Psalms 115:4

115:4 Their ¹  idols are made of silver and gold –

they are man-made. ² 

Psalms 18:20

18:20 The Lord repaid ³  me for my godly deeds; ⁴ 

he rewarded ⁵  my blameless behavior. ⁶ 

Psalms 18:34

18:34 He trains my hands for battle; ⁷ 

my arms can bend even the strongest bow. ⁸ 

Psalms 63:10

63:10 Each one will be handed over to the sword; ⁹ 

their corpses will be eaten by jackals. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 81:14

81:14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,

and attack ¹¹  their adversaries.”

Psalms 89:21

89:21 My hand will support him, ¹² 

and my arm will strengthen him.

Psalms 135:15

135:15 The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold,

they are man-made. ¹³ 

Psalms 143:6

143:6 I spread my hands out to you in prayer; ¹⁴ 

my soul thirsts for you in a parched ¹⁵  land. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 18:24

18:24 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds; ¹⁷ 

he took notice of my blameless behavior. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 22:16

22:16 Yes, ¹⁹  wild dogs surround me –

a gang of evil men crowd around me;

like a lion they pin my hands and feet. ²⁰ 

Psalms 28:2

28:2 Hear my plea for mercy when I cry out to you for help,

when I lift my hands ²¹  toward your holy temple! ²² 

Psalms 144:1

Psalm 144 ²³ 

By David.

144:1 The Lord, my protector, ²⁴  deserves praise ²⁵  –

the one who trains my hands for battle, ²⁶ 

and my fingers for war,

Psalms 77:2

77:2 In my time of trouble I sought ²⁷  the Lord.

I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. ²⁸ 

I ²⁹  refused to be comforted.

[115:4]  ¹ tn The referent of the pronominal suffix is “the nations” (v. 2).

[115:4]  ² tn Heb “the work of the hands of man.”

[18:20]  ³ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not imperfect.

[18:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “according to my righteousness.” As vv. 22-24 make clear, the psalmist refers here to his unwavering obedience to God’s commands. In these verses the psalmist explains that the Lord was pleased with him and willing to deliver him because he had been loyal to God and obedient to his commandments. Ancient Near Eastern literature contains numerous parallels. A superior (a god or king) would typically reward a subject (a king or the servant of a king, respectively) for loyalty and obedience. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 211-13.

[18:20]  ⁵ tn The unreduced Hiphil prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, in which case the psalmist would be generalizing. However, both the preceding and following contexts (see especially v. 24) suggest he is narrating his experience. Despite its unreduced form, the verb is better taken as a preterite. For other examples of unreduced Hiphil preterites, see Pss 55:14a; 68:9a, 10b; 80:8a; 89:43a; 107:38b; 116:6b.

[18:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands he repaid to me.” “Hands” suggest activity and behavior.

[18:34]  ⁵ sn He trains my hands. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement. Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.

[18:34]  ⁶ tn Heb “and a bow of bronze is bent by my arms”; or “my arms bend a bow of bronze.” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) apparently means “pull back, bend” here (see HALOT 692 s.v. נחת). The third feminine singular verbal form appears to agree with the feminine singular noun קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”). In this case the verb must be taken as Niphal (passive). However, it is possible that “my arms” is the subject of the verb and “bow” the object. In this case the verb is Piel (active). For other examples of a feminine singular verb being construed with a plural noun, see GKC 464 §145.k.

[63:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “they will deliver him over to the sword.” The third masculine plural subject must be indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f) and the singular pronominal suffix either representative or distributive (emphasizing that each one will be so treated). Active verbs with indefinite subjects may be translated as passives with the object (in the Hebrew text) as subject (in the translation).

[63:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “they will be [the] portion of jackals”; traditionally, “of foxes.”

[81:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “turn my hand against.” The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack” (see Isa 1:25; Ezek 38:12; Amos 1:8; Zech 13:7).

[89:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “with whom my hand will be firm.”

[135:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “the work of the hands of man.”

[143:6]  ¹⁵ tn The words “in prayer” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the psalmist is referring to a posture of prayer.

[143:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” See Ps 63:1.

[143:6]  ¹⁷ tc Heb “my soul like a faint land for you.” A verb (perhaps “thirsts”) is implied (see Ps 63:1). The translation assumes an emendation of the preposition -כְּ (kÿ, “like”) to -בְּ (bÿ, “in,” see Ps 63:1; cf. NEB “athirst for thee in a thirsty land”). If the MT is retained, one might translate, “my soul thirsts for you, as a parched land does for water/rain” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[18:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “according to my righteousness.”

[18:24]  ¹⁸ 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.

[22:16]  ¹⁹ tn Or “for.”

[22:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “like a lion, my hands and my feet.” This reading is often emended because it is grammatically awkward, but perhaps its awkwardness is by rhetorical design. Its broken syntax may be intended to convey the panic and terror felt by the psalmist. The psalmist may envision a lion pinning the hands and feet of its victim to the ground with its paws (a scene depicted in ancient Near Eastern art), or a lion biting the hands and feet. The line has been traditionally translated, “they pierce my hands and feet,” and then taken as foreshadowing the crucifixion of Christ. Though Jesus does appropriate the language of this psalm while on the cross (compare v. 1 with Matt 27:46 and Mark 15:34), the NT does not cite this verse in describing the death of Jesus. (It does refer to vv. 7-8 and 18, however. See Matt 27:35, 39, 43; Mark 15:24, 29; Luke 23:34; John 19:23-24.) If one were to insist on an emendation of כָּאֲרִי (ka’ariy, “like a lion”) to a verb, the most likely verbal root would be כָּרָה (karah, “dig”; see the LXX). In this context this verb could refer to the gnawing and tearing of wild dogs (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV). The ancient Greek version produced by Symmachus reads “bind” here, perhaps understanding a verbal root כרך, which is attested in later Hebrew and Aramaic and means “to encircle, entwine, embrace” (see HALOT 497-98 s.v. כרך and Jastrow 668 s.v. כָּרַךְ). Neither one of these proposed verbs can yield a meaning “bore, pierce.”

[28:2]  ²¹ sn I lift my hands. Lifting one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer.

[28:2]  ²² tn The Hebrew term דְּבִיר (dÿvir, “temple”) actually refers to the most holy place within the sanctuary.

[144:1]  ²³ sn Psalm 144. The psalmist expresses his confidence in God, asks for a mighty display of divine intervention in an upcoming battle, and anticipates God’s rich blessings on the nation in the aftermath of military victory.

[144:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[144:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord, my rocky summit.”

[144:1]  ²⁶ sn The one who trains my hands for battle. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement (see Ps 18:34). Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.

[77:2]  ²⁵ tn Here the psalmist refers back to the very recent past, when he began to pray for divine help.

[77:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “my hand [at] night was extended and was not growing numb.” The verb נָגַר (nagar), which can mean “flow” in certain contexts, here has the nuance “be extended.” The imperfect form (תָפוּג, tafug, “to be numb”) is used here to describe continuous action in the past.

[77:2]  ²⁷ tn Or “my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).