Psalms 115:17

115:17 The dead do not praise the Lord,

nor do any of those who descend into the silence of death. ¹ 

Psalms 115:1

Psalm 115 ² 

115:1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us!

But to your name bring honor, ³ 

for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness. ⁴ 

Psalms 2:9

2:9 You will break them ⁵  with an iron scepter; ⁶ 

you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” ⁷ 

Matthew 22:12-13

22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. ⁸  22:13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’

¹ tn Heb “silence,” a metonymy here for death (see Ps 94:17).

² sn Psalm 115. The psalmist affirms that Israel’s God is superior to pagan idols and urges Israel to place their confidence in him.

³ tn Or “give glory.”

⁴ sn The psalmist asks the Lord to demonstrate his loyal love and faithfulness, not simply so Israel may benefit, but primarily so that the Lord will receive honor among the nations, who will recognize, contrary to their present view (see v. 2), that Israel’s God is committed to his people.

⁵ tc The LXX reads “you will shepherd them.” This reading, quoted in the Greek text of the NT in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, assumes a different vocalization of the consonantal Hebrew text and understands the verb as רָעָה (ra’ah, “to shepherd”) rather than רָעָע (ra’a’, “to break”). But the presence of נָפַץ (nafats, “to smash”) in the next line strongly favors the MT vocalization.

⁶ tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a “staff” or “rod,” but here it probably refers to the Davidic king’s royal scepter, symbolizing his sovereignty.

⁷ sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.

⁸ tn Grk “he was silent.”