Psalms 10:15

10:15 Break the arm ¹  of the wicked and evil man!

Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds, ² 

which he thought you would not discover. ³ 

Psalms 22:21

22:21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lion, ⁴ 

and from the horns of the wild oxen! ⁵ 

You have answered me! ⁶ 

Psalms 45:14

45:14 In embroidered robes she is escorted to the king.

Her attendants, the maidens of honor who follow her,

are led before you. ⁷ 

Psalms 47:1

Psalm 47 ⁸ 

For the music director; by the Korahites; a psalm.

47:1 All you nations, clap your hands!

Shout out to God in celebration! ⁹ 

Psalms 68:26

68:26 In your large assemblies praise God,

the Lord, in the assemblies of Israel! ¹⁰ 

Psalms 74:23

74:23 Do not disregard ¹¹  what your enemies say, ¹² 

or the unceasing shouts of those who defy you. ¹³ 

Psalms 94:13

94:13 in order to protect him from times of trouble, ¹⁴ 

until the wicked are destroyed. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 94:20

94:20 Cruel rulers ¹⁶  are not your allies,

those who make oppressive laws. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 97:7

97:7 All who worship idols are ashamed,

those who boast about worthless idols.

All the gods bow down before him. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 102:28

102:28 The children of your servants will settle down here,

and their descendants ¹⁹  will live securely in your presence.” ²⁰ 

Psalms 135:1

Psalm 135 ²¹ 

135:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise the name of the Lord!

Offer praise, you servants of the Lord,

Psalms 143:2

143:2 Do not sit in judgment on ²²  your servant,

for no one alive is innocent before you. ²³ 

[10:15]  ¹ sn The arm symbolizes the strength of the wicked, which they use to oppress and exploit the weak.

[10:15]  ² tn Heb “you seek his wickedness.” As in v. 13, the verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as describing a fact, “you hold him accountable,” or as anticipating divine judgment, “you will hold him accountable.” However, since the verb is in apparent parallelism with the preceding imperative (“break”), it is better to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s desire or request.

[10:15]  ³ tn Heb “you will not find.” It is uncertain how this statement relates to what precedes. Some take בַל (bal), which is used as a negative particle in vv. 4, 6, 11, 18, as asseverative here, “Indeed find (i.e., judge his wickedness).” The translation assumes that the final words are an asyndetic relative clause which refers back to what the wicked man boasted in God’s face (“you will not find [i.e., my wickedness]”). See v. 13.

[22:21]  ⁴ sn The psalmist again compares his enemies to vicious dogs and ferocious lions (see vv. 13, 16).

[22:21]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term רֵמִים (remim) appears to be an alternate spelling of רְאֵמִים (rÿ’emim, “wild oxen”; see BDB 910 s.v. רְאֵם).

[22:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “and from the horns of the wild oxen you answer me.” Most take the final verb with the preceding prepositional phrase. Some understand the verb form as a relatively rare precative perfect, expressing a wish or request (see IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew. (See the discussion at Ps 3:7.) Others prefer to take the perfect in its usual indicative sense. The psalmist, perhaps in response to an oracle of salvation, affirms confidently that God has answered him, assuring him that deliverance is on the way. The present translation takes the prepositional phrase as parallel to the preceding “from the mouth of the lion” and as collocated with the verb “rescue” at the beginning of the verse. “You have answered me” is understood as a triumphant shout which marks a sudden shift in tone and introduces the next major section of the psalm. By isolating the statement syntactically, the psalmist highlights the declaration.

[45:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “virgins after her, her companions, are led to you.” Some emend לָךְ (lakh, “to you”) to לָהּ (lah, “to her,” i.e., the princess), because the princess is now being spoken of in the third person (vv. 13-14a), rather than being addressed directly (as in vv. 10-12). However, the ambiguous suffixed form לָךְ need not be taken as second feminine singular. The suffix can be understood as a pausal second masculine singular form, addressed to the king. The translation assumes this to be the case; note that the king is addressed once more in vv. 16-17, where the second person pronouns are masculine.

[47:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 47. In this hymn the covenant community praises the Lord as the exalted king of the earth who has given them victory over the nations and a land in which to live.

[47:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Shout to God with [the] sound of a ringing cry!”

[68:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “from the fountain of Israel,” which makes little, if any, sense here. The translation assumes an emendation to בְּמִקְרָאֵי (bÿmiqra’ey, “in the assemblies of [Israel]”).

[74:23]  ¹⁶ tn Or “forget.”

[74:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the voice of your enemies.”

[74:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the roar of those who rise up against you, which ascends continually.”

[94:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to give him rest from the days of trouble.”

[94:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “until a pit is dug for the wicked.”

[94:20]  ²² tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.

[94:20]  ²³ tn Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.

[97:7]  ²⁵ tn The translation assumes that the prefixed verbal form in the first line is an imperfect (“are ashamed”) and that the ambiguous form in the third line is a perfect (“bow down”) because the psalmist appears to be describing the effect of the Lord’s mighty theophany on those who witness it (see vv. 5, 8). Another option is to take the prefixed form in the first line as a jussive (“let all who worship idols be ashamed”) and the ambiguous form in the third line as an imperative (“All you gods, bow down before him!”; cf. NIV).

[102:28]  ²⁸ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[102:28]  ²⁹ tn Heb “before you will be established.”

[135:1]  ³¹ sn Psalm 135. The psalmist urges God’s people to praise him because he is the incomparable God and ruler of the world who has accomplished great things for Israel.

[143:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”

[143:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”