56:4 In God – I boast in his promise 1 –
in God I trust, I am not afraid.
What can mere men 2 do to me? 3
56:11 in God I trust, I am not afraid.
What can mere men 4 do to me? 5
56:12 I am obligated to fulfill the vows I made to you, O God; 6
I will give you the thank-offerings you deserve, 7
118:6 The Lord is on my side, 8 I am not afraid!
What can people do to me? 9
12:4 “I 17 tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, 18 and after that have nothing more they can do. 12:5 But I will warn 19 you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after the killing, 20 has authority to throw you 21 into hell. 22 Yes, I tell you, fear him!
1 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.
2 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.
3 tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.
4 tn The statement is similar to that of v. 4, except “flesh” is used there instead of “man.”
5 tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.
6 tn Heb “upon me, O God, [are] your vows.”
7 tn Heb “I will repay thank-offerings to you.”
8 tn Heb “for me.”
9 tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential. See Ps 56:11.
10 tc In the MT this word is understood to begin the following address (“answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar’”). However, it seems unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar’s subordinates would address the king in such a familiar way, particularly in light of the danger that they now found themselves in. The present translation implies moving the atnach from “king” to “Nebuchadnezzar.”
11 tn Aram “to return a word to you.”
12 tc The ancient versions typically avoid the conditional element of v. 17.
13 tn The Aramaic expression used here is very difficult to interpret. The question concerns the meaning and syntax of אִיתַי (’itay, “is” or “exist”). There are several possibilities. (1) Some interpreters take this word closely with the participle later in the verse יָכִל (yakhil, “able”), understanding the two words to form a periphrastic construction (“if our God is…able”; cf. H. Bauer and P. Leander, Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen, 365, §111b). But the separation of the two elements from one another is not an argument in favor of this understanding. (2) Other interpreters take the first part of v. 17 to mean “If it is so, then our God will deliver us” (cf. KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB). However, the normal sense of ’itay is existence; on this point see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 45, §95. The present translation maintains the sense of existence for the verb (“If our God…exists”), even though the statement is admittedly difficult to understand in this light. The statement may be an implicit reference back to Nebuchadnezzar’s comment in v. 15, which denies the existence of a god capable of delivering from the king’s power.
14 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
15 sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.
16 sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.
17 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
18 sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.
19 tn Grk “will show,” but in this reflective context such a demonstration is a warning or exhortation.
20 sn The actual performer of the killing is not here specified. It could be understood to be God (so NASB, NRSV) but it could simply emphasize that, after a killing has taken place, it is God who casts the person into hell.
21 tn The direct object (“you”) is understood.
22 sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).