Psalms 22:30

22:30 A whole generation ¹  will serve him;

they will tell the next generation about the sovereign Lord. ² 

Psalms 24:6

24:6 Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor,

Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him. ³  (Selah)

Psalms 73:15

73:15 If I had publicized these thoughts, ⁴ 

I would have betrayed your loyal followers. ⁵ 

Psalms 112:2

112:2 His descendants ⁶  will be powerful on the earth;

the godly ⁷  will be blessed.

Psalms 112:1

Psalm 112 ⁸ 

112:1 Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the one ⁹  who obeys ¹⁰  the Lord,

who takes great delight in keeping his commands. ¹¹ 

Psalms 2:9

2:9 You will break them ¹²  with an iron scepter; ¹³ 

you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” ¹⁴ 

[22:30]  ¹ tn Heb “offspring.”

[22:30]  ² tn Heb “it will be told concerning the Lord to the generation.” The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[24:6]  ³ tn Heb “this [is the] generation of the ones seeking him, the ones seeking your face, Jacob.” To “seek the Lord’s face” means to seek his favor through prayer (see 2 Sam 21:1; Pss 27:8; 105:4).

[73:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “If I had said, ‘I will speak out like this.’”

[73:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “look, the generation of your sons I would have betrayed.” The phrase “generation of your [i.e., God’s] sons” occurs only here in the OT. Some equate the phrase with “generation of the godly” (Ps 14:5), “generation of the ones seeking him” (Ps 24:6), and “generation of the upright” (Ps 112:2). In Deut 14:1 the Israelites are referred to as God’s “sons.” Perhaps the psalmist refers here to those who are “Israelites” in the true sense because of their loyalty to God (note the juxtaposition of “Israel” with “the pure in heart” in v. 1).

[112:2]  ⁶ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[112:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “His seed will be mighty on the earth, the generation of the godly.” The Hebrew term דוֹר (dor, “generation”) could be taken as parallel to “offspring” and translated “posterity,” but the singular more likely refers to the godly as a class. See BDB 189-90 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.

[112:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[112:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.

[112:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “fears.”

[112:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.

[2:9]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.