Psalms 17:14

17:14 Lord, use your power to deliver me from these murderers, ¹ 

from the murderers of this world! ² 

They enjoy prosperity; ³ 

you overwhelm them with the riches they desire. ⁴ 

They have many children,

and leave their wealth to their offspring. ⁵ 

Psalms 27:4

27:4 I have asked the Lord for one thing –

this is what I desire!

I want to live ⁶  in the Lord’s house ⁷  all the days of my life,

so I can gaze at the splendor ⁸  of the Lord

and contemplate in his temple.

Psalms 56:13

56:13 when you deliver ⁹  my life from death.

You keep my feet from stumbling, ¹⁰ 

so that I might serve ¹¹  God as I enjoy life. ¹² 

Psalms 68:30

68:30 Sound your battle cry ¹³  against the wild beast of the reeds, ¹⁴ 

and the nations that assemble like a herd of calves led by bulls! ¹⁵ 

They humble themselves ¹⁶  and offer gold and silver as tribute. ¹⁷ 

God ¹⁸  scatters ¹⁹  the nations that like to do battle.

Psalms 84:2

84:2 I desperately want to be ²⁰ 

in the courts of the Lord’s temple. ²¹ 

My heart and my entire being ²²  shout for joy

to the living God.

Psalms 104:25

104:25 Over here is the deep, wide sea, ²³ 

which teems with innumerable swimming creatures, ²⁴ 

living things both small and large.

Psalms 133:3

133:3 It is like the dew of Hermon, ²⁵ 

which flows down upon the hills of Zion. ²⁶ 

Indeed ²⁷  that is where the Lord has decreed

a blessing will be available – eternal life. ²⁸ 

[17:14]  ¹ tc Heb “from men [by] your hand, Lord.” The translation assumes an emendation (both here and in the following line) of מִמְתִים (mimtim, “from men”) to מִמְמִתִים (mimmitim, “from those who kill”). For other uses of the plural form of the Hiphil participle of מוּת (mut, “die”), see 2 Kgs 17:26 (used with lions as subject), Job 33:22 (apparently referring to the agents of death), and Jer 26:15 (used of those seeking Jeremiah’s life).

[17:14]  ² tn Heb “from men, from [the] world.” On the emendation of “men” to “murderers,” see the preceding note on the word “murderers.”

[17:14]  ³ tn Heb “their portion, in life.”

[17:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “and [with] your treasures you fill their belly.”

[17:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] sons and leave their abundance to their children.”

[27:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “my living.”

[27:4]  ⁷ sn The Lord’s house. This probably refers to the tabernacle (if one accepts Davidic authorship) or the temple (see Judg 19:18; 1 Sam 1:7, 24; 2 Sam 12:20; 1 Kgs 7:12, 40, 45, 51).

[27:4]  ⁸ tn Or “beauty.”

[56:13]  ¹¹ tn The perfect verbal form is probably future perfect; the psalmist promises to make good on his vows once God has delivered him (see Pss 13:5; 52:9). (2) Another option is to understand the final two verses as being added later, after the Lord intervened on the psalmist’s behalf. In this case one may translate, “for you have delivered.” Other options include taking the perfect as (3) generalizing (“for you deliver”) or (4) rhetorical (“for you will”).

[56:13]  ¹² tn Heb “are not my feet [kept] from stumbling?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they are!” The question has been translated as an affirmation for the sake of clarification of meaning.

[56:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “walk before.” For a helpful discussion of the background and meaning of this Hebrew idiom, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 254; cf. the same idiom in 2 Kgs 20:3; Isa 38:3.

[56:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in the light of life.” The phrase is used here and in Job 33:30.

[68:30]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts such as Ps 68 this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Ps 106:9 and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 18:15; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[68:30]  ¹⁷ sn The wild beast of the reeds probably refers to a hippopotamus, which in turn symbolizes the nation of Egypt.

[68:30]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “an assembly of bulls, with calves of the nations.”

[68:30]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “humbling himself.” The verb form is a Hitpael participle from the root רָפַס (rafas, “to trample”). The Hitpael of this verb appears only here and in Prov 6:3, where it seems to mean, “humble oneself,” a nuance that fits nicely in this context. The apparent subject is “wild beast” or “assembly,” though both of these nouns are grammatically feminine, while the participle is a masculine form. Perhaps one should emend the participial form to a masculine plural (מִתְרַפִּם, mitrapim) and understand “bulls” or “calves” as the subject.

[68:30]  ²⁰ tc Heb “with pieces [?] of silver.” The meaning of the Hebrew term רַצֵּי (ratsey) is unclear. It is probably best to emend the text to בֶּצֶר וְכָסֶף (betser vÿkhasef, “[with] gold and silver”).

[68:30]  ²¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[68:30]  ²² tn The verb בָּזַר (bazar) is an alternative form of פָּזַר (pazar, “scatter”).

[84:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “my soul longs, it even pines for.”

[84:2]  ²² tn Heb “the courts of the Lord” (see Ps 65:4).

[84:2]  ²³ tn Heb “my flesh,” which stands for his whole person and being.

[104:25]  ²⁶ tn Heb “this [is] the sea, great and broad of hands [i.e., “sides” or “shores”].”

[104:25]  ²⁷ tn Heb “where [there are] swimming things, and without number.”

[133:3]  ³¹ sn Hermon refers to Mount Hermon, located north of Israel.

[133:3]  ³² sn The hills of Zion are those surrounding Zion (see Pss 87:1; 125:2). The psalmist does not intend to suggest that the dew from Mt. Hermon in the distant north actually flows down upon Zion. His point is that the same kind of heavy dew that replenishes Hermon may also be seen on Zion’s hills. See A. Cohen, Psalms (SoBB), 439. “Dew” here symbolizes divine blessing, as the next line suggests.

[133:3]  ³³ tn Or “for.”

[133:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forever.”