Psalms 10:5

10:5 He is secure at all times. ¹ 

He has no regard for your commands; ² 

he disdains all his enemies. ³ 

Psalms 18:22

18:22 For I am aware of all his regulations, ⁴ 

and I do not reject his rules. ⁵ 

Psalms 18:24

18:24 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds; ⁶ 

he took notice of my blameless behavior. ⁷ 

Psalms 22:25

22:25 You are the reason I offer praise ⁸  in the great assembly;

I will fulfill my promises before the Lord’s loyal followers. ⁹ 

Psalms 23:5

23:5 You prepare a feast before me ¹⁰ 

in plain sight of my enemies.

You refresh ¹¹  my head with oil;

my cup is completely full. ¹² 

Psalms 38:9

38:9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire; ¹³ 

my groaning is not hidden from you.

Psalms 38:11

38:11 Because of my condition, ¹⁴  even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; ¹⁵ 

my neighbors stand far away. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 52:9

52:9 I will continually ¹⁷  thank you when ¹⁸  you execute judgment; ¹⁹ 

I will rely ²⁰  on you, ²¹  for your loyal followers know you are good. ²² 

Psalms 69:19

69:19 You know how I am insulted, humiliated and disgraced;

you can see all my enemies. ²³ 

Psalms 86:14

86:14 O God, arrogant men attack me; ²⁴ 

a gang ²⁵  of ruthless men, who do not respect you, seek my life. ²⁶ 

Psalms 101:3

101:3 I will not even consider doing what is dishonest. ²⁷ 

I hate doing evil; ²⁸ 

I will have no part of it. ²⁹ 

Psalms 101:7

101:7 Deceitful people will not live in my palace. ³⁰ 

Liars will not be welcome in my presence. ³¹ 

[10:5]  ¹ tn Heb “they are firm, his ways, at every time.” The verb חַיִל (khayil, “be firm, be strong”) occurs only here and in Job 20:21, where it has the sense “endure.”

[10:5]  ² tc Heb “[on a] height, your judgments from before him.” If the MT is retained, then the idea may be that God’s “judgments” are high above (i.e., not recognized) by the wicked man. However, the syntax is awkward. The translation assumes an emendation of מָרוֹם (marom, “height”) to סָרוּ (saru, “[your judgments] are turned aside”), the final mem (ם) being dittographic (note the initial mem on the immediately following word [מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ, mishÿfatekha, “your judgments”). “Judgments” probably refers here to God’s laws or commands, rather than his judicial decisions or acts of judgment.

[10:5]  ³ tn Heb “all his enemies, he snorts against them.” This may picture the wicked man defiantly challenging his enemies because he is confident of success. Another option is to take יָפִיחַ (yafiakh) from the root יָפַח (yafakh, “to testify”) and translate “he testifies against all his enemies,” implying that he gets the upper hand over them in legal battles. The noun יָפֵחַ (yafeakh, “witness”) is attested in biblical Hebrew (see Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3). The verb, however, is not clearly attested.

[18:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “for all his regulations [are] before me.” The Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim, “regulations”) refers to God’s covenantal requirements, especially those which the king is responsible to follow (cf. Deut 17:18-20). See also Pss 19:9 (cf. vv. 7-8); 89:30; 147:20 (cf. v. 19), as well as the numerous uses of the term in Ps 119.

[18:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “and his rules I do not turn aside from me.” 2 Sam 22:23 reads, “and his rules, I do not turn aside from it.” The prefixed verbal form is probably an imperfect; the psalmist here generalizes about his loyalty to God’s commands. The Lord’s “rules” are the stipulations of the covenant which the king was responsible to obey (see Ps 89:31; cf. v. 30 and Deut 17:18-20).

[18:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “according to my righteousness.”

[18:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.” 2 Sam 22:25 reads “according to my purity before his eyes.” The verbal repetition (compare vv. 20 and 24) sets off vv. 20-24 as a distinct sub-unit within the psalm.

[22:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from with you [is] my praise.”

[22:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him.” When asking the Lord for help, the psalmists would typically promise to praise the Lord publicly if he intervened and delivered them.

[23:5]  ¹³ sn In v. 5 the metaphor switches. (It would be very odd for a sheep to have its head anointed and be served wine.) The background for the imagery is probably the royal banquet. Ancient Near Eastern texts describe such banquets in similar terms to those employed by the psalmist. (See M. L. Barre and J. S. Kselman, “New Exodus, Covenant, and Restoration in Psalm 23,” The Word of the Lord Shall Go Forth, 97-127.) The reality behind the imagery is the Lord’s favor. Through his blessings and protection he demonstrates to everyone, including dangerous enemies, that the psalmist has a special relationship with him.

[23:5]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form in v. 5a carries on the generalizing mood of vv. 1-4. However, in v. 5b the psalmist switches to a perfect (דִּשַּׁנְתָּ, dishanta), which may have a generalizing force as well. But then again the perfect is conspicuous here and may be present perfect in sense, indicating that the divine host typically pours oil on his head prior to seating him at the banquet table. The verb דָשַׁן (dashan; the Piel is factitive) is often translated “anoint,” but this is misleading, for it might suggest a symbolic act of initiation into royal status. One would expect the verb מָשָׁח (mashan) in this case; דָשַׁן here describes an act of hospitality extended to guests and carries the nuance “refresh.” In Prov 15:30 it stands parallel to “make happy” and refers to the effect that good news has on the inner being of its recipient.

[23:5]  ¹⁵ tn The rare noun רְַָויָה (rÿvayah) is derived from the well-attested verb רָוָה (ravah, “be saturated, drink one’s fill”). In this context, where it describes a cup, it must mean “filled up,” but not necessarily to overflowing.

[38:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “O Lord, before you [is] all my desire.”

[38:11]  ¹⁹ tn Or “wound,” or “illness.”

[38:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “stand [aloof].”

[38:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”

[52:9]  ²² tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”

[52:9]  ²³ tn Or “for.”

[52:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “you have acted.” The perfect verbal form (1) probably indicates a future perfect here. The psalmist promises to give thanks when the expected vindication has been accomplished. Other options include (2) a generalizing (“for you act”) or (3) rhetorical (“for you will act”) use.

[52:9]  ²⁵ tn Or “wait.”

[52:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “your name.” God’s “name” refers here to his reputation and revealed character.

[52:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “for it is good in front of your loyal followers.”

[69:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “before you [are] all my enemies.”

[86:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “rise up against me.”

[86:14]  ²⁹ tn Or “assembly.”

[86:14]  ³⁰ tn Heb “seek my life and do not set you before them.” See Ps 54:3.

[101:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “I will not set before my eyes a thing of worthlessness.”

[101:3]  ³² tn Heb “the doing of swerving [deeds] I hate.” The Hebrew term סֵטִים (setim) is probably an alternate spelling of שֵׂטִים (setim), which appears in many medieval Hebrew mss. The form appears to be derived from a verbal root שׂוּט (sut, “to fall away; to swerve”; see Ps 40:4).

[101:3]  ³³ tn Heb “it [i.e., the doing of evil deeds] does not cling to me.”

[101:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he will not live in the midst of my house, one who does deceit.”

[101:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “one who speaks lies will not be established before my eyes.”