Psalms 105:12

105:12 When they were few in number,

just a very few, and resident aliens within it,

Psalms 105:34

105:34 He ordered locusts to come, ¹ 

innumerable grasshoppers.

Psalms 147:4

147:4 He counts the number of the stars;

he names all of them.

Psalms 69:28

69:28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living! ² 

Do not let their names be listed with the godly! ³ 

Psalms 147:5

147:5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power; ⁴ 

there is no limit to his wisdom. ⁵ 

Psalms 40:5

40:5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;

you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us. ⁶ 

No one can thwart you! ⁷ 

I want to declare them and talk about them,

but they are too numerous to recount! ⁸ 

Psalms 40:12

40:12 For innumerable dangers ⁹  surround me.

My sins overtake me

so I am unable to see;

they outnumber the hairs of my head

so my strength fails me. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 104:25

104:25 Over here is the deep, wide sea, ¹¹ 

which teems with innumerable swimming creatures, ¹² 

living things both small and large.

[105:34]  ¹ tn Heb “he spoke and locusts came.”

[69:28]  ¹ tn Heb “let them be wiped out of the scroll of the living.”

[69:28]  ² tn Heb “and with the godly let them not be written.”

[147:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and great of strength.”

[147:5]  ² tn Heb “to his wisdom there is no counting.”

[40:5]  ¹ tn Heb “many things you have done, you, O Lord my God, your amazing deeds and your thoughts toward us.” The precise meaning of the text is not clear, but the psalmist seems to be recalling the Lord’s miraculous deeds on Israel’s behalf (see Pss 9:1; 26:7), as well as his covenantal decrees and promises (see Ps 33:11).

[40:5]  ² tn Heb “there is none arrayed against you.” The precise meaning of the text is unclear, but the collocation עָרַךְ אֶל (’arakh ’el, “array against”) is used elsewhere of military (Judg 20:30; 1 Chr 19:17) or verbal opposition (Job 32:14).

[40:5]  ³ tn Heb “I will declare and I will speak, they are too numerous to recount.” The present translation assumes that the cohortatives are used in a hypothetical manner in a formally unmarked conditional sentence, “Should I try to declare [them] and speak [of them]…” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). For other examples of cohortatives in the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, see GKC 320 §108.e. (It should be noted, however, that GKC understands this particular verse in a different manner. See GKC 320 §108.f, where it is suggested that the cohortatives are part of an apodosis with the protasis being suppressed.) Another option is to take the cohortatives as a declaration of the psalmist’s resolve to announce the truth expressed in the next line. In this case one might translate: “I will declare and speak [the truth]: They are too numerous to recount.”

[40:12]  ¹ tn Or “sinful deeds.” The Hebrew term used here can have a nonmoral nuance (“dangers”) or a moral one (“sinful deeds”) depending on the context. The next line (see “my sins”) seems to favor the moral sense, but the psalmist also speaks of enemies shortly after this (v. 14).

[40:12]  ² tn Heb “and my heart abandons me.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of emotional strength and courage. For a similar idea see Ps 38:10.

[104:25]  ¹ tn Heb “this [is] the sea, great and broad of hands [i.e., “sides” or “shores”].”

[104:25]  ² tn Heb “where [there are] swimming things, and without number.”