Psalms 17:2

17:2 Make a just decision on my behalf! ¹ 

Decide what is right! ² 

Psalms 73:7

73:7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong; ³ 

their thoughts are sinful. ⁴ 

Psalms 104:23

104:23 Men then go out to do their work,

and labor away until evening. ⁵ 

Psalms 109:7

109:7 When he is judged, he will be found ⁶  guilty! ⁷ 

Then his prayer will be regarded as sinful.

Psalms 19:4-5

19:4 Yet its voice ⁸  echoes ⁹  throughout the earth;

its ¹⁰  words carry ¹¹  to the distant horizon. ¹² 

In the sky ¹³  he has pitched a tent for the sun. ¹⁴ 

19:5 Like a bridegroom it emerges ¹⁵  from its chamber; ¹⁶ 

like a strong man it enjoys ¹⁷  running its course. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 41:6

41:6 When someone comes to visit, ¹⁹  he pretends to be friendly; ²⁰ 

he thinks of ways to defame me, ²¹ 

and when he leaves he slanders me. ²² 

[17:2]  ¹ tn Heb “From before you may my justice come out.” The prefixed verbal form יָצָא (yatsa’) could be taken as an imperfect, but following the imperatives in v. 1, it is better understood as a jussive of prayer.

[17:2]  ² tn Heb “May your eyes look at what is right.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as jussive. (See also the preceding note on the word “behalf.”)

[73:7]  ³ tc The MT reads “it goes out from fatness their eye,” which might be paraphrased, “their eye protrudes [or “bulges”] because of fatness.” This in turn might refer to their greed; their eyes “bug out” when they see rich food or produce (the noun חֵלֶב [khelev, “fatness”] sometimes refers to such food or produce). However, when used with the verb יָצָא (yatsa’, “go out”) the preposition מִן (“from”) more naturally indicates source. For this reason it is preferable to emend עֵינֵמוֹ (’enemo, “their eye”) to עֲוֹנָמוֹ, (’avonamo, “their sin”) and read, “and their sin proceeds forth from fatness,” that is, their prosperity gives rise to their sinful attitudes. If one follows this textual reading, another interpretive option is to take חֵלֶב (“fatness”) in the sense of “unreceptive, insensitive” (see its use in Ps 17:10). In this case, the sin of the wicked proceeds forth from their spiritual insensitivity.

[73:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the thoughts of [their] heart [i.e., mind] cross over” (i.e., violate God’s moral boundary, see Ps 17:3).

[104:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “man goes out to his work, and to his labor until evening.”

[109:7]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as a jussive, but the use of the imperfect form in the following line suggests that v. 7 anticipates the outcome of the accusation envisioned in v. 6.

[109:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “he will go out [as] a criminal” (that is, guilty).

[19:4]  ⁹ tc The MT reads, “their measuring line” (קוּם, qum). The noun קַו (qav, “measuring line”) makes no sense in this context. The reading קוֹלָם (qolam, “their voice”) which is supported by the LXX, is preferable.

[19:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “goes out,” or “proceeds forth.”

[19:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “their” (see the note on the word “its” in v. 3).

[19:4]  ¹² tn The verb is supplied in the translation. The Hebrew text has no verb; יָצָא (yatsa’, “goes out”) is understood by ellipsis.

[19:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “to the end of the world.”

[19:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in them” (i.e., the heavens).

[19:4]  ¹⁵ sn He has pitched a tent for the sun. The personified sun emerges from this “tent” in order to make its daytime journey across the sky. So the “tent” must refer metaphorically to the place where the sun goes to rest during the night.

[19:5]  ¹¹ tn The participle expresses the repeated or regular nature of the action.

[19:5]  ¹² tn The Hebrew noun חֻפָּה (khufah, “chamber”) occurs elsewhere only in Isa 4:5 and Joel 2:16 (where it refers to the bedroom of a bride and groom).

[19:5]  ¹³ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the regularity of the action.

[19:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[on] a path.”

[41:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “to see.”

[41:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he speaks deceitfully.”

[41:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his heart gathers sin to itself.”

[41:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he goes outside and speaks.”