Nehemiah 9:32

9:32 “So now, our God – the great, powerful, and awesome God, who keeps covenant fidelity ¹  – do not regard as inconsequential ²  all the hardship that has befallen us – our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people – from the days of the kings of Assyria until this very day!

Job 7:7

7:7 Remember ³  that my life is but a breath,

that ⁴  my eyes will never again ⁵  see happiness.

Psalms 89:47

89:47 Take note of my brief lifespan! ⁶ 

Why do you make all people so mortal? ⁷ 

Psalms 89:50

89:50 Take note, O Lord, ⁸  of the way your servants are taunted, ⁹ 

and of how I must bear so many insults from people! ¹⁰ 

Psalms 132:1

Psalm 132 ¹¹ 

A song of ascents. ¹² 

132:1 O Lord, for David’s sake remember

all his strenuous effort, ¹³ 

[9:32]  ¹ tn Heb “the covenant and loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys. The second noun retains its full nominal sense, while the first functions adjectivally: “the covenant and loyalty” = covenant fidelity.

[9:32]  ² tn Heb “do not let it seem small in your sight.”

[7:7]  ³ sn Job is probably turning here to God, as is clear from v. 11 on. The NIV supplies the word “God” for clarification. It was God who breathed breath into man’s nostrils (Gen 2:7), and so God is called to remember that man is but a breath.

[7:7]  ⁴ tn The word “that” is supplied in the translation.

[7:7]  ⁵ tn The verb with the infinitive serves as a verbal hendiadys: “return to see” means “see again.”

[89:47]  ⁶ tn Heb “remember me, what is [my] lifespan.” The Hebrew term חֶלֶד (kheled) is also used of one’s lifespan in Ps 39:5. Because the Hebrew text is so awkward here, some prefer to emend it to read מֶה חָדֵל אָנִי (meh khadel ’aniy, “[remember] how transient [that is, “short-lived”] I am”; see Ps 39:4).

[89:47]  ⁷ tn Heb “For what emptiness do you create all the sons of mankind?” In this context the term שָׁוְא (shavah) refers to mankind’s mortal nature and the brevity of life (see vv. 45, 48).

[89:50]  ⁸ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read here יְהוָה (yehvah, “the Lord”).

[89:50]  ⁹ tn Heb “remember, O Lord, the taunt against your servants.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the singular here, “your servant” (that is, the psalmist).

[89:50]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my lifting up in my arms [or “against my chest”] all of the many, peoples.” The term רַבִּים (rabbim, “many”) makes no apparent sense here. For this reason some emend the text to רִבֵי (rivey, “attacks by”), a defectively written plural construct form of רִיב (riv, “dispute; quarrel”).

[132:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 132. The psalmist reminds God of David’s devotion and of his promises concerning David’s dynasty and Zion.

[132:1]  ¹² sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[132:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “all his affliction.” This may refer to David’s strenuous and tireless efforts to make provision for the building of the temple (see 1 Chr 22:14). Some prefer to revocalize the text as עַנַוָתוֹ (’anavato, “his humility”).