Psalms 23:1

Psalm 23 ¹ 

A psalm of David.

23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, ² 

I lack nothing. ³ 

Psalms 78:72

78:72 David ⁴  cared for them with pure motives; ⁵ 

he led them with skill. ⁶ 

Psalms 37:3

37:3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right!

Settle in the land and maintain your integrity! ⁷ 

Psalms 78:71

78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, ⁸ 

and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,

and of Israel, his chosen nation. ⁹ 

Psalms 80:13

80:13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; ¹⁰ 

the insects ¹¹  of the field feed on it.

Psalms 28:9

28:9 Deliver your people!

Empower ¹²  the nation that belongs to you! ¹³ 

Care for them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms ¹⁴  at all times! ¹⁵ 

Psalms 49:14

49:14 They will travel to Sheol like sheep, ¹⁶ 

with death as their shepherd. ¹⁷ 

The godly will rule ¹⁸  over them when the day of vindication dawns; ¹⁹ 

Sheol will consume their bodies and they will no longer live in impressive houses. ²⁰ 

Psalms 80:1

Psalm 80 ²¹ 

For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; ²²  a psalm of Asaph.

80:1 O shepherd of Israel, pay attention,

you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep!

You who sit enthroned above the winged angels, ²³  reveal your splendor! ²⁴ 

[23:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 23. In vv. 1-4 the psalmist pictures the Lord as a shepherd who provides for his needs and protects him from danger. The psalmist declares, “The Lord is my shepherd,” and then extends and develops that metaphor, speaking as if he were a sheep. In vv. 5-6 the metaphor changes as the psalmist depicts a great royal banquet hosted by the Lord. The psalmist is a guest of honor and recipient of divine favor, who enjoys unlimited access to the divine palace and the divine presence.

[23:1]  ² sn The LORD is my shepherd. The opening metaphor suggests the psalmist is assuming the role of a sheep. In vv. 1b-4 the psalmist extends the metaphor and explains exactly how the LORD is like a shepherd to him. At the surface level the language can be understood in terms of a shepherd’s relationship to his sheep. The translation of vv. 1-4 reflects this level. But, of course, each statement also points to an underlying reality.

[23:1]  ³ tn The imperfect verbal form is best understood as generalizing; the psalmist highlights his typical or ongoing experience as a result of having the LORD as his shepherd (habitual present use). The next verse explains more specifically what he means by this statement.

[78:72]  ⁴ tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[78:72]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”

[78:72]  ⁶ tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”

[37:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “tend integrity.” The verb רָעָה (ra’ah, “tend, shepherd”) is probably used here in the sense of “watch over, guard.” The noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness, honesty, integrity”) is understood as the direct object of the verb, though it could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “[feed] securely,” if the audience is likened to a flock of sheep.

[78:71]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”

[78:71]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”

[80:13]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.

[80:13]  ¹⁴ tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word translated “insects,” which occurs only here and in Ps 50:11, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic, and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.

[28:9]  ¹⁶ tn Or “bless.”

[28:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your inheritance.” The parallelism (note “your people”) indicates that Israel is in view.

[28:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “shepherd them and lift them up.”

[28:9]  ¹⁹ tn Or “forever.”

[49:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “like sheep to Sheol they are appointed.” The verb form שַׁתּוּ (shatu) is apparently derived from שָׁתַת (shatat), which appears to be a variant of the more common שִׁית (shiyt, “to place; to set”; BDB 1060 s.v. שָׁתַת and GKC 183 §67.ee). Some scholars emend the text to שָׁחוּ (shakhu; from the verbal root שׁוּח [shukh, “sink down”]) and read “they descend.” The present translation assumes an emendation to שָׁטוּ (shatu; from the verbal root שׁוּט [shut, “go; wander”]), “they travel, wander.” (The letter tet [ט] and tav [ת] sound similar; a scribe transcribing from dictation could easily confuse them.) The perfect verbal form is used in a rhetorical manner to speak of their destiny as if it were already realized (the so-called perfect of certitude or prophetic perfect).

[49:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “death will shepherd them,” that is, death itself (personified here as a shepherd) will lead them like a flock of helpless, unsuspecting sheep to Sheol, the underworld, the land of the dead.

[49:14]  ²¹ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same force as the perfect verbal form in v. 14a. The psalmist speaks of this coming event as if it were already accomplished.

[49:14]  ²² tn Heb “will rule over them in the morning.” “Morning” here is a metaphor for a time of deliverance and vindication after the dark “night” of trouble (see Pss 30:5; 46:5; 59:16; 90:14; 143:8; Isa 17:14). In this context the psalmist confidently anticipates a day of vindication when the Lord will deliver the oppressed from the rich (see v. 15) and send the oppressors to Sheol.

[49:14]  ²³ tn Heb “their form [will become an object] for the consuming of Sheol, from a lofty residence, to him.” The meaning of this syntactically difficult text is uncertain. The translation assumes that צוּר (tsur, “form”; this is the Qere [marginal] reading; the Kethib has צִירָם [tsiram, “their image”]) refers to their physical form or bodies. “Sheol” is taken as the subject of “consume” (on the implied “become” before the infinitive “to consume” see GKC 349 §114.k). The preposition מִן (min) prefixed to “lofty residence” is understood as privative, “away from; so as not.” The preposition -ל (lamed) is possessive, while the third person pronominal suffix is understood as a representative singular.

[80:1]  ²² sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.

[80:1]  ²³ tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.

[80:1]  ²⁴ sn Winged angels (Heb “cherubs”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.

[80:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “shine forth.”