Exodus 15:2

15:2 The Lord ¹  is my strength and my song, ² 

and he has become my salvation.

This is my God, and I will praise him, ³ 

my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Psalms 63:1

Psalm 63 ⁴ 

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. ⁵ 

63:1 O God, you are my God! I long for you! ⁶ 

My soul thirsts ⁷  for you,

my flesh yearns for you,

in a dry and parched ⁸  land where there is no water.

Psalms 95:7

95:7 For he is our God;

we are the people of his pasture,

the sheep he owns. ⁹ 

Today, if only you would obey him! ¹⁰ 

Psalms 100:3

100:3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us and we belong to him; ¹¹ 

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Psalms 118:28

118:28 You are my ¹²  God and I will give you thanks!

You are my God and I will praise you!

[15:2]  ¹ tn Heb “Yah.” Moses’ poem here uses a short form of the name Yahweh, traditionally rendered in English by “the LORD.”

[15:2]  ² tn The word וְזִמְרָת (vÿzimrat) is problematic. It probably had a suffix yod (י) that was accidentally dropped because of the yod (י) on the divine name following. Most scholars posit another meaning for the word. A meaning of “power” fits the line fairly well, forming a hendiadys with strength – “strength and power” becoming “strong power.” Similar lines are in Isa 12:2 and Ps 118:14. Others suggest “protection” or “glory.” However, there is nothing substantially wrong with “my song” in the line – only that it would be a nicer match if it had something to do with strength.

[15:2]  ³ tn The word נָוָה (navah) occurs only here. It may mean “beautify, adorn” with praises (see BDB 627 s.v.). See also M. Dahood, “Exodus 15:2: ‘anwehu and Ugaritic snwt,” Bib 59 (1979): 260-61; and M. Klein, “The Targumic Tosefta to Exodus 15:2,” JJS 26 (1975): 61-67; and S. B. Parker, “Exodus 15:2 Again,” VT 21 (1971): 373-79.

[63:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 63. The psalmist expresses his intense desire to be in God’s presence and confidently affirms that God will judge his enemies.

[63:1]  ⁵ sn According to the psalm superscription David wrote the psalm while in the “wilderness of Judah.” Perhaps this refers to the period described in 1 Sam 23-24 or to the incident mentioned in 2 Sam 15:23.

[63:1]  ⁶ tn Or “I will seek you.”

[63:1]  ⁷ tn Or “I thirst.”

[63:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” This may picture the land as “faint” or “weary,” or it may allude to the effect this dry desert has on those who are forced to live in it.

[95:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “of his hand.”

[95:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “if only you would listen to his voice.” The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (cf. Ps 81:8). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.

[100:3]  ¹¹ tn The present translation (like most modern translations) follows the Qere (marginal reading), which reads literally, “and to him [are] we.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and not we.” The suffixed preposition לו (“to him”) was confused aurally with the negative particle לא because the two sound identical.

[118:28]  ¹² sn You are my God. The psalmist speaks again (see v. 21), responding to the words of the worshipers (vv. 22-27).