Psalms 14:4

14:4 All those who behave wickedly ¹  do not understand – ² 

those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,

and do not call out to the Lord.

Psalms 37:25

37:25 I was once young, now I am old.

I have never seen a godly man abandoned,

or his children ³  forced to search for food. ⁴ 

Psalms 41:9

41:9 Even my close friend ⁵  whom I trusted,

he who shared meals with me, has turned against me. ⁶ 

Psalms 53:4

53:4 All those who behave wickedly ⁷  do not understand ⁸  –

those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,

and do not call out to God.

Psalms 102:4

102:4 My heart is parched ⁹  and withered like grass,

for I am unable ¹⁰  to eat food. ¹¹ 

Psalms 104:14-15

104:14 He provides grass ¹²  for the cattle,

and crops for people to cultivate, ¹³ 

so they can produce food from the ground, ¹⁴ 

104:15 as well as wine that makes people feel so good, ¹⁵ 

and so they can have oil to make their faces shine, ¹⁶ 

as well as food that sustains people’s lives. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 146:7

146:7 vindicates the oppressed, ¹⁸ 

and gives food to the hungry.

The Lord releases the imprisoned.

[14:4]  ¹ tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8.

[14:4]  ² tn Heb “Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question (rendered in the translation as a positive affirmation) expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5-7).

[37:25]  ³ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “or his offspring searching for food.” The expression “search for food” also appears in Lam 1:11, where Jerusalem’s refugees are forced to search for food and to trade their valuable possessions for something to eat.

[41:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “man of my peace.” The phrase here refers to one’s trusted friend (see Jer 38:22; Obad 7).

[41:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “has made a heel great against me.” The precise meaning of this phrase, which appears only here, is uncertain.

[53:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8. Ps 14:4 adds כֹּל (kol, “all of”) before “workers of wickedness.”

[53:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5-6).

[102:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “struck, attacked.”

[102:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I forget.”

[102:4]  ¹¹ sn I am unable to eat food. During his time of mourning, the psalmist refrained from eating. In the following verse he describes metaphorically the physical effects of fasting.

[104:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “causes the grass to sprout up.”

[104:14]  ¹² tn Heb “for the service of man” (see Gen 2:5).

[104:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “to cause food to come out from the earth.”

[104:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “and wine [that] makes the heart of man happy.”

[104:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to make [the] face shine from oil.” The Hebrew verb צָהַל (tsahal, “to shine”) occurs only here in the OT. It appears to be an alternate form of צָהַר (tsahar), a derivative from צָהָרִים (tsaharim, “noon”).

[104:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and food [that] sustains the heart of man.”

[146:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “executes justice for the oppressed.”