Psalms 33:13

33:13 The Lord watches ¹  from heaven;

he sees all people. ² 

Psalms 77:15

77:15 You delivered ³  your people by your strength ⁴  –

the children of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah)

Psalms 78:9

78:9 The Ephraimites ⁵  were armed with bows, ⁶ 

but they retreated in the day of battle. ⁷ 

Psalms 90:3

90:3 You make mankind return ⁸  to the dust, ⁹ 

and say, “Return, O people!”

Psalms 102:20

102:20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,

and to set free those condemned to die, ¹⁰ 

Psalms 102:28

102:28 The children of your servants will settle down here,

and their descendants ¹¹  will live securely in your presence.” ¹² 

Psalms 149:2

149:2 Let Israel rejoice in their Creator!

Let the people ¹³  of Zion delight in their king! ¹⁴ 

[33:13]  ¹ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal forms in v. 13 state general facts.

[33:13]  ² tn Heb “all the sons of men.”

[77:15]  ³ tn Or “redeemed.”

[77:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “with [your] arm.”

[78:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the sons of Ephraim.” Ephraim probably stands here by synecdoche (part for whole) for the northern kingdom of Israel.

[78:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “ones armed, shooters of bow.” It is possible that the term נוֹשְׁקֵי (noshÿqey, “ones armed [with]”) is an interpretive gloss for the rare רוֹמֵי (romey, “shooters of”; on the latter see BDB 941 s.v. I רָמָה). The phrase נוֹשְׁקֵי קֶשֶׁת (noshÿqey qeshet, “ones armed with a bow”) appears in 1 Chr 12:2; 2 Chr 17:17.

[78:9]  ⁷ sn They retreated. This could refer to the northern tribes’ failure to conquer completely their allotted territory (see Judg 1), or it could refer generally to the typical consequence (military defeat) of their sin (see vv. 10-11).

[90:3]  ⁷ tn In this context the shortened prefix form does not function as a preterite, but indicates what is typical of the world.

[90:3]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term דַּכָּא (daka’) carries the basic sense of “crushed.” Elsewhere it refers to those who are “crushed” in spirit or contrite of heart (see Ps 34:18; Isa 57:15). If one understands this nuance here, then v. 3 is observing that God leads mankind to repentance (the term שׁוּב, shuv, “return,” which appears twice in this verse, is sometimes used of repentance.) However, the following context laments mankind’s mortality and the brevity of life, so it is doubtful if v. 3 should be understood so positively. It is more likely that דַּכָּא here refers to “crushed matter,” that is, the dust that fills the grave (see HALOT 221 s.v. s.v. I דַּכָּא; BDB 194 s.v. דַּכָּא). In this case one may hear an echo of Gen 3:19.

[102:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.

[102:28]  ¹¹ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[102:28]  ¹² tn Heb “before you will be established.”

[149:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “sons.”

[149:2]  ¹⁴ sn The Lord is the king here, as the parallelism in the previous line (“their creator”) indicates.