68:27 There is little Benjamin, their ruler, 1
and the princes of Judah in their robes, 2
along with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
82:7 Yet you will die like mortals; 3
you will fall like all the other rulers.” 4
105:22 giving him authority to imprison his officials 5
and to teach his advisers. 6
שׂ/שׁ (Sin/Shin)
119:161 Rulers pursue me for no reason,
yet I am more afraid of disobeying your instructions. 7
119:23 Though rulers plot and slander me, 8
your servant meditates on your statutes.
148:11 you kings of the earth and all you nations,
you princes and all you leaders 9 on the earth,
45:16 Your 10 sons will carry 11 on the dynasty of your ancestors; 12
you will make them princes throughout the land.
1 sn Little Benjamin, their ruler. This may allude to the fact that Israel’s first king, Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin.
2 tc The MT reads רִגְמָתָם (rigmatam), which many derive from רָגַם (ragam, “to kill by stoning”) and translates, “[in] their heaps,” that is, in large numbers.
3 tn Heb “men.” The point in the context is mortality, however, not maleness.
4 tn Heb “like one of the rulers.” The comparison does not necessarily imply that they are not rulers. The expression “like one of” can sometimes mean “as one of” (Gen 49:16; Obad 11) or “as any other of” (Judg 16:7, 11).
5 tn Heb “to bind his officials by his will.”
6 tn Heb “and his elders he taught wisdom.”
7 tn Heb “and because of your instructions my heart trembles.” The psalmist’s healthy “fear” of the consequences of violating God’s instructions motivates him to obey them. See v. 120.
9 tn Heb “though rulers sit, about me they talk together.” (For another example of the Niphal of דָּבַר (davar) used with a suffixed form of the preposition ב, see Ezek 33:30.)
11 tn Or “judges.”
13 tn The pronoun is second masculine singular, indicating the king is being addressed from this point to the end of the psalm.
14 tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive and the statement interpreted as a prayer, “May your sons carry on the dynasty of your ancestors!” The next line could then be taken as a relative clause, “[your sons] whom you will make princes throughout the land.”
15 tn Heb “in place of your fathers will be your sons.”