78:23 He gave a command to the clouds above,
and opened the doors in the sky.
106:17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it engulfed 1 the group led by Abiram. 2
105:41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out;
a river ran through dry regions.
109:2 For they say cruel and deceptive things to me;
they lie to me. 3
119:131 I open my mouth and pant,
because I long 4 for your commands.
22:13 They 5 open their mouths to devour me 6
like a roaring lion that rips its prey. 7
40:6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern. 8
You make that quite clear to me! 9
You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.
35:21 They are ready to devour me; 10
they say, “Aha! Aha! We’ve got you!” 11
18:9 He made the sky sink 12 as he descended;
a thick cloud was under his feet.
66:14 which my lips uttered
and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.
119:26 I told you about my ways 13 and you answered me.
Teach me your statutes!
39:9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth
because of what you have done. 14
74:15 You broke open the spring and the stream; 15
you dried up perpetually flowing rivers. 16
105:20 The king authorized his release; 17
the ruler of nations set him free.
1 tn Or “covered.”
2 tn Or “the assembly of Abiram.”
1 tn Heb “for a mouth of evil and a mouth of deceit against me they open, they speak with me [with] a tongue of falsehood.”
1 tn The verb occurs only here in the OT.
1 tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”
2 tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).
3 tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”
1 tn Heb “sacrifice and offering you do not desire.” The statement is exaggerated for the sake of emphasis (see Ps 51:16 as well). God is pleased with sacrifices, but his first priority is obedience and loyalty (see 1 Sam 15:22). Sacrifices and offerings apart from genuine allegiance are meaningless (see Isa 1:11-20).
2 tn Heb “ears you hollowed out for me.” The meaning of this odd expression is debated (this is the only collocation of “hollowed out” and “ears” in the OT). It may have been an idiomatic expression referring to making a point clear to a listener. The LXX has “but a body you have prepared for me,” a reading which is followed in Heb 10:5.
1 tn Heb “and they cause their mouth to be wide against me.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries on the generalizing mood of the previous verse. For other examples of this use of the prefixed verbal form with vav consecutive, see GKC 329 §111.t.
2 tn Heb “our eye sees.” Apparently this is an idiom meaning to “look in triumph” or “gloat over” (see Ps 54:7).
1 tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “[cause to] bend, bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the
1 tn Heb “my ways I proclaimed.”
1 tn Heb “because you acted.” The psalmist has in mind God’s disciplinary measures (see vv. 10-13).
1 sn You broke open the spring and the stream. Perhaps this alludes to the way in which God provided water for the Israelites as they traveled in the wilderness following the exodus (see Ps 78:15-16, 20; 105:41).
2 sn Perpetually flowing rivers are rivers that contain water year round, unlike the seasonal streams that flow only during the rainy season. Perhaps the psalmist here alludes to the drying up of the Jordan River when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan under Joshua (see Josh 3-4).
1 tn Heb “[the] king sent and set him free.”