103:10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; 1
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. 2
103:11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers 3 over his faithful followers. 4
103:12 As far as the eastern horizon 5 is from the west, 6
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions 7 from us.
103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, 8
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. 9
103:14 For he knows what we are made of; 10
he realizes 11 we are made of clay. 12
1 tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”
2 tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”
3 tn For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.
4 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
5 tn Heb “sunrise.”
6 tn Or “sunset.”
7 tn The Hebrew term פֶּשַׁע (pesha’, rebellious act”) is here used metonymically for the guilt such actions produce.
8 tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.
9 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
10 tn Heb “our form.”
11 tn Heb “remembers.”
12 tn Heb “we [are] clay.”