40:5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;
you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us. 1
No one can thwart you! 2
I want to declare them and talk about them,
but they are too numerous to recount! 3
66:3 Say to God:
“How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power your enemies cower in fear 4 before you.
104:24 How many living things you have made, O Lord! 5
You have exhibited great skill in making all of them; 6
the earth is full of the living things you have made.
111:2 The Lord’s deeds are great,
eagerly awaited 7 by all who desire them.
145:3 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise!
No one can fathom his greatness! 8
145:4 One generation will praise your deeds to another,
and tell about your mighty acts! 9
“Great and astounding are your deeds,
Lord God, the All-Powerful! 13
Just 14 and true are your ways,
King over the nations! 15
1 tn Heb “many things you have done, you, O
2 tn Heb “there is none arrayed against you.” The precise meaning of the text is unclear, but the collocation עָרַךְ אֶל (’arakh ’el, “array against”) is used elsewhere of military (Judg 20:30; 1 Chr 19:17) or verbal opposition (Job 32:14).
3 tn Heb “I will declare and I will speak, they are too numerous to recount.” The present translation assumes that the cohortatives are used in a hypothetical manner in a formally unmarked conditional sentence, “Should I try to declare [them] and speak [of them]…” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). For other examples of cohortatives in the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, see GKC 320 §108.e. (It should be noted, however, that GKC understands this particular verse in a different manner. See GKC 320 §108.f, where it is suggested that the cohortatives are part of an apodosis with the protasis being suppressed.) Another option is to take the cohortatives as a declaration of the psalmist’s resolve to announce the truth expressed in the next line. In this case one might translate: “I will declare and speak [the truth]: They are too numerous to recount.”
4 tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 81:15 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “be weak, powerless” (see also Ps 109:24).
5 tn Heb “How many [are] your works, O
6 tn Heb “all of them with wisdom you have made.”
7 tn Heb “sought out.”
8 tn Heb “and concerning his greatness there is no searching.”
9 tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 4 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may one generation praise…and tell about.”
10 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
11 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
12 tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
13 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”
14 tn Or “righteous,” although the context favors justice as the theme.
15 tc Certain