Psalms 16:3

16:3 As for God’s chosen people who are in the land,

and the leading officials I admired so much ¹  –

Psalms 17:11

17:11 They attack me, now they surround me; ² 

they intend to throw me to the ground. ³ 

Psalms 27:13

27:13 Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience

the Lord’s favor in the land of the living? ⁴ 

Psalms 67:2

67:2 Then those living on earth will know what you are like;

all nations will know how you deliver your people. ⁵ 

Psalms 73:25

73:25 Whom do I have in heaven but you?

I desire no one but you on earth. ⁶ 

Psalms 78:12

78:12 He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors,

in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. ⁷ 

Psalms 88:12

88:12 Are your amazing deeds experienced ⁸  in the dark region, ⁹ 

or your deliverance in the land of oblivion? ¹⁰ 

Psalms 105:23

105:23 Israel moved to ¹¹  Egypt;

Jacob lived for a time ¹²  in the land of Ham.

Psalms 105:27

105:27 They executed his miraculous signs among them, ¹³ 

and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.

Psalms 106:22

106:22 amazing feats in the land of Ham,

mighty ¹⁴  acts by the Red Sea.

Psalms 112:2

112:2 His descendants ¹⁵  will be powerful on the earth;

the godly ¹⁶  will be blessed.

Psalms 119:19

119:19 I am like a foreigner in this land. ¹⁷ 

Do not hide your commands from me!

Psalms 119:87

119:87 They have almost destroyed me here on the earth,

but I do not reject your precepts.

Psalms 141:7

141:7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil, ¹⁸ 

so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

[16:3]  ¹ tn Heb “regarding the holy ones who [are] in the land, they; and the mighty [ones] in [whom is/was] all my desire.” The difficult syntax makes the meaning of the verse uncertain. The phrase “holy ones” sometimes refers to God’s angelic assembly (see Ps 89:5, 7), but the qualifying clause “who are in the land” suggests that here it refers to God’s people (Ps 34:9) or to their priestly leaders (2 Chr 35:3).

[17:11]  ² tc Heb “our steps, now they surround me.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “surround me,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has “surround us,” harmonizing the pronoun to the preceding “our steps.” The first person plural pronoun does not fit the context, where the psalmist speaks as an individual. In the preceding verses the psalmist uses a first person singular verbal or pronominal form twenty times. For this reason it is preferable to emend “our steps” to אִשְּׁרוּנִי (’ishÿruni, “they attack me”) from the verbal root אָשֻׁר (’ashur, “march, stride, track”).

[17:11]  ³ tn Heb “their eyes they set to bend down in the ground.”

[27:13]  ³ tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is incomplete: “If I had not believed [I would] see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” The words “Where would I be” are supplied in the translation to clarify the intent of the statement.

[67:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “to know in the earth your way, among all nations your deliverance.” The infinitive with -לְ (lamed) expresses purpose/result. When God demonstrates his favor to his people, all nations will recognize his character as a God who delivers. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) refers here to God’s characteristic behavior, more specifically, to the way he typically saves his people.

[73:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “Who [is there] for me in heaven? And besides you I do not desire [anyone] in the earth.” The psalmist uses a merism (heaven/earth) to emphasize that God is the sole object of his desire and worship in the entire universe.

[78:12]  ⁶ sn The region of Zoan was located in the Egyptian delta, where the enslaved Israelites lived (see Num 13:22; Isa 19:11, 13; 30:4; Ezek 30:14).

[88:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “known.”

[88:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “darkness,” here a title for Sheol.

[88:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “forgetfulness.” The noun, which occurs only here in the OT, is derived from a verbal root meaning “to forget.”

[105:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “entered.”

[105:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “lived as a resident alien.”

[105:27]  ⁹ tn Apparently the pronoun refers to “his servants” (i.e., the Israelites, see v. 25).

[106:22]  ¹⁰ tn Or “awe-inspiring.”

[112:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[112:2]  ¹² tn Heb “His seed will be mighty on the earth, the generation of the godly.” The Hebrew term דוֹר (dor, “generation”) could be taken as parallel to “offspring” and translated “posterity,” but the singular more likely refers to the godly as a class. See BDB 189-90 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.

[119:19]  ¹² tn Heb “I am a resident alien in the land.” Resident aliens were especially vulnerable and in need of help. They needed to know the social and legal customs of the land to avoid getting into trouble. The translation (note the addition of “like”) assumes the psalmist is speaking metaphorically, not literally.

[141:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “like splitting and breaking open in the earth.” The meaning of the statement and the point of the comparison are not entirely clear. Perhaps the psalmist is suggesting that he and other godly individuals are as good as dead; their bones are scattered about like dirt that is dug up and tossed aside.