Psalms 41:1-2

Psalm 41 ¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

41:1 How blessed ²  is the one who treats the poor properly! ³ 

When trouble comes, ⁴  the Lord delivers him. ⁵ 

41:2 May the Lord protect him and save his life! ⁶ 

May he be blessed ⁷  in the land!

Do not turn him over ⁸  to his enemies! ⁹ 

Psalms 61:5

61:5 For you, O God, hear my vows;

you grant me the reward that belongs to your loyal followers. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 85:9

85:9 Certainly his loyal followers will soon experience his deliverance; ¹¹ 

then his splendor will again appear in our land. ¹² 

Psalms 103:11

103:11 For as the skies are high above the earth,

so his loyal love towers ¹³  over his faithful followers. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 111:5

111:5 He gives ¹⁵  food to his faithful followers; ¹⁶ 

he always remembers his covenant. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 145:19

145:19 He satisfies the desire ¹⁸  of his loyal followers; ¹⁹ 

he hears their cry for help and delivers them.

Proverbs 11:18

11:18 The wicked person ²⁰  earns ²¹  deceitful wages, ²² 

but the one who sows ²³  righteousness reaps ²⁴  a genuine ²⁵  reward. ²⁶ 

Proverbs 19:17

19:17 The one who is gracious ²⁷  to the poor lends ²⁸  to the Lord,

and the Lord ²⁹  will repay him ³⁰  for his good deed. ³¹ 

Ecclesiastes 8:12

8:12 Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes ³²  and still live a long time, ³³ 

yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people ³⁴  – for they stand in fear ³⁵  before him.

Isaiah 3:10

3:10 Tell the innocent ³⁶  it will go well with them, ³⁷ 

for they will be rewarded for what they have done. ³⁸ 

Matthew 10:42

10:42 And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth, ³⁹  he will never lose his reward.”

Matthew 25:40

25:40 And the king will answer them, ⁴⁰  ‘I tell you the truth, ⁴¹  just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters ⁴²  of mine, you did it for me.’

Luke 1:50

1:50 from ⁴³  generation to generation he is merciful ⁴⁴  to those who fear ⁴⁵  him.

Hebrews 6:10

6:10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints.

[41:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 41. The psalmist is confident (vv. 11-12) that the Lord has heard his request to be healed (vv. 4-10), and he anticipates the joy he will experience when the Lord intervenes (vv. 1-3). One must assume that the psalmist is responding to a divine oracle of assurance (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 319-20). The final verse is a fitting conclusion to this psalm, but it is also serves as a fitting conclusion to the first “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the second, third, and fourth “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 72:19, 89:52, and 106:48 respectively).

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

[41:1]  ³ sn One who treats the poor properly. The psalmist is characterizing himself as such an individual and supplying a reason why God has responded favorably to his prayer. The Lord’s attitude toward the merciful mirrors their treatment of the poor.

[41:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the day of trouble” (see Ps 27:5).

[41:1]  ⁵ tn That is, the one who has been kind to the poor. The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive of prayer (“may the Lord deliver,” see v. 2), but the preceding parallel line is a declaration of fact, not a prayer per se. The imperfect can be taken here as future (“will deliver,” cf. NEB, NASB) or as generalizing (“delivers,” cf. NIV, NRSV). The parallel line, which has a generalizing tone, favors the latter. At the same time, though the psalmist uses a generalizing style here, he clearly has himself primarily in view.

[41:2]  ⁶ tn The prefixed verbal forms are taken as jussives in the translation because the jussive is clearly used in the final line of the verse, suggesting that this is a prayer. The psalmist stops to pronounce a prayer of blessing on the godly individual envisioned in v. 1. Of course, he actually has himself primarily in view. He mixes confidence (vv. 1, 3) with petition (v. 2) because he stands in the interval between the word of assurance and the actual intervention by God.

[41:2]  ⁷ tc The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib), which has a Pual (passive) prefixed form, regarded here as a jussive. The Pual of the verb אָשַׁר (’ashar) also appears in Prov 3:18. The marginal reading (Qere) assumes a vav (ו) consecutive and Pual perfect. Some, with the support of the LXX, change the verb to a Piel (active) form with an objective pronominal suffix, “and may he bless him,” or “and he will bless him” (cf. NIV).

[41:2]  ⁸ tn The negative particle אַל (’al) before the prefixed verbal form indicates the verb is a jussive and the statement a prayer. Those who want to take v. 2 as a statement of confidence suggest emending the negative particle to לֹא (lo’), which is used with the imperfect. See the earlier note on the verbal forms in line one of this verse. According to GKC 322 §109.e, this is a case where the jussive is used rhetorically to “express that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one might translate, “you will not turn him over to his enemies,” and take the preceding verbal forms as indicative in mood.

[41:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “do not give him over to the desire of his enemies” (see Ps 27:12).

[61:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you grant the inheritance of those who fear your name.” “Inheritance” is normally used of land which is granted as an inheritance; here it refers metaphorically to the blessings granted God’s loyal followers. To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for his revealed reputation which in turn motivates one to obey God’s commands (see Ps 86:11).

[85:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “certainly his deliverance [is] near to those who fear him.”

[85:9]  ¹² tn Heb “to dwell, glory, in our land.” “Glory” is the subject of the infinitive. The infinitive with -לְ (lÿ), “to dwell,” probably indicates result here (“then”). When God delivers his people and renews his relationship with them, he will once more reveal his royal splendor in the land.

[103:11]  ¹³ tn For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.

[103:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[111:5]  ¹⁵ tn Or “gave,” if the events of the exodus and conquest period (see v. 6, 9) are primarily in view.

[111:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[111:5]  ¹⁷ tn Or “he remembers his covenant forever” (see Ps 105:8).

[145:19]  ¹⁸ tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.

[145:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”

[11:18]  ²⁰ tn The form is the masculine singular adjective used as a substantive.

[11:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “makes” (so NAB).

[11:18]  ²² tn Heb “wages of deception.”

[11:18]  ²³ sn The participle “sowing” provides an implied comparison (the figure is known as hypocatastasis) with the point of practicing righteousness and inspiring others to do the same. What is sown will yield fruit (1 Cor 9:11; 2 Cor 9:6; Jas 3:18).

[11:18]  ²⁴ tn The term “reaps” does not appear in the Hebrew but has been supplied in the translation from context for the sake of smoothness.

[11:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “true” (so NASB, NRSV); KJV, NAB, NIV “sure.”

[11:18]  ²⁶ sn A wordplay (paronomasia) occurs between “deceptive” (שָׁקֶר, shaqer) and “reward” (שֶׂכֶר, sekher), underscoring the contrast by the repetition of sounds. The wages of the wicked are deceptive; the reward of the righteous is sure.

[19:17]  ²⁷ sn The participle חוֹנֵן (khonen, “shows favor to”) is related to the word for “grace.” The activity here is the kind favor shown poor people for no particular reason and with no hope of repayment. It is literally an act of grace.

[19:17]  ²⁸ tn The form מַלְוֵה (malveh) is the Hiphil participle from לָוָה (lavah) in construct; it means “to cause to borrow; to lend.” The expression here is “lender of the Lord.” The person who helps the poor becomes the creditor of God.

[19:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he.” The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular pronoun is “the Lord” in the preceding line, which has been supplied here in the translation for clarity.

[19:17]  ³⁰ sn The promise of reward does not necessarily mean that the person who gives to the poor will get money back; the rewards in the book of Proverbs involve life and prosperity in general.

[19:17]  ³¹ tn Heb “and his good deed will repay him.” The word גְּמֻלוֹ (gÿmulo) could be (1) the subject or (2) part of a double accusative of the verb. Understanding it as part of the double accusative makes better sense, for then the subject of the verb is God. How “his deed” could repay him is not immediately obvious.

[8:12]  ³² tn Heb “does evil one hundred [times].”

[8:12]  ³³ tn Heb “and prolongs his [life].”

[8:12]  ³⁴ tn Heb “those who fear God.”

[8:12]  ³⁵ tn Heb “they fear.”

[3:10]  ³⁶ tn Or “the righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, TEV); NLT “those who are godly.”

[3:10]  ³⁷ tn Heb “that it is good.”

[3:10]  ³⁸ tn Heb “for the fruit of their deeds they will eat.”

[10:42]  ³⁹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[25:40]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “answering, the king will say to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[25:40]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[25:40]  ⁴² tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). In this context Jesus is ultimately speaking of his “followers” (whether men or women, adults or children), but the familial connotation of “brothers and sisters” is also important to retain here.

[1:50]  ⁴³ tn Grk “and from.” Here καί (kai) has been translated by a semicolon to improve the English style.

[1:50]  ⁴⁴ sn God’s mercy refers to his “loyal love” or “steadfast love,” expressed in faithful actions, as the rest of the psalm illustrates.

[1:50]  ⁴⁵ tn That is, “who revere.” This refers to those who show God a reverential respect for his sovereignty.