Psalms 102:14-17

102:14 Indeed, ¹  your servants take delight in her stones,

and feel compassion for ²  the dust of her ruins. ³ 

102:15 The nations will respect the reputation of the Lord, ⁴ 

and all the kings of the earth will respect ⁵  his splendor,

102:16 when the Lord rebuilds Zion,

and reveals his splendor,

102:17 when he responds to the prayer of the destitute, ⁶ 

and does not reject ⁷  their request. ⁸ 

[102:14]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[102:14]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “her dust,” probably referring to the dust of the city’s rubble.

[102:15]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn The verb “will fear” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).

[102:17]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “despise.”

[102:17]  ⁸ 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.