 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect. It is either generalizing/descriptive (present) or has a present perfect nuance (“you have allowed”).
9 tn Heb “and you cause me to stand before you permanently.”
10 tn Or “I.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
11 tn Heb “clings after.” The expression means “to pursue with determination” (see Judg 20:45; 1 Sam 14:22; 1 Chr 10:2; Jer 42:16).
12 tc Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm, with each successive verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. However, in the traditional Hebrew (Masoretic) text of Psalm 145 there is no verse beginning with the letter nun. One would expect such a verse to appear as the fourteenth verse, between the mem (מ) and samek (ס) verses. Several ancient witnesses, including one medieval Hebrew manuscript, the Qumran scroll from cave 11, the LXX, and the Syriac, supply the missing nun (נ) verse, which reads as follows: “The Lord is reliable in all his words, and faithful in all his deeds.” One might paraphrase this as follows: “The Lord’s words are always reliable; his actions are always faithful.” Scholars are divided as to the originality of this verse. L. C. Allen argues for its inclusion on the basis of structural considerations (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 294-95), but there is no apparent explanation for why, if original, it would have been accidentally omitted. The psalm may be a partial acrostic, as in Pss 25 and 34 (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 3:335). The glaring omission of the nun line would have invited a later redactor to add such a line.
13 tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).