Psalms 31:13

31:13 For I hear what so many are saying, ¹ 

the terrifying news that comes from every direction. ² 

When they plot together against me,

they figure out how they can take my life.

Psalms 42:1

Book 2
(Psalms 42-72)

Psalm 42 ³ 

For the music director; a well-written song ⁴  by the Korahites.

42:1 As a deer ⁵  longs ⁶  for streams of water,

so I long ⁷  for you, O God!

Psalms 42:4-6

42:4 I will remember and weep! ⁸ 

For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God,

shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival. ⁹ 

42:5 Why are you depressed, ¹⁰  O my soul? ¹¹ 

Why are you upset? ¹² 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ¹³ 

42:6 I am depressed, ¹⁴ 

so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, ¹⁵ 

from Hermon, ¹⁶  from Mount Mizar. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 42:11

42:11 Why are you depressed, ¹⁸  O my soul? ¹⁹ 

Why are you upset? ²⁰ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ²¹ 

Psalms 43:5

43:5 Why are you depressed, ²²  O my soul? ²³ 

Why are you upset? ²⁴ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ²⁵ 

Psalms 54:3

54:3 For foreigners ²⁶  attack me; ²⁷ 

ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life. ²⁸  (Selah)

Psalms 56:13

56:13 when you deliver ²⁹  my life from death.

You keep my feet from stumbling, ³⁰ 

so that I might serve ³¹  God as I enjoy life. ³² 

Psalms 57:4

57:4 I am surrounded by lions;

I lie down ³³  among those who want to devour me; ³⁴ 

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are a sharp sword. ³⁵ 

Psalms 77:2

77:2 In my time of trouble I sought ³⁶  the Lord.

I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. ³⁷ 

I ³⁸  refused to be comforted.

Psalms 84:2

84:2 I desperately want to be ³⁹ 

in the courts of the Lord’s temple. ⁴⁰ 

My heart and my entire being ⁴¹  shout for joy

to the living God.

Psalms 104:35

104:35 May sinners disappear ⁴²  from the earth,

and the wicked vanish!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord!

Psalms 142:7

142:7 Free me ⁴³  from prison,

that I may give thanks to your name.

Because of me the godly will assemble, ⁴⁴ 

for you will vindicate me. ⁴⁵ 

Psalms 143:8

143:8 May I hear about your loyal love in the morning, ⁴⁶ 

for I trust in you.

Show me the way I should go, ⁴⁷ 

because I long for you. ⁴⁸ 

[31:13]  ¹ tn Heb “the report of many.”

[31:13]  ² tn Heb “the terror from all around.”

[42:1]  ³ sn Psalm 42. The psalmist recalls how he once worshiped in the Lord’s temple, but laments that he is now oppressed by enemies in a foreign land. Some medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalms 42 and 43 into a single psalm.

[42:1]  ⁴ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[42:1]  ⁵ tn Since the accompanying verb is feminine in form, the noun אָיִּל (’ayyil, “male deer”) should be emended to אַיֶּלֶת (’ayyelet, “female deer”). Haplography of the letter tav has occurred; note that the following verb begins with tav.

[42:1]  ⁶ tn Or “pants [with thirst].”

[42:1]  ⁷ tn Or “my soul pants [with thirst].” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[42:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “These things I will remember and I will pour out upon myself my soul.” “These things” are identified in the second half of the verse as those times when the psalmist worshiped in the Lord’s temple. The two cohortative forms indicate the psalmist’s resolve to remember and weep. The expression “pour out upon myself my soul” refers to mourning (see Job 30:16).

[42:4]  ⁶ tc Heb “for I was passing by with the throng [?], I was walking with [?] them to the house of God; with a voice of a ringing shout and thanksgiving a multitude was observing a festival.” The Hebrew phrase בַּסָּךְ אֶדַּדֵּם (bassakh ’eddaddem, “with the throng [?] I was walking with [?]”) is particularly problematic. The noun סָךְ (sakh) occurs only here. If it corresponds to הָמוֹן (hamon, “multitude”) then one can propose a meaning “throng.” The present translation assumes this reading (cf. NIV, NRSV). The form אֶדַּדֵּם (“I will walk with [?]”) is also very problematic. The form can be taken as a Hitpael from דָּדָה (dadah; this verb possibly appears in Isa 38:15), but the pronominal suffix is problematic. For this reason many emend the form to ם[י]אַדִּרִ (’adirim, “nobles”) or ם-רִ[י]אַדִ (’adirim, “great,” with enclitic mem [ם]). The present translation understands the latter and takes the adjective “great” as modifying “throng.” If one emends סָךְ (sakh, “throng [?]”) to סֹךְ (sokh, “shelter”; see the Qere of Ps 27:5), then ר[י]אַדִּ (’addir) could be taken as a divine epithet, “[in the shelter of] the majestic one,” a reading which may find support in the LXX and Syriac Peshitta.

[42:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:5]  ⁸ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “and [why] are you in turmoil upon me?” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries on the descriptive present nuance of the preceding imperfect. See GKC 329 §111.t.

[42:5]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of his face.” The verse division in the Hebrew text is incorrect. אֱלֹהַי (’elohay, “my God”) at the beginning of v. 7 belongs with the end of v. 6 (see the corresponding refrains in 42:11 and 43:5, both of which end with “my God” after “saving acts of my face”). The Hebrew term פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”) should be emended to פְּנֵי (pÿney, “face of”). The emended text reads, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention.

[42:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “my God, upon me my soul bows down.” As noted earlier, “my God” belongs with the end of v. 6.

[42:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan.” “Remember” is here used metonymically for prayer (see vv. 8-9). As the next line indicates, the region of the upper Jordan, where the river originates, is in view.

[42:6]  ¹¹ tc Heb “Hermons.” The plural form of the name occurs only here in the OT. Some suggest the plural refers to multiple mountain peaks (cf. NASB) or simply retain the plural in the translation (cf. NEB), but the final mem (ם) is probably dittographic (note that the next form in the text begins with the letter mem) or enclitic. At a later time it was misinterpreted as a plural marker and vocalized accordingly.

[42:6]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term מִצְעָר (mits’ar) is probably a proper name (“Mizar”), designating a particular mountain in the Hermon region. The name appears only here in the OT.

[42:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:11]  ¹² sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[42:11]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God”), that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is almost identical to the one in v. 5. See also Ps 43:5.

[43:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[43:5]  ¹⁴ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[43:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[43:5]  ¹⁶ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is identical to the one in Ps 42:11. See also 42:5, which differs only slightly.

[54:3]  ¹⁵ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read זֵדִים (zedim, “proud ones”) rather than זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”). (No matter which reading one chooses as original, dalet-resh confusion accounts for the existence of the variant.) The term זֵדִים (“proud ones”) occurs in parallelism with עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) is parallel to עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.

[54:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “rise against me.”

[54:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”

[56:13]  ¹⁷ tn The perfect verbal form is probably future perfect; the psalmist promises to make good on his vows once God has delivered him (see Pss 13:5; 52:9). (2) Another option is to understand the final two verses as being added later, after the Lord intervened on the psalmist’s behalf. In this case one may translate, “for you have delivered.” Other options include taking the perfect as (3) generalizing (“for you deliver”) or (4) rhetorical (“for you will”).

[56:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “are not my feet [kept] from stumbling?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they are!” The question has been translated as an affirmation for the sake of clarification of meaning.

[56:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “walk before.” For a helpful discussion of the background and meaning of this Hebrew idiom, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 254; cf. the same idiom in 2 Kgs 20:3; Isa 38:3.

[56:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in the light of life.” The phrase is used here and in Job 33:30.

[57:4]  ¹⁹ tn The cohortative form אֶשְׁכְּבָה (’eshkÿvah, “I lie down”) is problematic, for it does not seem to carry one of the normal functions of the cohortative (resolve or request). One possibility is that the form here is a “pseudo-cohortative” used here in a gnomic sense (IBHS 576-77 §34.5.3b).

[57:4]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew verb לָהַט (lahat) is here understood as a hapax legomenon meaning “devour” (see HALOT 521 s.v. II להט), a homonym of the more common verb meaning “to burn.” A more traditional interpretation takes the verb from this latter root and translates, “those who are aflame” (see BDB 529 s.v.; cf. NASB “those who breathe forth fire”).

[57:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “my life, in the midst of lions, I lie down, devouring ones, sons of mankind, their teeth a spear and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword.” The syntax of the verse is difficult. Another option is to take “my life” with the preceding verse. For this to make sense, one must add a verb, perhaps “and may he deliver” (cf. the LXX), before the phrase. One might then translate, “May God send his loyal love and faithfulness and deliver my life.” If one does take “my life” with v. 4, then the parallelism of v. 5 is altered and one might translate: “in the midst of lions I lie down, [among] men who want to devour me, whose teeth….”

[77:2]  ²¹ tn Here the psalmist refers back to the very recent past, when he began to pray for divine help.

[77:2]  ²² tn Heb “my hand [at] night was extended and was not growing numb.” The verb נָגַר (nagar), which can mean “flow” in certain contexts, here has the nuance “be extended.” The imperfect form (תָפוּג, tafug, “to be numb”) is used here to describe continuous action in the past.

[77:2]  ²³ tn Or “my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[84:2]  ²³ tn Heb “my soul longs, it even pines for.”

[84:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the courts of the Lord” (see Ps 65:4).

[84:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “my flesh,” which stands for his whole person and being.

[104:35]  ²⁵ tn Or “be destroyed.”

[142:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “bring out my life.”

[142:7]  ²⁸ tn Or “gather around.”

[142:7]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.

[143:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “cause me to hear in the morning your loyal love.” Here “loyal love” probably stands metonymically for an oracle of assurance promising God’s intervention as an expression of his loyal love.

[143:8]  ³⁰ sn The way probably refers here to God’s moral and ethical standards and requirements (see v. 10).

[143:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “for to you I lift up my life.” The Hebrew expression נָאָשׂ נֶפֶשׁ (na’as nefesh, “to lift up [one’s] life”) means “to desire; to long for” (see Deut 24:15; Prov 19:18; Jer 22:27; 44:14; Hos 4:8, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 16).