Discovery BoxPsalms 111:1--113:9
Context111:1 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.
111:2 The Lord’s deeds are great,
eagerly awaited 2 by all who desire them.
111:3 His work is majestic and glorious, 3
and his faithfulness endures 4 forever.
111:4 He does 5 amazing things that will be remembered; 6
the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
111:5 He gives 7 food to his faithful followers; 8
he always remembers his covenant. 9
111:6 He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,
giving them a land that belonged to other nations. 10
111:7 His acts are characterized by 11 faithfulness and justice;
all his precepts are reliable. 12
111:8 They are forever firm,
and should be faithfully and properly carried out. 13
111:9 He delivered his people; 14
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever. 15
His name is holy and awesome.
111:10 To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living; 16
all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight. 17
He will receive praise forever. 18
112:1 Praise the Lord!
How blessed is the one 20 who obeys 21 the Lord,
who takes great delight in keeping his commands. 22
112:2 His descendants 23 will be powerful on the earth;
the godly 24 will be blessed.
112:3 His house contains wealth and riches;
his integrity endures. 25
112:4 In the darkness a light 26 shines for the godly,
for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just. 27
112:5 It goes well for the one 28 who generously lends money,
and conducts his business honestly. 29
112:6 For he will never be upended;
others will always remember one who is just. 30
112:7 He does not fear bad news.
He 31 is confident; he trusts 32 in the Lord.
112:8 His resolve 33 is firm; he will not succumb to fear
before he looks in triumph on his enemies.
112:9 He generously gives 34 to the needy;
his integrity endures. 35
He will be vindicated and honored. 36
112:10 When the wicked 37 see this, they will worry;
they will grind their teeth in frustration 38 and melt away;
the desire of the wicked will perish. 39
113:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
113:2 May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore!
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
113:4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky. 42
113:5 Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne? 43
113:6 He bends down to look 44
at the sky and the earth.
113:7 He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile, 45
113:8 that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
113:9 He makes the barren woman of the family 46
a happy mother of children. 47
Praise the Lord!
[111:1] 1 sn Psalm 111. The psalmist praises God for his marvelous deeds, especially the way in which he provides for and delivers his people. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
[111:2] 2 tn Heb “sought out.”
[111:3] 3 tn For other uses of the Hebrew phrase וְהָדָר-הוֹד (hod-vÿhadar, “majesty and splendor”) see 1 Chr 16:27; Job 40:10; Pss 21:5; 96:6; 104:1.
[111:4] 5 tn Or “did,” if this refers primarily to the events of the exodus and conquest period (see vv. 6, 9).
[111:4] 6 tn Heb “a memorial he had made for his amazing deeds.”
[111:5] 7 tn Or “gave,” if the events of the exodus and conquest period (see v. 6, 9) are primarily in view.
[111:5] 8 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
[111:5] 9 tn Or “he remembers his covenant forever” (see Ps 105:8).
[111:6] 10 tn Heb “the strength of his deeds he proclaimed to his people, to give to them an inheritance of nations.”
[111:7] 11 tn Heb “the deeds of his hands [are].”
[111:7] 12 tn That is, fair and for man’s good.
[111:8] 13 tn Heb “done in faithfulness and uprightness.” The passive participle probably has the force of a gerund. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 89.
[111:9] 14 tn Heb “redemption he sent for his people.”
[111:9] 15 tn Heb “he commanded forever his covenant.”
[111:10] 16 tn Heb “the beginning of wisdom [is] the fear of the
[111:10] 17 tn Heb “good sense [is] to all who do them.” The third masculine plural pronominal suffix must refer back to the “precepts” mentioned in v. 7. In the translation the referent has been specified for clarity. The phrase שֵׂכֶל טוֹב (shekhel tov) also occurs in Prov 3:4; 13:15 and 2 Chr 30:22.
[111:10] 18 tn Heb “his praise stands forever.”
[112:1] 19 sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
[112:1] 20 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.
[112:1] 22 tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.
[112:2] 23 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
[112:2] 24 tn Heb “His seed will be mighty on the earth, the generation of the godly.” The Hebrew term דוֹר (dor, “generation”) could be taken as parallel to “offspring” and translated “posterity,” but the singular more likely refers to the godly as a class. See BDB 189-90 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.
[112:3] 25 tn Heb “stands forever.”
[112:4] 26 tn In this context “light” symbolizes divine blessing in its various forms (see v. 2), including material prosperity and stability.
[112:4] 27 tn Heb “merciful and compassionate and just.” The Hebrew text has three singular adjectives, which are probably substantival and in apposition to the “godly” (which is plural, however). By switching to the singular, the psalmist focuses on each individual member of the group known as the “godly.” Note how vv. 5-9, like vv. 1-2a, use the singular to describe the representative godly individual who typifies the whole group.
[112:5] 29 tn Heb “he sustains his matters with justice.”
[112:6] 30 tn Heb “for an eternal memorial a just [one] will be.”
[112:7] 31 tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition and emotions (see Ps 108:1).
[112:7] 32 tn The passive participle בָּטֻחַ [בָּטוּחַ] (batuakh [batuakh]) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action. See Isa 26:3.
[112:8] 33 tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition.
[112:9] 34 tn Heb “he scatters, he gives.”
[112:9] 35 tn Heb “stands forever.”
[112:9] 36 tn Heb “his horn will be lifted up in honor.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).
[112:10] 37 tn The Hebrew text uses the singular; the representative wicked individual is in view as typifying the group (note the use of the plural form in v. 10).
[112:10] 38 tn Heb “his teeth he will gnash.” In Pss 35:16 and 37:12 this action is associated with a vicious attack.
[112:10] 39 tn This could mean that the desires of the wicked will go unfulfilled. Another possibility is that “desire” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired. In this case the point is that the wicked will lose what they desired so badly and acquired by evil means (see Ps 10:3).
[113:1] 40 sn Psalm 113. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign king of the world who reaches down to help the needy.
[113:3] 41 tn Heb “from the rising of the sun to its setting.” The extent is not temporal (“from sunrise to sunset”) but spatial (“from the place where the sun rises [the east] to the place where it sets [the west].” In the phenomenological language of OT cosmology, the sun was described as rising in the east and setting in the west.
[113:4] 42 tn Heb “above the sky [is] his splendor.”
[113:5] 43 tn Heb “the one who makes high to sit.”
[113:6] 44 tn Heb “the one who makes low to see.”
[113:7] 45 sn The language of v. 7 is almost identical to that of 1 Sam 2:8.
