Psalms 2:9

2:9 You will break them ¹  with an iron scepter; ² 

you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” ³ 

Psalms 33:15

33:15 He is the one who forms every human heart, ⁴ 

and takes note of all their actions.

Psalms 94:20

94:20 Cruel rulers ⁵  are not your allies,

those who make oppressive laws. ⁶ 

Psalms 95:5

95:5 The sea is his, for he made it.

His hands formed the dry land.

Psalms 104:26

104:26 The ships travel there,

and over here swims the whale ⁷  you made to play in it.

Psalms 74:17

74:17 You set up all the boundaries ⁸  of the earth;

you created the cycle of summer and winter. ⁹ 

Psalms 94:9

94:9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?

Does the one who forms the human eye not see? ¹⁰ 

Psalms 139:16

139:16 Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. ¹¹ 

All the days ordained for me

were recorded in your scroll

before one of them came into existence. ¹² 

[2:9]  ¹ tc The LXX reads “you will shepherd them.” This reading, quoted in the Greek text of the NT in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, assumes a different vocalization of the consonantal Hebrew text and understands the verb as רָעָה (ra’ah, “to shepherd”) rather than רָעָע (ra’a’, “to break”). But the presence of נָפַץ (nafats, “to smash”) in the next line strongly favors the MT vocalization.

[2:9]  ² tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a “staff” or “rod,” but here it probably refers to the Davidic king’s royal scepter, symbolizing his sovereignty.

[2:9]  ³ sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.

[33:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “the one who forms together their heart[s].” “Heart” here refers to human nature, composed of intellect, emotions and will. The precise force of יָחַד (yakhad, “together”) is unclear here. The point seems to be that the Lord is the creator of every human being.

[94:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.

[94:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.

[104:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[and] this Leviathan, [which] you formed to play in it.” Elsewhere Leviathan is a multiheaded sea monster that symbolizes forces hostile to God (see Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1), but here it appears to be an actual marine creature created by God, probably some type of whale.

[74:17]  ¹³ tn This would appear to refer to geographical boundaries, such as mountains, rivers, and seacoasts. However, since the day-night cycle has just been mentioned (v. 16) and the next line speaks of the seasons, it is possible that “boundaries” here refers to the divisions of the seasons. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 2:156.

[74:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “summer and winter, you, you formed them.”

[94:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “The one who plants an ear, does he not hear? The one who forms an eye, does he not see?”

[139:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Your eyes saw my shapeless form.” The Hebrew noun גֹּלֶם (golem) occurs only here in the OT. In later Hebrew the word refers to “a lump, a shapeless or lifeless substance,” and to “unfinished matter, a vessel wanting finishing” (Jastrow 222 s.v. גּוֹלֶם). The translation employs the dynamic rendering “when I was inside the womb” to clarify that the speaker was still in his mother’s womb at the time he was “seen” by God.

[139:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and on your scroll all of them were written, [the] days [which] were formed, and [there was] not one among them.” This “scroll” may be the “scroll of life” mentioned in Ps 69:28 (see the note on the word “living” there).