20:6 Now I am sure 1 that the Lord will deliver 2 his chosen king; 3
he will intervene for him 4 from his holy heavenly temple, 5
and display his mighty ability to deliver. 6
44:3 For they did not conquer 7 the land by their swords,
and they did not prevail by their strength, 8
but rather by your power, 9 strength 10 and good favor, 11
for you were partial to 12 them.
60:5 Deliver by your power 13 and answer me, 14
so that the ones you love may be safe. 15
15:6 Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic 16 in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.
41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! 17
I strengthen you –
yes, I help you –
yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! 18
1 tn Or “know.”
2 tn The perfect verbal form is probably used rhetorically to state that the deliverance is as good as done. In this way the speaker emphasizes the certainty of the deliverance. Another option is to take the statement as generalizing; the psalmist affirms that the
3 tn Heb “his anointed one.” This title refers to the Davidic king. See Pss 2:2 and 18:50.
4 tn Heb “he will answer him.”
5 tn Heb “from his holy heavens.”
6 tn Heb “with mighty acts of deliverance of his right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver (see Ps 17:7).
7 tn Or “take possession of.”
8 tn Heb “and their arm did not save them.” The “arm” here symbolizes military strength.
9 tn Heb “your right hand.” The
10 tn Heb “your arm.”
11 tn Heb “light of your face.” The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
12 tn Or “favorable toward.”
13 tn Heb “right hand.”
14 tn The Qere (marginal reading) has “me,” while the Kethib (consonantal text) has “us.”
15 tn Or “may be rescued.” The lines are actually reversed in the Hebrew text, “So that the ones you love may be rescued, deliver by your power and answer me.”
16 tn The form נֶאְדָּרִי (ne’dari) may be an archaic infinitive with the old ending i, used in place of the verb and meaning “awesome.” Gesenius says that the vowel ending may be an old case ending, especially when a preposition is inserted between the word and its genitive (GKC 253 §90.l), but he suggests a reconstruction of the form.
17 tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).
18 tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).
19 tn The aorist participle ὑψωθείς (Juywqei") could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…” In the translation the more neutral “exalted” (a shorter form of “having been exalted”) was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.
20 sn The expression the right hand of God represents supreme power and authority. Its use here sets up the quotation of Ps 110:1 in v. 34.
21 tn The aorist participle λαβών (labwn) could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…and received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit.” In the translation the more neutral “having received” was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.
22 tn Here the genitive τοῦ πνεύματος (tou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the promise consists of the Holy Spirit.
23 sn The use of the verb poured out looks back to 2:17-18, where the same verb occurs twice.