Psalms 26:6

26:6 I maintain a pure lifestyle, ¹ 

so I can appear before your altar, ²  O Lord,

Psalms 43:4

43:4 Then I will go ³  to the altar of God,

to the God who gives me ecstatic joy, ⁴ 

so that I express my thanks to you, ⁵  O God, my God, with a harp.

Psalms 51:19

51:19 Then you will accept ⁶  the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;

then bulls will be sacrificed ⁷  on your altar. ⁸ 

Psalms 118:27

118:27 The Lord is God and he has delivered us. ⁹ 

Tie the offering ¹⁰  with ropes

to the horns of the altar! ¹¹ 

Psalms 84:3

84:3 Even the birds find a home there,

and the swallow ¹²  builds a nest,

where she can protect her young ¹³ 

near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,

my king and my God.

[26:6]  ¹ tn Heb “I wash my hands in innocence.” The psalmist uses an image from cultic ritual to picture his moral lifestyle. The imperfect verbal emphasizes that this is his habit.

[26:6]  ² tn Heb “so I can go around your altar” (probably in ritual procession). Following the imperfect of the preceding line, the cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose or result.

[43:4]  ³ tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”

[43:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[43:4]  ⁵ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.

[51:19]  ⁵ tn Or “desire, take delight in.”

[51:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “then they will offer up bulls.” The third plural subject is indefinite.

[51:19]  ⁷ sn Verses 18-19 appear to reflect the exilic period, when the city’s walls lay in ruins and the sacrificial system had been disrupted.

[118:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he has given us light.” This may be an elliptical expression, with “his face” being implied as the object (see Num 6:25; Pss 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19). In this case, “his face has given us light” = “he has smiled on us,” or “he has shown us his favor.” Another option (the one reflected in the translation) is that “light” here symbolizes divine blessing in the form of deliverance. “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Some prefer to repoint the form וְיָאֵר (vÿya’er; vav [ו] conjunctive + jussive) and translate the statement as a prayer, “may he give us light.”

[118:27]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew noun חַג (khag) normally means “festival,” but here it apparently refers metonymically to an offering made at the festival. BDB 291 s.v. חַג 2 interprets the word in this way here, citing as comparable the use of later Hebrew חֲגִיגָה, which can refer to both a festival and a festival offering (see Jastrow 424 s.v. חֲגִיגָה).

[118:27]  ⁹ tn The second half of v. 27 has been translated and interpreted in a variety of ways. For a survey of major views, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 122.

[84:3]  ⁹ tn The word translated “swallow” occurs only here and in Prov 26:2.

[84:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, [in] which she places her young.”