Psalms 20:4

20:4 May he grant your heart’s desire; ¹ 

may he bring all your plans to pass! ² 

Psalms 68:11

68:11 The Lord speaks; ³ 

many, many women spread the good news. ⁴ 

Psalms 85:12

85:12 Yes, the Lord will bestow his good blessings, ⁵ 

and our land will yield ⁶  its crops.

Psalms 120:3

120:3 How will he severely punish you,

you deceptive talker? ⁷ 

Psalms 121:3

121:3 May he not allow your foot to slip!

May your protector ⁸  not sleep! ⁹ 

Psalms 18:13

18:13 The Lord thundered ¹⁰  in ¹¹  the sky;

the sovereign One ¹²  shouted. ¹³ 

Psalms 29:11

29:11 The Lord gives ¹⁴  his people strength; ¹⁵ 

the Lord grants his people security. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 49:7

49:7 Certainly a man cannot rescue his brother; ¹⁷ 

he cannot pay God an adequate ransom price ¹⁸ 

Psalms 55:6

55:6 I say, ¹⁹  “I wish I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and settle in a safe place!

Psalms 55:22

55:22 Throw your burden ²⁰  upon the Lord,

and he will sustain you. ²¹ 

He will never allow the godly to be upended. ²² 

Psalms 68:33

68:33 to the one who rides through the sky from ancient times! ²³ 

Look! He thunders loudly. ²⁴ 

Psalms 1:3

1:3 He is like ²⁵  a tree planted by flowing streams; ²⁶ 

it ²⁷  yields ²⁸  its fruit at the proper time, ²⁹ 

and its leaves never fall off. ³⁰ 

He succeeds in everything he attempts. ³¹ 

Psalms 14:7

14:7 I wish the deliverance ³²  of Israel would come from Zion!

When the Lord restores the well-being of his people, ³³ 

may Jacob rejoice, ³⁴ 

may Israel be happy! ³⁵ 

Psalms 53:6

53:6 I wish the deliverance ³⁶  of Israel would come from Zion!

When God restores the well-being of his people, ³⁷ 

may Jacob rejoice, ³⁸ 

may Israel be happy! ³⁹ 

Psalms 84:11

84:11 For the Lord God is our sovereign protector. ⁴⁰ 

The Lord bestows favor ⁴¹  and honor;

he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity. ⁴² 

Psalms 127:2

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

and work so hard for your food. ⁴³ 

Yes, ⁴⁴  he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep. ⁴⁵ 

[20:4]  ¹ tn Heb “may he give to you according to your heart.” This probably refers to the king’s prayer for protection and victory in battle. See vv. 5-6.

[20:4]  ² sn May he bring all your plans to pass. This probably refers to the king’s strategy for battle.

[68:11]  ³ tn Heb “gives a word.” Perhaps this refers to a divine royal decree or battle cry.

[68:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “the ones spreading the good news [are] a large army.” The participle translated “the ones spreading the good news” is a feminine plural form. Apparently the good news here is the announcement that enemy kings have been defeated (see v. 12).

[85:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “what is good.”

[85:12]  ⁶ tn Both “bestow” and “yield” translate the same Hebrew verb (נָתַן, natan). The repetition of the word emphasizes that agricultural prosperity is the direct result of divine blessing.

[120:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “What will he give to you, and what will he add to you, O tongue of deception?” The psalmist addresses his deceptive enemies. The Lord is the understood subject of the verbs “give” and “add.” The second part of the question echoes a standard curse formula, “thus the Lord/God will do … and thus he will add” (see Ruth 1:17; 1 Sam 3:17; 14:44; 20:13; 25:22; 2 Sam 3:9, 35; 19:13; 1 Kgs 2:23; 2 Kgs 6:31).

[121:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “the one who guards you.”

[121:3]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal forms following the negative particle אל appear to be jussives. As noted above, if they are taken as true jussives of prayer, then the speaker in v. 3 would appear to be distinct from both the speaker in vv. 1-2 and the speaker in vv. 4-8. However, according to GKC 322 §109.e), the jussives are used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one should probably translate, “he will not allow your foot to slip, your protector will not sleep,” and understand just one speaker in vv. 4-8.

[18:13]  ¹¹ sn Thunder is a common motif in OT theophanies and in ancient Near Eastern portrayals of the storm god and warring kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 179-83.

[18:13]  ¹² tn 2 Sam 22:14 has “from.”

[18:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.

[18:13]  ¹⁴ tc The text of Ps 18:13 adds at this point, “hail and coals of fire.” These words are probably accidentally added from v. 12b; they do not appear in 2 Sam 22:14.

[29:11]  ¹³ tn The imperfect verbal forms in v. 11 are either descriptive or generalizing.

[29:11]  ¹⁴ sn Strength. This probably refers to military power; see the use of the noun in 1 Sam 2:10 and Ps 86:16.

[29:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “blesses his people with peace.” The Hebrew term שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) probably refers here to the protection and prosperity experienced by God’s people after the Lord intervenes in battle on their behalf.

[49:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a brother, he surely does not ransom, a man.” The sequence אִישׁ...אָח (’akh...’ish, “a brother…a man”) is problematic, for the usual combination is אָח...אָח (“a brother…a brother”) or אִישׁ...אִישׁ (“a man…a man”). When אִישׁ and אָח are combined, the usual order is אָח...אִישׁ (“a man…a brother”), with “brother” having a third masculine singular suffix, “his brother.” This suggests that “brother” is the object of the verb and “man” the subject. (1) Perhaps the altered word order and absence of the suffix can be explained by the text’s poetic character, for ellipsis is a feature of Hebrew poetic style. (2) Another option, supported by a few medieval Hebrew mss, is to emend “brother” to the similar sounding אַךְ (’akh, “surely; but”) which occurs in v. 15 before the verb פָּדָה (padah, “ransom”). If this reading is accepted the Qal imperfect יִפְדֶּה (yifddeh, “he can [not] ransom”) would need to be emended to a Niphal (passive) form, יִפָּדֶה (yifadeh, “he can[not] be ransomed”) unless one understands the subject of the Qal verb to be indefinite (“one cannot redeem a man”). (A Niphal imperfect can be collocated with a Qal infinitive absolute. See GKC 344-45 §113.w.) No matter how one decides the textual issues, the imperfect in this case is modal, indicating potential, and the infinitive absolute emphasizes the statement.

[49:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he cannot pay to God his ransom price.” Num 35:31 may supply the legal background for the metaphorical language used here. The psalmist pictures God as having a claim on the soul of the individual. When God comes to claim the life that ultimately belongs to him, he demands a ransom price that is beyond the capability of anyone to pay. The psalmist’s point is that God has ultimate authority over life and death; all the money in the world cannot buy anyone a single day of life beyond what God has decreed.

[55:6]  ¹⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the descriptive (present progressive) force of the verbs in v. 5.

[55:22]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here.

[55:22]  ²⁰ tn The pronoun is singular; the psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually.

[55:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “he will never allow swaying for the righteous.”

[68:33]  ²¹ tc Heb “to the one who rides through the skies of skies of ancient times.” If the MT is retained, one might translate, “to the one who rides through the ancient skies.” (שְׁמֵי [shÿmey, “skies of”] may be accidentally repeated.) The present translation assumes an emendation to בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִקֶּדֶם (bashamayim miqqedem, “[to the one who rides] through the sky from ancient times”), that is, God has been revealing his power through the storm since ancient times.

[68:33]  ²² tn Heb “he gives his voice a strong voice.” In this context God’s “voice” is the thunder that accompanies the rain (see vv. 8-9, as well as Deut 33:26).

[1:3]  ²³ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same characteristic force as the imperfect in the preceding verse. According to the psalmist, the one who studies and obeys God’s commands typically prospers.

[1:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “channels of water.”

[1:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “which.”

[1:3]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in v. 3 draw attention to the typical nature of the actions/states they describe.

[1:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in its season.”

[1:3]  ²⁸ tn Or “fade”; “wither.”

[1:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and all which he does prospers”; or “and all which he does he causes to prosper.” (The simile of the tree does not extend to this line.) It is not certain if the Hiphil verbal form (יַצְלִיחַ, yatsliakh) is intransitive-exhibitive (“prospers”) or causative (“causes to prosper”) here. If the verb is intransitive, then כֹּל (kol, “all, everything”) is the subject. If the verb is causative, then the godly individual or the Lord himself is the subject and כֹּל is the object. The wording is reminiscent of Josh 1:8, where the Lord tells Joshua: “This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper (literally, “cause your way to prosper”) and be successful.”

[14:7]  ²⁵ sn The deliverance of Israel. This refers metonymically to God, the one who lives in Zion and provides deliverance for Israel.

[14:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv).

[14:7]  ²⁷ tn The verb form is jussive.

[14:7]  ²⁸ tn Because the parallel verb is jussive, this verb, which is ambiguous in form, should be taken as a jussive as well.

[53:6]  ²⁷ tn This refers metonymically to God, the one who lives in Zion and provides deliverance for Israel.

[53:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv).

[53:6]  ²⁹ tn The verb form is jussive.

[53:6]  ³⁰ tn Because the parallel verb is jussive, this verb, which is ambiguous in form, should be taken as a jussive as well.

[84:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “[is] a sun and a shield.” The epithet “sun,” though rarely used of Israel’s God in the OT, was a well-attested royal title in the ancient Near East. For several examples from Ugaritic texts, the Amarna letters, and Assyrian royal inscriptions, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 131, n. 2.

[84:11]  ³⁰ tn Or “grace.”

[84:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “he does not withhold good to those walking in integrity.”

[127:2]  ³¹ 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]  ³² tn Here the Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4; Ps 63:2).

[127:2]  ³³ 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.