36:6 Your justice is like the highest mountains, 1
your fairness like the deepest sea;
you preserve 2 mankind and the animal kingdom. 3
136:25 to the one who gives food to all living things, 4
for his loyal love endures.
145:15 Everything looks to you in anticipation, 5
and you provide them with food on a regular basis. 6
145:16 You open your hand,
and fill every living thing with the food they desire. 7
147:9 He gives food to the animals,
and to the young ravens when they chirp. 8
38:41 Who prepares prey for the raven,
when its young cry out to God
and wander about 9 for lack of food?
1 tn Heb “mountains of God.” The divine name אֵל (’el, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.
2 tn Or “deliver.”
3 sn God’s justice/fairness is firm and reliable like the highest mountains and as abundant as the water in the deepest sea. The psalmist uses a legal metaphor to describe God’s preservation of his creation. Like a just judge who vindicates the innocent, God protects his creation from destructive forces.
4 tn Heb “to all flesh,” which can refer to all people (see Pss 65:2; 145:21) or more broadly to mankind and animals. Elsewhere the psalms view God as the provider for all living things (see Pss 104:27-28; 145:15).
5 tn Heb “the eyes of all wait for you.”
6 tn Heb “and you give to them their food in its season” (see Ps 104:27).
7 tn Heb “[with what they] desire.”
8 tn Heb “which cry out.”
9 tn The verse is difficult, making some suspect that a line has dropped out. The little birds in the nest hardly go wandering about looking for food. Dhorme suggest “and stagger for lack of food.”
10 tn Or “crows.” Crows and ravens belong to the same family of birds. English uses “crow” as a general word for the family. Palestine has several indigenous members of the crow family.
11 tn Or “God gives them food to eat.” L&N 23.6 has both “to provide food for” and “to give food to someone to eat.”
12 tn Or “by being anxious.”
13 tn Or “a cubit to his height.” A cubit (πῆχυς, phcu") can measure length (normally about 45 cm or 18 inches) or time (a small unit, “hour” is usually used [BDAG 812 s.v.] although “day” has been suggested [L&N 67.151]). The term ἡλικία (Jhlikia) is ambiguous in the same way as πῆχυς. Most scholars take the term to describe age or length of life here, although a few refer it to bodily stature (see BDAG 435-36 s.v. 1.a for discussion). Worry about length of life seems a more natural figure than worry about height. However, the point either way is clear: Worrying adds nothing to life span or height.
14 tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text.
15 tn Or “why are you anxious for.”
16 tn Traditionally, “lilies.” According to L&N 3.32, “Though traditionally κρίνον has been regarded as a type of lily, scholars have suggested several other possible types of flowers, including an anemone, a poppy, a gladiolus, and a rather inconspicuous type of daisy.” In view of the uncertainty, the more generic “flowers” has been used in the translation.
17 tn Traditionally, “toil.” Although it might be argued that “work hard” would be a more precise translation of κοπιάω (kopiaw) here, the line in English scans better in terms of cadence with a single syllable.
18 tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text.
19 tn Grk “grass in the field.”
20 tn Grk “which is in the field today.”
21 tn Grk “into the oven.” The expanded translation “into the fire to heat the oven” has been used to avoid misunderstanding; most items put into modern ovens are put there to be baked, not burned.
22 sn The phrase how much more is a typical form of rabbinic argumentation, from the lesser to the greater. If God cares for the little things, surely he will care for the more important things.