1 Samuel 6:20-21

6:20 The residents of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark ¹  go up from here?”

6:21 So they sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down here and take it back home with you.”

1 Samuel 16:4

16:4 Samuel did what the Lord told him. ²  When he arrived in Bethlehem, ³  the elders of the city were afraid to meet him. They ⁴  said, “Do you come in peace?”

1 Samuel 16:1

Samuel Anoints David as King

16:1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long do you intend to mourn for Saul? I have rejected him as king over Israel. ⁵  Fill your horn with olive oil and go! I am sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem, ⁶  for I have selected a king for myself from among his sons.” ⁷ 

1 Samuel 13:12

13:12 I thought, ⁸  ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt obligated ⁹  to offer the burnt offering.”

1 Samuel 15:13

15:13 When Samuel came to him, ¹⁰  Saul said to him, “May the Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord said.”

Job 13:11

13:11 Would not his splendor ¹¹  terrify ¹²  you

and the fear he inspires ¹³  fall on you?

Psalms 14:5

14:5 They are absolutely terrified, ¹⁴ 

for God defends the godly. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 14:2

14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven ¹⁶  at the human race, ¹⁷ 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ¹⁸  and seeks God. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 1:1

Book 1
(Psalms 1-41)

Psalm 1 ²⁰ 

1:1 How blessed ²¹  is the one ²²  who does not follow ²³  the advice ²⁴  of the wicked, ²⁵ 

or stand in the pathway ²⁶  with sinners,

or sit in the assembly ²⁷  of scoffers! ²⁸ 

[6:20]  ¹ tn Heb “he” or “it”; the referent here (the ark) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. also NIV, CEV, NLT). Others, however, take the referent to be the Lord himself.

[16:4]  ² tn Heb “said.”

[16:4]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[16:4]  ⁴ tc In the MT the verb is singular (“he said”), but the translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss and ancient versions in reading the plural (“they said”).

[16:1]  ⁵ tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek translation includes the following words: “And the Lord said to Samuel.”

[16:1]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[16:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “for I have seen among his sons for me a king.”

[13:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “said.”

[13:12]  ⁹ tn Or “I forced myself” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, CEV); NAB “So in my anxiety I offered”; NIV “I felt compelled.”

[15:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to Saul.”

[13:11]  ¹¹ sn The word translated “his majesty” or “his splendor” (שְׂאֵתוֹ, sÿ’eto) forms a play on the word “show partiality” (תִּשָּׂאוּן, tissa’un) in the last verse. They are both from the verb נָשַׂא (nasa’, “to lift up”).

[13:11]  ¹² tn On this verb in the Piel, see 7:14.

[13:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “His dread”; the suffix is a subjective genitive.

[14:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “there they are afraid [with] fear.” The perfect verbal form is probably used in a rhetorical manner; the psalmist describes the future demise of the oppressors as if it were already occurring. The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is also used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the wicked standing in fear at a spot that is this vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.). The cognate accusative following the verb emphasizes the degree of their terror.

[14:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for God is with a godly generation.” The Hebrew noun דּוֹר (dor, “generation”) refers here to the general class of people who are characterized by godliness. See BDB 190 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.

[14:2]  ¹⁶ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

[14:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”

[14:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[14:2]  ¹⁹ sn Anyone who is wise and seeks God refers to the person who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.

[1:1]  ²⁰ sn Psalm 1. In this wisdom psalm the author advises his audience to reject the lifestyle of the wicked and to be loyal to God. The psalmist contrasts the destiny of the wicked with that of the righteous, emphasizing that the wicked are eventually destroyed while the godly prosper under the Lord’s protective care.

[1:1]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see v. 3; Pss 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[1:1]  ²² tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” (Generic “he” is employed in vv. 2-3). Since the godly man described in the psalm is representative of followers of God (note the plural form צַדִּיקִים [tsadiqim, “righteous, godly”] in vv. 5-6), one could translate the collective singular with the plural “those” both here and in vv. 2-3, where singular pronouns and verbal forms are utilized in the Hebrew text (cf. NRSV). However, here the singular form may emphasize that godly individuals are usually outnumbered by the wicked. Retaining the singular allows the translation to retain this emphasis.

[1:1]  ²³ tn Heb “walk in.” The three perfect verbal forms in v. 1 refer in this context to characteristic behavior. The sequence “walk–stand–sit” envisions a progression from relatively casual association with the wicked to complete identification with them.

[1:1]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew noun translated “advice” most often refers to the “counsel” or “advice” one receives from others. To “walk in the advice of the wicked” means to allow their evil advice to impact and determine one’s behavior.

[1:1]  ²⁵ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21).

[1:1]  ²⁶ tn “Pathway” here refers to the lifestyle of sinners. To “stand in the pathway of/with sinners” means to closely associate with them in their sinful behavior.

[1:1]  ²⁷ tn Here the Hebrew term מוֹשַׁב (moshav), although often translated “seat” (cf. NEB, NIV), appears to refer to the whole assembly of evildoers. The word also carries the semantic nuance “assembly” in Ps 107:32, where it is in synonymous parallelism with קָהָל (qahal, “assembly”).

[1:1]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew word refers to arrogant individuals (Prov 21:24) who love conflict (Prov 22:10) and vociferously reject wisdom and correction (Prov 1:22; 9:7-8; 13:1; 15:12). To “sit in the assembly” of such people means to completely identify with them in their proud, sinful plans and behavior.