Psalms 145:4-6

145:4 One generation will praise your deeds to another,

and tell about your mighty acts! ¹ 

145:5 I will focus on your honor and majestic splendor,

and your amazing deeds! ² 

145:6 They will proclaim ³  the power of your awesome acts!

I will declare your great deeds!

Deuteronomy 4:9

Reminder of the Horeb Covenant

4:9 Again, however, pay very careful attention, ⁴  lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren.

Deuteronomy 6:7

6:7 and you must teach ⁵  them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, ⁶  as you lie down, and as you get up.

Joel 1:3

1:3 Tell your children ⁷  about it,

have your children tell their children,

and their children the following generation. ⁸ 

[145:4]  ¹ tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 4 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may one generation praise…and tell about.”

[145:5]  ² tn Heb “the splendor of the glory of your majesty, and the matters of your amazing deeds I will ponder.”

[145:6]  ³ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as an imperfect, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as a jussive, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may they proclaim.”

[4:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “watch yourself and watch your soul carefully.”

[6:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “repeat” (so NLT). If from the root I שָׁנַן (shanan), the verb means essentially to “engrave,” that is, “to teach incisively” (Piel); note NAB “Drill them into your children.” Cf. BDB 1041-42 s.v.

[6:7]  ⁶ tn Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”

[1:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “sons.” This word occurs several times in this verse.

[1:3]  ⁸ sn The circumstances that precipitated the book of Joel surrounded a locust invasion in Palestine that was of unprecedented proportions. The locusts had devastated the country’s agrarian economy, with the unwelcome consequences extending to every important aspect of commercial, religious, and national life. To further complicate matters, a severe drought had exhausted water supplies, causing life-threatening shortages for animal and human life (cf. v. 20). Locust invasions occasionally present significant problems in Palestine in modern times. The year 1865 was commonly known among Arabic-speaking peoples of the Near East as sent el jarad, “year of the locust.” The years 1892, 1899, and 1904 witnessed significant locust invasions in Palestine. But in modern times there has been nothing equal in magnitude to the great locust invasion that began in Palestine in February of 1915. This modern parallel provides valuable insight into the locust plague the prophet Joel points to as a foreshadowing of the day of the Lord. For an eyewitness account of the 1915 locust invasion of Palestine see J. D. Whiting, “Jerusalem’s Locust Plague,” National Geographic 28 (December 1915): 511-50.