Psalms 119:3

119:3 who, moreover, do no wrong,

but follow in his footsteps. ¹ 

Psalms 37:1

Psalm 37 ² 

By David.

37:1 Do not fret ³  when wicked men seem to succeed! ⁴ 

Do not envy evildoers!

Psalms 107:42

107:42 When the godly see this, they rejoice,

and every sinner ⁵  shuts his mouth.

Psalms 40:6

40:6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern. ⁶ 

You make that quite clear to me! ⁷ 

You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.

Psalms 51:16

51:16 Certainly ⁸  you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it; ⁹ 

you do not desire a burnt sacrifice. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 51:19

51:19 Then you will accept ¹¹  the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;

then bulls will be sacrificed ¹²  on your altar. ¹³ 

Psalms 89:22

89:22 No enemy will be able to exact tribute ¹⁴  from him; ¹⁵ 

a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him. ¹⁶ 

[119:3]  ¹ tn Heb “walk in his ways.”

[37:1]  ² sn Psalm 37. The psalmist urges his audience not to envy the wicked, but to trust in and obey the Lord, for he will destroy sinners and preserve the godly. When the smoke of judgment clears, the wicked will be gone, but the godly will remain and inherit God’s promised blessings. The psalm is an acrostic; every other verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[37:1]  ³ tn The verb form is singular (see vv. 3-10 as well, where the second person verbs and pronouns are also singular). The psalmist’s exhortation has a wisdom flavor to it; it is personalized for each member of his audience.

[37:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “over sinners.” The context indicates that the psalmist has in mind the apparent power and success of sinners. See v. 7b.

[107:42]  ³ tn Heb “all evil,” which stands metonymically for those who do evil.

[40:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “sacrifice and offering you do not desire.” The statement is exaggerated for the sake of emphasis (see Ps 51:16 as well). God is pleased with sacrifices, but his first priority is obedience and loyalty (see 1 Sam 15:22). Sacrifices and offerings apart from genuine allegiance are meaningless (see Isa 1:11-20).

[40:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “ears you hollowed out for me.” The meaning of this odd expression is debated (this is the only collocation of “hollowed out” and “ears” in the OT). It may have been an idiomatic expression referring to making a point clear to a listener. The LXX has “but a body you have prepared for me,” a reading which is followed in Heb 10:5.

[51:16]  ⁵ tn Or “For.” The translation assumes the particle is asseverative (i.e., emphasizing: “certainly”). (Some translations that consider the particle asseverative leave it untranslated.) If taken as causal or explanatory (“for”, cf. NRSV), the verse would explain why the psalmist is pleading for forgiveness, rather than merely offering a sacrifice.

[51:16]  ⁶ tn The translation assumes that the cohortative is used in a hypothetical manner in a formally unmarked conditional sentence, “You do not want a sacrifice, should I offer [it]” (cf. NEB). 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 cohortative is part of an apodosis with the protasis being suppressed.)

[51:16]  ⁷ sn You do not desire a burnt sacrifice. The terminology used in v. 16 does not refer to expiatory sacrifices, but to dedication and communion offerings. This is not a categorical denial of the sacrificial system in general or of the importance of such offerings. The psalmist is talking about his specific situation. Dedication and communion offerings have their proper place in worship (see v. 19), but God requires something more fundamental, a repentant and humble attitude (see v. 17), before these offerings can have real meaning.

[51:19]  ⁶ tn Or “desire, take delight in.”

[51:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “then they will offer up bulls.” The third plural subject is indefinite.

[51:19]  ⁸ sn Verses 18-19 appear to reflect the exilic period, when the city’s walls lay in ruins and the sacrificial system had been disrupted.

[89:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “an enemy will not exact tribute.” The imperfect is understood in a modal sense, indicating capability or potential.

[89:22]  ⁸ tn The translation understands the Hiphil of נָשַׁא (nasha’) in the sense of “act as a creditor.” This may allude to the practice of a conqueror forcing his subjects to pay tribute in exchange for “protection.” Another option is to take the verb from a homonymic verbal root meaning “to deceive,” “to trick.” Still another option is to emend the form to יִשָּׂא (yisa’), a Qal imperfect from נָאַשׂ (na’as, “rise up”) and to translate “an enemy will not rise up against him” (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 2:317).

[89:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “and a son of violence will not oppress him.” The imperfect is understood in a modal sense, indicating capability or potential. The reference to a “son of violence” echoes the language of God’s promise to David in 2 Sam 7:10 (see also 1 Chr 17:9).