Psalms 1:2

1:2 Instead ¹  he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; ² 

he meditates on ³  his commands ⁴  day and night.

Psalms 32:3-4

32:3 When I refused to confess my sin, ⁵ 

my whole body wasted away, ⁶ 

while I groaned in pain all day long.

32:4 For day and night you tormented me; ⁷ 

you tried to destroy me ⁸  in the intense heat ⁹  of summer. ¹⁰  (Selah)

Psalms 35:28

35:28 Then I will tell others about your justice, ¹¹ 

and praise you all day long. ¹² 

Psalms 44:22

44:22 Yet because of you ¹³  we are killed all day long;

we are treated like ¹⁴  sheep at the slaughtering block. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 55:10

55:10 Day and night they walk around on its walls, ¹⁶ 

while wickedness and destruction ¹⁷  are within it.

Psalms 71:15

71:15 I will tell about your justice,

and all day long proclaim your salvation, ¹⁸ 

though I cannot fathom its full extent. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 74:16

74:16 You established the cycle of day and night; ²⁰ 

you put the moon ²¹  and sun in place. ²² 

Psalms 74:22

74:22 Rise up, O God! Defend your honor! ²³ 

Remember how fools insult you all day long! ²⁴ 

Psalms 78:9

78:9 The Ephraimites ²⁵  were armed with bows, ²⁶ 

but they retreated in the day of battle. ²⁷ 

Psalms 81:3

81:3 Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon, ²⁸ 

and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins. ²⁹ 

Psalms 91:5

91:5 You need not fear the terrors of the night, ³⁰ 

the arrow that flies by day,

Psalms 110:5

110:5 O sovereign Lord, ³¹  at your right hand

he strikes down ³²  kings in the day he unleashes his anger. ³³ 

Psalms 118:24

118:24 This is the day the Lord has brought about. ³⁴ 

We will be happy and rejoice in it.

Psalms 140:7

140:7 O sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, ³⁵ 

you shield ³⁶  my head in the day of battle.

[1:2]  ¹ tn Here the Hebrew expression כִּי־אִם (ki-’im, “instead”) introduces a contrast between the sinful behavior depicted in v. 1 and the godly lifestyle described in v. 2.

[1:2]  ² tn Heb “his delight [is] in the law of the Lord.” In light of the following line, which focuses on studying the Lord’s law, one might translate, “he finds pleasure in studying the Lord’s commands.” However, even if one translates the line this way, it is important to recognize that mere study and intellectual awareness are not ultimately what bring divine favor. Study of the law is metonymic here for the correct attitudes and behavior that should result from an awareness of and commitment to God’s moral will; thus “obeying” has been used in the translation rather than “studying.”

[1:2]  ³ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the characteristic behavior described here and lends support to the hyperbolic adverbial phrase “day and night.” The verb הָגָה (hagag) means “to recite quietly; to meditate” and refers metonymically to intense study and reflection.

[1:2]  ⁴ tn Or “his law.”

[32:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “when I was silent.”

[32:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “my bones became brittle.” The psalmist pictures himself as aging and growing physically weak. Trying to cover up his sin brought severe physical consequences.

[32:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “your hand was heavy upon me.”

[32:4]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “my [?] was turned.” The meaning of the Hebrew term לְשַׁד (lÿshad) is uncertain. A noun לָשָׁד (lashad, “cake”) is attested in Num 11:8, but it would make no sense to understand that word in this context. It is better to emend the form to לְשֻׁדִּי (lÿshuddiy, “to my destruction”) and understand “your hand” as the subject of the verb “was turned.” In this case the text reads, “[your hand] was turned to my destruction.” In Lam 3:3 the author laments that God’s “hand” was “turned” (הָפַךְ, hafakh) against him in a hostile sense.

[32:4]  ¹¹ tn The translation assumes that the plural form indicates degree. If one understands the form as a true plural, then one might translate, “in the times of drought.”

[32:4]  ¹² sn Summer. Perhaps the psalmist suffered during the hot season and perceived the very weather as being an instrument of divine judgment. Another option is that he compares his time of suffering to the uncomfortable and oppressive heat of summer.

[35:28]  ¹³ tn Heb “and my tongue will proclaim your justice.”

[35:28]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all the day your praise.” The verb “proclaim” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the previous line).

[44:22]  ¹⁷ tn The statement “because of you” (1) may simply indicate that God is the cause of the Israelites’ defeat (see vv. 9-14, where the nation’s situation is attributed directly to God’s activity, and cf. NEB, NRSV), or (2) it may suggest they suffer because of their allegiance to God (see Ps 69:7 and Jer 15:15). In this case one should translate, “for your sake” (cf. NASB, NIV). The citation of this verse in Rom 8:36 follows the LXX (Ps 43:23 LXX), where the Greek term ἕνεκεν (Jeneken; LXX ἕνεκα) may likewise mean “because of” or “for the sake of” (BDAG 334 s.v. ἕνεκα 1).

[44:22]  ¹⁸ tn Or “regarded as.”

[44:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “like sheep of slaughtering,” that is, sheep destined for slaughter.

[55:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “day and night they surround it, upon its walls.” Personified “violence and conflict” are the likely subjects. They are compared to watchmen on the city’s walls.

[55:10]  ²² sn Wickedness and destruction. These terms are also closely associated in Ps 7:14.

[71:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “my mouth declares your vindication, all the day your deliverance.”

[71:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “though I do not know [the] numbers,” that is, the tally of God’s just and saving acts. HALOT 768 s.v. סְפֹרוֹת understands the plural noun to mean “the art of writing.”

[74:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “To you [is] day, also to you [is] night.”

[74:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “[the] light.” Following the reference to “day and night” and in combination with “sun,” it is likely that the Hebrew term מָאוֹר (ma’or, “light”) refers here to the moon.

[74:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “you established [the] light and [the] sun.”

[74:22]  ³³ tn Or “defend your cause.”

[74:22]  ³⁴ tn Heb “remember your reproach from a fool all the day.”

[78:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the sons of Ephraim.” Ephraim probably stands here by synecdoche (part for whole) for the northern kingdom of Israel.

[78:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “ones armed, shooters of bow.” It is possible that the term נוֹשְׁקֵי (noshÿqey, “ones armed [with]”) is an interpretive gloss for the rare רוֹמֵי (romey, “shooters of”; on the latter see BDB 941 s.v. I רָמָה). The phrase נוֹשְׁקֵי קֶשֶׁת (noshÿqey qeshet, “ones armed with a bow”) appears in 1 Chr 12:2; 2 Chr 17:17.

[78:9]  ³⁹ sn They retreated. This could refer to the northern tribes’ failure to conquer completely their allotted territory (see Judg 1), or it could refer generally to the typical consequence (military defeat) of their sin (see vv. 10-11).

[81:3]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “at the new moon.”

[81:3]  ⁴² tn Heb “at the full moon on the day of our festival.” The Hebrew word כֶּסֶה (keseh) is an alternate spelling of כֶּסֶא (kese’, “full moon”).

[91:5]  ⁴⁵ tn This probably alludes to a sneak attack by enemies in the darkness of night (see Song 3:8).

[110:5]  ⁴⁹ tn As pointed in the Hebrew text, this title refers to God (many medieval Hebrew mss read יְהוָה, yehveh, “Lord” here). The present translation assumes that the psalmist here addresses the Lord as he celebrates what the king is able to accomplish while positioned at God’s “right hand.” According to this view the king is the subject of the third person verb forms in vv. 5b-7. (2) Another option is to understand the king as the addressee (as in vv. 2-3). In this case “the Lord” is the subject of the third person verbs throughout vv. 5-7 and is depicted as a warrior in a very anthropomorphic manner. In this case the Lord is pictured as being at the psalmist’s right hand (just the opposite of v. 1). See Pss 16:8; 121:5. (3) A third option is to revocalize אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”) as אֲדֹנִי (’adoniy, “my lord”; see v. 1). In this case one may translate, “My lord, at his [God’s] right hand, strikes down.” In this case the king is the subject of the third person verbs in vv. 5b-7.

[110:5]  ⁵⁰ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 5-6 are understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing. Another option is to take them as rhetorical. In this case the psalmist describes anticipated events as if they had already taken place.

[110:5]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “in the day of his anger.”

[118:24]  ⁵³ tn Heb “this is the day the Lord has made.” Though sometimes applied in a general way, this statement in its context refers to the day of deliverance which the psalmist and people celebrate.

[140:7]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “the strength of my deliverance.”

[140:7]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “cover.”