64:3 They 1 sharpen their tongues like a sword;
they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, 2
64:4 in order to shoot down the innocent 3 in secluded places.
They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation. 4
123:3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!
For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some. 5
123:4 We have had our fill 6
of the taunts of the self-assured,
of the contempt of the proud.
A song of ascents. 8
123:1 I look up 9 toward you,
the one enthroned 10 in heaven.
2:3 They say, 11 “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! 12
Let’s free ourselves from 13 their ropes!”
2:2 The kings of the earth 14 form a united front; 15
the rulers collaborate 16
against the Lord and his anointed king. 17
By David; a well-written song. 19
32:1 How blessed 20 is the one whose rebellious acts are forgiven, 21
whose sin is pardoned! 22
“The virgin daughter Zion 24
despises you – she makes fun of you;
daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you. 25
37:23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted
and looked so arrogantly? 26
At the Holy One of Israel! 27
37:24 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, 28
‘With my many chariots I climbed up
the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions, 29
its thickest woods.
8:48 The Judeans 33 replied, 34 “Aren’t we correct in saying 35 that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?” 36
1 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “a bitter word.”
3 tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.
4 tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
5 tn Heb “for greatly we are filled [with] humiliation.”
6 tn Heb “greatly our soul is full to it.”
7 sn Psalm 123. The psalmist, speaking for God’s people, acknowledges his dependence on God in the midst of a crisis.
8 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
9 tn Heb “I lift my eyes.”
10 tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12).
11 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.
12 tn Heb “their (i.e., the
13 tn Heb “throw off from us.”
14 sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.
15 tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.
16 tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).
17 tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).
18 sn Psalm 32. The psalmist recalls the agony he experienced prior to confessing his sins and affirms that true happiness comes when one’s sins are forgiven. He then urges others not to be stubborn, but to turn to God while forgiveness is available, for God extends his mercy to the repentant, while the wicked experience nothing but sorrow.
19 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
20 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15). Here it refers to the relief that one experiences when one’s sins are forgiven.
21 tn Heb “lifted up.”
22 tn Heb “covered over.”
23 tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”
24 sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.
25 sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
26 tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?” Cf. NIV “lifted your eyes in pride”; NRSV “haughtily lifted your eyes.”
27 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
28 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
29 tn Heb “the height of its extremity”; ASV “its farthest height.”
30 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
31 tn Grk “except by Beelzebul.”
32 tn Or “prince.”
33 tn Grk “the Jews.” See the note on this term in v. 31. Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem (“Judeans”; cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e) who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple courts (8:20) and had initially believed his claim to be the Messiah (cf. 8:31). They had become increasingly hostile as Jesus continued to teach. Now they were ready to say that Jesus was demon-possessed.
34 tn Grk “answered and said to him.”
35 tn Grk “Do we not say rightly.”
36 tn Grk “and have a demon.” It is not clear what is meant by the charge Σαμαρίτης εἶ σὺ καὶ δαιμόνιον ἔχεις (Samarith" ei su kai daimonion ecei"). The meaning could be “you are a heretic and are possessed by a demon.” Note that the dual charge gets one reply (John 8:49). Perhaps the phrases were interchangeable: Simon Magus (Acts 8:14-24) and in later traditions Dositheus, the two Samaritans who claimed to be sons of God, were regarded as mad, that is, possessed by demons.
37 tn BDAG 801 s.v. περιίστημι 1.a has “περιέστησαν αὐτὸν οἱ ᾿Ιουδαῖοι the Judeans stood around him 25:7.”
38 tn Grk “many and serious.” The term βαρύς (barus) refers to weighty or serious charges (BDAG 167 s.v. 1).
39 tn The term ἀποδείκνυμι (apodeiknumi) in a legal context refers to legal proof (4 Macc 1:8; BDAG 108 s.v. 3).