56:12 I am obligated to fulfill the vows I made to you, O God; 1
I will give you the thank-offerings you deserve, 2
56:13 when you deliver 3 my life from death.
You keep my feet from stumbling, 4
so that I might serve 5 God as I enjoy life. 6
1 tn Heb “upon me, O God, [are] your vows.”
2 tn Heb “I will repay thank-offerings to you.”
3 tn The perfect verbal form is probably future perfect; the psalmist promises to make good on his vows once God has delivered him (see Pss 13:5; 52:9). (2) Another option is to understand the final two verses as being added later, after the
4 tn Heb “are not my feet [kept] from stumbling?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they are!” The question has been translated as an affirmation for the sake of clarification of meaning.
5 tn Heb “walk before.” For a helpful discussion of the background and meaning of this Hebrew idiom, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 254; cf. the same idiom in 2 Kgs 20:3; Isa 38:3.
6 tn Heb “in the light of life.” The phrase is used here and in Job 33:30.