Psalms 66:13-14

66:13 I will enter your temple with burnt sacrifices;

I will fulfill the vows I made to you,

66:14 which my lips uttered

and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.

Psalms 116:14

116:14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

before all his people.

Psalms 116:16-18

116:16 Yes, Lord! I am indeed your servant;

I am your lowest slave.

You saved me from death.

116:17 I will present a thank offering to you,

and call on the name of the Lord.

116:18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

before all his people,

Jonah 2:9

2:9 But as for me, I promise to offer a sacrifice to you with a public declaration of praise;

I will surely do what I have promised.

Salvation belongs to the Lord!”


sn Here the psalmist switches to the singular; he speaks as the representative of the nation.

tn Heb “I am your servant, the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 86:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here certainly does not imply that the Lord has such a secondary wife or concubine! It is used metaphorically and idiomatically to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his status as the Lord’s servant.

tn Heb “you have loosed my bonds.” In this context the imagery refers to deliverance from death (see v. 3).

tn Heb “voice” or “sound.”

tc The MT reads בְּקוֹל תּוֹדָה (bÿqol todah, “with a voice of thanksgiving”). Some mss of Tg. Jonah read “with the sound of hymns of thanksgiving” here in 2:9 – the longer reading probably reflects an editorial gloss, explaining תּוֹדָה (“thanksgiving”) as “hymns of thanksgiving.”

tn The verbs translated “I will sacrifice” and “I will pay” are Hebrew cohortatives, expressing Jonah’s resolve and firm intention.

tn Heb “what I have vowed I will pay.” Jonah promises to offer a sacrifice and publicly announce why he is thankful. For similar pledges, see Pss 22:25-26; 50:14-15; 56:12; 69:29-33; 71:14-16, 22-24; 86:12-13; 116:12-19.

tn Or “deliverance” (NAB, NRSV).

tn Or “comes from the Lord.” For similar uses of the preposition lamed (לְ, lÿ) to convey a sort of ownership in which the owner does or may by right do something, see Lev 25:48; Deut 1:17; 1 Sam 17:47; Jer 32:7-8.