81:4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel; 1
it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.
94:20 Cruel rulers 2 are not your allies,
those who make oppressive laws. 3
148:6 He established them so they would endure; 4
he issued a decree that will not be revoked. 5
2:7 The king says, 6 “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: 7
‘You are my son! 8 This very day I have become your father!
1 tn Heb “because a statute for Israel [is] it.”
2 tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.
3 tn Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.
3 tn Or “forever and ever.”
4 tn Heb “and it will not pass away.”
4 tn The words “the king says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The speaker is the Lord’s chosen king.
5 tn Or “I will relate the decree. The
6 sn ‘You are my son!’ The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26-27). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.