Psalms 102:13-17

102:13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion. ¹ 

For it is time to have mercy on her,

for the appointed time has come.

102:14 Indeed, ²  your servants take delight in her stones,

and feel compassion for ³  the dust of her ruins. ⁴ 

102:15 The nations will respect the reputation of the Lord, ⁵ 

and all the kings of the earth will respect ⁶  his splendor,

102:16 when the Lord rebuilds Zion,

and reveals his splendor,

102:17 when he responds to the prayer of the destitute, ⁷ 

and does not reject ⁸  their request. ⁹ 

[102:13]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal forms are understood as expressing the psalmist’s confidence in God’s intervention. Another option is to take them as expressing the psalmist’s request or wish, “You, rise up and have compassion!”

[102:14]  ² tn Or “for.”

[102:14]  ³ tn The Poel of חָנַן (khanan) occurs only here and in Prov 14:21, where it refers to having compassion on the poor.

[102:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “her dust,” probably referring to the dust of the city’s rubble.

[102:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “will fear the name of the Lord.” 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).

[102:15]  ⁶ tn The verb “will fear” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).

[102:17]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew adjective עַרְעָר (’arar, “destitute”) occurs only here in the OT. It is derived from the verbal root ערר (“to strip oneself”).

[102:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “despise.”

[102:17]  ⁹ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 16-17 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 15.