Discovery BoxPsalms 21:1
ContextFor the music director; a psalm of David.
21:1 O Lord, the king rejoices in the strength you give; 2
he takes great delight in the deliverance you provide. 3
Psalms 29:1--30:12
ContextA psalm of David.
29:1 Acknowledge the Lord, you heavenly beings, 5
acknowledge the Lord’s majesty and power! 6
29:2 Acknowledge the majesty of the Lord’s reputation! 7
Worship the Lord in holy attire! 8
29:3 The Lord’s shout is heard over the water; 9
the majestic God thunders, 10
the Lord appears over the surging water. 11
29:4 The Lord’s shout is powerful, 12
the Lord’s shout is majestic. 13
29:5 The Lord’s shout breaks 14 the cedars,
the Lord shatters 15 the cedars of Lebanon. 16
29:6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf
and Sirion 17 like a young ox. 18
29:7 The Lord’s shout strikes 19 with flaming fire. 20
29:8 The Lord’s shout shakes 21 the wilderness,
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 22
29:9 The Lord’s shout bends 23 the large trees 24
and strips 25 the leaves from the forests. 26
Everyone in his temple says, “Majestic!” 27
29:10 The Lord sits enthroned over the engulfing waters, 28
the Lord sits enthroned 29 as the eternal king.
29:11 The Lord gives 30 his people strength; 31
the Lord grants his people security. 32
A psalm – a song used at the dedication of the temple; 34 by David.
30:1 I will praise you, O Lord, for you lifted me up, 35
and did not allow my enemies to gloat 36 over me.
30:2 O Lord my God,
I cried out to you and you healed me. 37
30:3 O Lord, you pulled me 38 up from Sheol;
you rescued me from among those descending into the grave. 39
30:4 Sing to the Lord, you faithful followers 40 of his;
give thanks to his holy name. 41
30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,
and his good favor restores one’s life. 42
One may experience sorrow during the night,
but joy arrives in the morning. 43
30:6 In my self-confidence I said,
“I will never be upended.” 44
30:7 O Lord, in your good favor you made me secure. 45
Then you rejected me 46 and I was terrified.
30:8 To you, O Lord, I cried out;
I begged the Lord for mercy: 47
30:9 “What 48 profit is there in taking my life, 49
in my descending into the Pit? 50
Can the dust of the grave 51 praise you?
Can it declare your loyalty? 52
30:10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me!
O Lord, deliver me!” 53
30:11 Then you turned my lament into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and covered me with joy. 54
30:12 So now 55 my heart 56 will sing to you and not be silent;
O Lord my God, I will always 57 give thanks to you.
[21:1] 1 sn Psalm 21. The psalmist praises the Lord for the way he protects and blesses the Davidic king.
[21:1] 2 tn Heb “in your strength.” The translation interprets the pronominal suffix as subjective, rather than merely descriptive (or attributive).
[21:1] 3 tn Heb “and in your deliverance, how greatly he rejoices.”
[29:1] 4 sn Psalm 29. In this hymn of praise the psalmist calls upon the heavenly assembly to acknowledge the royal splendor of the Lord. He describes the Lord’s devastating power as revealed in the thunderstorm and affirms that the Lord exerts this awesome might on behalf of his people. In its original context the psalm was a bold polemic against the Canaanite storm god Baal, for it affirms that the Lord is the real king who controls the elements of the storm, contrary to pagan belief. See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 150 (1994): 280-82.
[29:1] 5 tc Heb “sons of gods,” or “sons of God.” Though אֵלִים (’elim) is vocalized as a plural form (“gods”) in the MT, it is likely that the final mem is actually enclitic, rather than a plural marker. In this case one may read “God.” Some, following a Qumran text and the LXX, also propose the phrase occurred in the original text of Deut 32:8.
[29:1] 6 tn Or “ascribe to the
[29:2] 7 tn Heb “ascribe to the
[29:2] 8 tn That is, properly dressed for the occasion.
[29:3] 10 tn Heb “the voice of the
[29:3] 11 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form is probably descriptive. In dramatic fashion the psalmist portrays the
[29:3] 12 tn Traditionally “many waters.” The geographical references in the psalm (Lebanon, Sirion, Kadesh) suggest this is a reference to the Mediterranean Sea (see Ezek 26:19; 27:26). The psalmist describes a powerful storm moving in from the sea and sweeping over the mountainous areas north of Israel. The “surging waters” may symbolize the hostile enemies of God who seek to destroy his people (see Pss 18:17; 32:6; 77:20; 93:4; 144:7; Isa 17:13; Jer 51:55; Ezek 26:19; Hab 3:15). In this case the
[29:4] 13 tn Heb “the voice of the
[29:4] 14 tn Heb “the voice of the
[29:5] 16 tn The Hebrew participial form draws attention to the durative nature of the action being described.
[29:5] 17 tn The prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive here and in v. 6a carry on the descriptive function of the preceding participle (see GKC 329 §111.u). The verb שָׁבַר (shavar) appears in the Qal in the first line of the verse, and in the Piel in the second line. The verb, which means “break” in the Qal, appears thirty-six times in the Piel, always with multiple objects (the object is either a collective singular or grammatically plural or dual form). The Piel may highlight the repetition of the pluralative action, or it may suggest an intensification of action, indicating repeated action comprising a whole, perhaps with the nuance “break again and again, break in pieces.” Another option is to understand the form as resultative: “make broken” (see IBHS 404-7 §24.3).
[29:5] 18 sn The cedars of the Lebanon forest were well-known in ancient Israel for their immense size. Here they may symbolize the arrogant enemies of God (see Isa 2:12-13).
[29:6] 19 sn Sirion is another name for Mount Hermon (Deut 3:9).
[29:6] 20 sn Lebanon and Sirion are compared to frisky young animals (a calf…a young ox) who skip and jump. The thunderous shout of the Lord is so powerful, one can see the very mountains shake on the horizon.
[29:7] 22 tn The verb normally means “to hew [stone or wood],” or “to hew out.” In Hos 6:5 it seems to mean “cut in pieces,” “knock down,” or perhaps “hack” (see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea [AB], 428). The Ugaritic cognate can mean “assault.” In v. 7 the verb seems to have a similar meaning, perhaps “attack, strike.” The phrase “flames of fire” is an adverbial accusative; the
[29:7] 23 sn The
[29:8] 25 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms are descriptive in function; the psalmist depicts the action as underway.
[29:8] 26 sn Kadesh. The references to Lebanon and Sirion in v. 6 suggest this is a reference to the northern Kadesh, located north of Damascus, not the southern Kadesh mentioned so often in the OT. See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:178.
[29:9] 28 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form is descriptive in function; the psalmist depicts the action as underway.
[29:9] 29 tc Heb “the deer.” Preserving this reading, some translate the preceding verb, “causes [the deer] to give premature birth” (cf. NEB, NASB). But the Polel of חוּל/חִיל (khul/khil) means “give birth,” not “cause to give birth,” and the statement “the
[29:9] 30 tn The verb is used in Joel 1:7 of locusts stripping the leaves from a tree. The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the descriptive function of the preceding imperfect. See GKC 329 §111.t.
[29:9] 31 tn The usual form of the plural of יַעַר (ya’ar, “forest”) is יְעָרִים (yÿ’arim). For this reason some propose an emendation to יְעָלוֹת (yÿ’alot, “female mountain goats”) which would fit nicely in the parallelism with “deer” (cf. NEB “brings kids early to birth”). In this case one would have to understand the verb חָשַׂף (khasaf) to mean “cause premature birth,” an otherwise unattested homonym of the more common חָשַׂף (“strip bare”).
[29:9] 32 tn Heb “In his temple, all of it says, ‘Glory.’”
[29:10] 31 tn The noun מַּבּוּל (mabbul, “flood”) appears only here and in Gen 6-11, where it refers to the Noahic flood. Some see a reference to that event here. The presence of the article (perhaps indicating uniqueness) and the switch to the perfect verbal form (which could be taken as describing a past situation) might support this. However, the immediate context indicates that the referent of מַּבּוּל is the “surging waters” mentioned in v. 3. The article indicates waters that are definite in the mind of the speaker and the perfect is probably descriptive in function, like “thunders” in v. 3. However, even though the historical flood is not the primary referent here, there may be a literary allusion involved. The psalmist views the threatening chaotic sea as a contemporary manifestation of the destructive waters of old.
[29:10] 32 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the descriptive function of the preceding perfect.
[29:11] 34 tn The imperfect verbal forms in v. 11 are either descriptive or generalizing.
[29:11] 35 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] 36 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
[30:1] 37 sn Psalm 30. The author thanks the Lord for delivering him from death and urges others to join him in praise. The psalmist experienced divine discipline for a brief time, but when he cried out for help the Lord intervened and restored his favor.
[30:1] 38 tn Heb “a song of the dedication of the house.” The referent of “house” is unclear. It is possible that David wrote this psalm for the dedication ceremony of Solomon’s temple. Another possibility is that the psalm was used on the occasion of the dedication of the second temple following the return from exile, or on the occasion of the rededication of the temple in Maccabean times.
[30:1] 39 tn Elsewhere the verb דָּלָה (dalah) is used of drawing water from a well (Exod 2:16, 19; Prov 20:5). The psalmist was trapped in the pit leading to Sheol (see v. 3), but the
[30:2] 40 sn You healed me. Apparently the psalmist was plagued by a serious illness that threatened his life. See Ps 41.
[30:3] 44 tn Heb “you kept me alive from those descending into the pit.” The Hebrew noun בוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib); the marginal reading (Qere) has, “you kept me alive so that I did not go down into the pit.”
[30:4] 46 tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
[30:4] 47 tn Heb “to his holy remembrance.” The noun זֵכֵר (zekher, “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the
[30:5] 49 tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).
[30:5] 50 tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.
[30:6] 52 sn In my self-confidence I said… Here the psalmist begins to fill in the background of the crisis referred to in the earlier verses. He had been arrogant and self-confident, so the Lord withdrew his protection and allowed trouble to invade his life (vv. 8-11).
[30:7] 55 tn Heb “in your good favor you caused to stand for my mountain strength.” Apparently this means “you established strength for my mountain” (“mountain” in this case representing his rule, which would be centered on Mt. Zion) or “you established strength as my mountain” (“mountain” in this case being a metaphor for security).
[30:7] 56 tn Heb “you hid your face.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or, as here, carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Ps 88:14).
[30:8] 58 tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 8 are probably preterites; the psalmist recalls that he prayed in his time of crisis.
[30:9] 61 sn The following two verses (vv. 9-10) contain the prayer (or an excerpt of the prayer) that the psalmist offered to the Lord during his crisis.
[30:9] 62 tn Heb “What profit [is there] in my blood?” “Blood” here represents his life.
[30:9] 63 tn The Hebrew term שָׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 49:9; 55:24; 103:4).
[30:9] 64 tn Heb “dust.” The words “of the grave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[30:9] 65 tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “Of course not!”
[30:10] 64 tn Heb “be a helper to me.”
[30:11] 67 sn Covered me with joy. “Joy” probably stands metonymically for festive attire here.
[30:12] 70 tn Heb “so that”; or “in order that.”
[30:12] 71 tn Heb “glory.” Some view כָבוֹד (khavod, “glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 57:9; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.” “Heart” is used in the translation above for the sake of English idiom; the expression “my liver sings” would seem odd indeed to the modern reader.
