40:11 O Lord, you do not withhold 1 your compassion from me.
May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me! 2
43:3 Reveal 3 your light 4 and your faithfulness!
They will lead me, 5
they will escort 6 me back to your holy hill, 7
and to the place where you live. 8
57:3 May he send help from heaven and deliver me 9
from my enemies who hurl insults! 10 (Selah)
May God send his loyal love and faithfulness!
20:28 Loyal love and truth 19 preserve a king,
and his throne is upheld by loyal love. 20
7:20 You will be loyal to Jacob
and extend your loyal love to Abraham, 21
which you promised on oath to our ancestors 22
in ancient times. 23
1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering 24 his mercy, 25
1:55 as he promised 26 to our ancestors, 27 to Abraham and to his descendants 28 forever.”
1 tn Some (cf. NIV, NRSV) translate the verb as a request (“do not withhold”), but elsewhere in the psalms the second masculine singular prefixed form, when addressed to God and preceded by לֹא (lo’), is always indicative in mood and never has the force of a prayer (see Pss 16:10; 22:2; 44:9 51:16-17; 60:10; 108:11; cf. NEB, NASB).
2 tn In this line the psalmist makes the transition from confidence to petition (see v. 13). Since the prefixed verbal form in the preceding line is imperfect/indicative, one could take the verb in this line as imperfect as well and translate, “your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me” (cf. NEB). However, the כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the next verse, if causal (“because”), is best understood as introducing a motivating argument in support of a petition. For this reason v. 11b is best taken as a prayer with the prefixed form being understood as jussive (cf. NIV, NRSV). For parallels to the proposed construction (jussive followed by כִּי + perfect introducing motivating argument), see Ps 25:21, as well as Pss 10:2-3; 22:8.
3 tn Heb “send.”
4 sn God’s deliverance is compared here to a light which will lead the psalmist back home to the Lord’s temple. Divine deliverance will in turn demonstrate the Lord’s faithfulness to his people.
5 tn Or “may they lead me.” The prefixed verbal forms here and in the next line may be taken as jussives.
6 tn Heb “bring.”
7 sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill is Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 15:1; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.
8 tn Or “to your dwelling place[s].” The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; this is the
9 tn Heb “may he send from heaven and deliver me.” The prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives expressing the psalmist’s prayer. The second verb, which has a vav (ו) conjunctive prefixed to it, probably indicates purpose. Another option is to take the forms as imperfects expressing confidence, “he will send from heaven and deliver me” (cf. NRSV).
10 tn Heb “he hurls insults, one who crushes me.” The translation assumes that this line identifies those from whom the psalmist seeks deliverance. (The singular is representative; the psalmist is surrounded by enemies, see v. 4.) Another option is to understand God as the subject of the verb חָרַף (kharaf), which could then be taken as a homonym of the more common root חָרַף (“insult”) meaning “confuse.” In this case “one who crushes me” is the object of the verb. One might translate, “he [God] confuses my enemies.”
11 tn Heb “his faithfulness and his commitment.”
12 tn Heb “As for me – in the way the
13 tn Here “house” is an adverbial accusative of termination.
14 tn Heb “brothers.”
15 tn Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49).
16 tn Heb “you have done with.”
17 tn Heb “for with my staff.” The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally translated “staff,” has been rendered as “walking stick” because a “staff” in contemporary English refers typically to the support personnel in an organization.
18 tn Heb “this Jordan.”
19 tn The first line uses two Hebrew words, חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת (khesed ve’emet, “loyal love and truth”), to tell where security lies. The first word is the covenant term for “loyal love; loving-kindness; mercy”; and the second is “truth” in the sense of what is reliable and dependable. The two words often are joined together to form a hendiadys: “faithful love.” That a hendiadys is intended here is confirmed by the fact that the second line uses only the critical word חֶסֶד.
20 sn The emphasis is on the Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7:11-16; Ps 89:19-37). It is the
21 tn More literally, “You will extend loyalty to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham.
22 tn Heb “our fathers.” The Hebrew term refers here to more distant ancestors, not immediate parents.
23 tn Heb “which you swore [or, “pledged”] to our fathers from days of old.”
24 tn Or “because he remembered mercy,” understanding the infinitive as causal.
25 tn Or “his [God’s] loyal love.”
26 tn Grk “as he spoke.” Since this is a reference to the covenant to Abraham, ἐλάλησεν (elalhsen) can be translated in context “as he promised.” God keeps his word.
27 tn Grk “fathers.”
28 tn Grk “his seed” (an idiom for offspring or descendants).