Psalms 118:1-23

Psalm 118 ¹ 

118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good

and his loyal love endures! ² 

118:2 Let Israel say,

“Yes, his loyal love endures!”

118:3 Let the family ³  of Aaron say,

“Yes, his loyal love endures!”

118:4 Let the loyal followers of the Lord ⁴  say,

“Yes, his loyal love endures!”

118:5 In my distress ⁵  I cried out to the Lord.

The Lord answered me and put me in a wide open place. ⁶ 

118:6 The Lord is on my side, ⁷  I am not afraid!

What can people do to me? ⁸ 

118:7 The Lord is on my side ⁹  as my helper. ¹⁰ 

I look in triumph on those who hate me.

118:8 It is better to take shelter ¹¹  in the Lord

than to trust in people.

118:9 It is better to take shelter in the Lord

than to trust in princes.

118:10 All the nations surrounded me. ¹² 

Indeed, in the name of the Lord ¹³  I pushed them away. ¹⁴ 

118:11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me.

Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.

118:12 They surrounded me like bees.

But they disappeared as quickly ¹⁵  as a fire among thorns. ¹⁶ 

Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.

118:13 “You aggressively attacked me ¹⁷  and tried to knock me down, ¹⁸ 

but the Lord helped me.

118:14 The Lord gives me strength and protects me; ¹⁹ 

he has become my deliverer.” ²⁰ 

118:15 They celebrate deliverance in the tents of the godly. ²¹ 

The Lord’s right hand conquers, ²² 

118:16 the Lord’s right hand gives victory, ²³ 

the Lord’s right hand conquers.

118:17 I will not die, but live,

and I will proclaim what the Lord has done. ²⁴ 

118:18 The Lord severely ²⁵  punished me,

but he did not hand me over to death.

118:19 Open for me the gates of the just king’s temple! ²⁶ 

I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.

118:20 This is the Lord’s gate –

the godly enter through it.

118:21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me,

and have become my deliverer.

118:22 The stone which the builders discarded ²⁷ 

has become the cornerstone. ²⁸ 

118:23 This is the Lord’s work.

We consider it amazing! ²⁹ 

[118:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 118. The psalmist thanks God for his deliverance and urges others to join him in praise.

[118:1]  ² tn Or “is forever.”

[118:3]  ³ tn Heb “house.”

[118:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “fearers of the Lord.” See Ps 15:4.

[118:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the distress.” The noun מֵצַר (metsar, “straits; distress”) occurs only here and in Lam 1:3. In Ps 116:3 מצר should probably be emended to מְצָדֵי (mÿtsadey, “snares of”).

[118:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord answered me in a wide open place.”

[118:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “for me.”

[118:6]  ⁸ tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential. See Ps 56:11.

[118:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “for me.”

[118:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “among my helpers.” The preposition may indicate identity here, while the plural may be one of majesty or respect.

[118:8]  ¹¹ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[118:10]  ¹² sn The reference to an attack by the nations suggests the psalmist may have been a military leader.

[118:10]  ¹³ tn In this context the phrase “in the name of the Lord” means “by the Lord’s power.”

[118:10]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally the verb has been derived from מוּל (mul, “to circumcise”) and translated “[I] cut [them] off” (see BDB 557-58 s.v. II מוּל). However, it is likely that this is a homonym meaning “to fend off” (see HALOT 556 s.v. II מול) or “to push away.” In this context, where the psalmist is reporting his past experience, the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite. The phrase also occurs in vv. 11, 12.

[118:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “were extinguished.”

[118:12]  ¹⁶ tn The point seems to be that the hostility of the nations (v. 10) is short-lived, like a fire that quickly devours thorns and then burns out. Some, attempting to create a better parallel with the preceding line, emend דֹּעֲכוּ (do’akhu, “they were extinguished”) to בָּעֲרוּ (ba’aru, “they burned”). In this case the statement emphasizes their hostility.

[118:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “pushing, you pushed me.” The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following verbal idea. The psalmist appears to address the nations as if they were an individual enemy. Some find this problematic and emend the verb form (which is a Qal perfect second masculine singular with a first person singular suffix) to נִדְחֵיתִי (nidkheti), a Niphal perfect first common singular, “I was pushed.”

[118:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to fall,” i.e., “that [I] might fall.”

[118:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my strength and protection [is] the Lord.” The Hebrew term זִמְרָת (zimrat) is traditionally understood as meaning “song” (“my strength and song [is] the Lord”) in which case one might translate, “for the Lord gives me strength and joy” (i.e., a reason to sing). However, many recent commentators have argued that the noun זִמְרָת is here a homonym, meaning “protection” or “strength.” See HALOT 274 s.v.; cf. NEB “The Lord is my refuge and defence”; NRSV “my strength and my might.”

[118:14]  ²⁰ tn Or “salvation.”

[118:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “the sound of a ringing shout and deliverance [is] in the tents of the godly.”

[118:15]  ²² tn Heb “does valiantly.” The statement refers here to military success (see Num 24:18; 1 Sam 14:48; Pss 60:12; 108:13).

[118:16]  ²³ tn Heb “exalts.”

[118:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the works of the Lord.”

[118:18]  ²⁵ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following verbal idea.

[118:19]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the gates of justice.” The gates of the Lord’s temple are referred to here, as v. 20 makes clear. They are called “gates of justice” because they are the entrance to the just king’s palace. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[118:22]  ²⁷ tn Or “rejected.”

[118:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the head of the corner.”

[118:23]  ²⁹ tn Heb “it is amazing in our eyes.” The use of the plural pronoun here and in vv. 24-27 suggests that the psalmist may be speaking for the entire nation. However, it is more likely that vv. 22-27 are the people’s response to the psalmist’s thanksgiving song (see especially v. 26). They rejoice with him because his deliverance on the battlefield (see vv. 10-12) had national repercussions.