Psalms 18:38

18:38 I beat them ¹  to death; ² 

they fall at my feet. ³ 

Psalms 19:4

19:4 Yet its voice ⁴  echoes ⁵  throughout the earth;

its ⁶  words carry ⁷  to the distant horizon. ⁸ 

In the sky ⁹  he has pitched a tent for the sun. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 36:12

36:12 I can see the evildoers! They have fallen! ¹¹ 

They have been knocked down and are unable to get up! ¹² 

Psalms 127:2

127:2 It is vain for you to rise early, come home late,

and work so hard for your food. ¹³ 

Yes, ¹⁴  he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep. ¹⁵ 

[18:38]  ¹ tn Or “smash them.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “and I wiped them out and smashed them.”

[18:38]  ² tn Heb “until they are unable to rise.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “until they do not rise.”

[18:38]  ³ sn They fall at my feet. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 294-97.

[19:4]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “goes out,” or “proceeds forth.”

[19:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “their” (see the note on the word “its” in v. 3).

[19:4]  ⁷ tn The verb is supplied in the translation. The Hebrew text has no verb; יָצָא (yatsa’, “goes out”) is understood by ellipsis.

[19:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “to the end of the world.”

[19:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “in them” (i.e., the heavens).

[19:4]  ¹⁰ 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.

[36:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “there the workers of wickedness have fallen.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the evildoers lying fallen at a spot that is vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.).

[36:12]  ⁸ tn The psalmist uses perfect verbal forms in v. 12 to describe the demise of the wicked as if it has already taken place.

[127:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[it is] vain for you, you who are early to rise, who delay sitting, who eat the food of hard work.” The three substantival participles are parallel and stand in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the preposition. See לָכֶם (lakhem, “for you”).

[127:2]  ¹¹ tn Here the Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4; Ps 63:2).

[127:2]  ¹² tn Heb “he gives to his beloved, sleep.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew term שֵׁנָא (shena’, “sleep,” an alternate form of שֵׁנָה, shenah) is an adverbial accusative. The point seems to be this: Hard work by itself is not what counts, but one’s relationship to God, for God is able to bless an individual even while he sleeps. (There may even be a subtle allusion to the miracle of conception following sexual intercourse; see the reference to the gift of sons in the following verse.) The statement is not advocating laziness, but utilizing hyperbole to give perspective and to remind the addressees that God must be one’s first priority. Another option is to take “sleep” as the direct object: “yes, he gives sleep to his beloved” (cf. NIV, NRSV). In this case the point is this: Hard work by itself is futile, for only God is able to bless one with sleep, which metonymically refers to having one’s needs met. He blesses on the basis of one’s relationship to him, not on the basis of physical energy expended.