7:13 He prepares to use deadly weapons against him; 1
he gets ready to shoot flaming arrows. 2
9:7 But the Lord 3 rules 4 forever;
he reigns in a just manner. 5
10:17 Lord, you have heard 6 the request 7 of the oppressed;
you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer. 8
21:12 For you make them retreat 9
when you shoot your arrows at them. 10
24:2 For he set its foundation upon the seas,
and established 11 it upon the ocean currents. 12
38:17 For I am about to stumble,
and I am in constant pain. 13
59:4 Though I have done nothing wrong, 14 they are anxious to attack. 15
Spring into action and help me! Take notice of me! 16
68:10 for you live among them. 17
You sustain the oppressed with your good blessings, O God.
78:37 They were not really committed to him, 18
and they were unfaithful to his covenant.
89:21 My hand will support him, 19
and my arm will strengthen him.
89:37 it will remain stable, like the moon, 20
his throne will endure like the skies.” 21 (Selah)
102:28 The children of your servants will settle down here,
and their descendants 22 will live securely in your presence.” 23
103:19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven;
his kingdom extends over everything. 24
112:7 He does not fear bad news.
He 25 is confident; he trusts 26 in the Lord.
119:133 Direct my steps by your word! 27
Do not let any sin dominate me!
141:2 May you accept my prayer like incense,
my uplifted hands like the evening offering! 28
1 tn Heb “and for him he prepares the weapons of death.”
2 tn Heb “his arrows into flaming [things] he makes.”
3 tn The construction vav (ו) + subject highlights the contrast between the exalted
4 tn Heb “sits” (i.e., enthroned, see v. 4). The imperfect verbal form highlights the generalization.
5 tn Heb “he establishes for justice his throne.”
5 sn You have heard. The psalmist is confident that God has responded positively to his earlier petitions for divine intervention. The psalmist apparently prayed the words of vv. 16-18 after the reception of an oracle of deliverance (given in response to the confident petition of vv. 12-15) or after the Lord actually delivered him from his enemies.
6 tn Heb “desire.”
7 tn Heb “you make firm their heart, you cause your ear to listen.”
7 tn Heb “you make them a shoulder,” i.e., “you make them turn and run, showing the back of their neck and shoulders.”
8 tn Heb “with your bowstrings you fix against their faces,” i.e., “you fix your arrows on the bowstrings to shoot at them.”
9 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite, referring to the creation of the world.
10 sn He…established it upon the ocean currents. The description reflects ancient Israelite prescientific cosmology, which is based on outward appearances. The language also suggests that God’s creative work involved the subjugation of chaos, symbolized by the sea.
11 tn Heb “and my pain [is] before me continually.”
13 tn Heb “without sin.”
14 tn Heb “they run and they are determined.”
15 tn Heb “arise to meet me and see.” The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to meet; to encounter”) here carries the nuance of “to help.”
15 tn The meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear; it appears to read, “your animals, they live in it,” but this makes little, if any, sense in this context. Some suggest that חָיָּה (khayah) is a rare homonym here, meaning “community” (BDB 312 s.v.) or “dwelling place” (HALOT 310 s.v. III *הַיָּה). In this case one may take “your community/dwelling place” as appositional to the third feminine singular pronominal suffix at the end of v. 9, the antecedent of which is “your inheritance.” The phrase יָשְׁבוּ־בָהּ (yashvu-vah, “they live in it”) may then be understood as an asyndetic relative clause modifying “your community/dwelling place.” A literal translation of vv. 9b-10a would be, “when it [your inheritance] is tired, you sustain it, your community/dwelling place in [which] they live.”
17 tn Heb “and their heart was not firm with him.”
19 tn Heb “with whom my hand will be firm.”
21 tn Heb “like the moon it will be established forever.”
22 tn Heb “and a witness in the sky, secure.” Scholars have offered a variety of opinions as to the identity of the “witness” referred to here, none of which is very convincing. It is preferable to join וְעֵד (vÿ’ed) to עוֹלָם (’olam) in the preceding line and translate the commonly attested phrase עוֹלָם וְעֵד (“forever”). In this case one may translate the second line, “[it] will be secure like the skies.” Another option (the one reflected in the present translation) is to take עד as a rare noun meaning “throne” or “dais.” This noun is attested in Ugaritic; see, for example, CTA 16 vi 22-23, where ksi (= כִּסֵּא, kisse’, “throne”) and ’d (= עד, “dais”) appear as synonyms in the poetic parallelism (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 91). Emending בַּשַּׁחַק (bashakhaq, “in the heavens”) to כַּשַׁחַק (kashakhaq, “like the heavens”) – bet/kaf (כ/ב) confusion is widely attested – one can then read “[his] throne like the heavens [is] firm/stable.” Verse 29 refers to the enduring nature of the heavens, while Job 37:18 speaks of God spreading out the heavens (שְׁחָקִים, shÿkhaqim) and compares their strength to a bronze mirror. Ps 89:29 uses the term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim, “skies”) which frequently appears in parallelism to שְׁחָקִים.
23 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
24 tn Heb “before you will be established.”
25 tn Heb “his kingdom rules over all.”
27 tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition and emotions (see Ps 108:1).
28 tn The passive participle בָּטֻחַ [בָּטוּחַ] (batuakh [batuakh]) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action. See Isa 26:3.
29 tn God’s “word” refers here to his law (see v. 11).
31 tn Heb “may my prayer be established [like] incense before you, the uplifting of my hands [like] an evening offering.”