Psalms 33:17

33:17 A horse disappoints those who trust in it for victory; ¹ 

despite its great strength, it cannot deliver.

Psalms 49:20

49:20 Wealthy people do not understand; ² 

they are like animals ³  that perish. ⁴ 

Psalms 66:5

66:5 Come and witness ⁵  God’s exploits! ⁶ 

His acts on behalf of people are awesome! ⁷ 

Psalms 75:6

75:6 For victory does not come from the east or west,

or from the wilderness. ⁸ 

Psalms 106:3

106:3 How blessed are those who promote justice,

and do what is right all the time!

[33:17]  ¹ tn Heb “a lie [is] the horse for victory.”

[49:20]  ² tn Heb “mankind in honor does not understand.” The Hebrew term יְקָר (yÿqar, “honor”) probably refers here to the wealth mentioned in the preceding context. The imperfect verbal form draws attention to what is characteristically true. Some emend יָבִין (yavin, “understands”) to יָלִין (yalin, “remains”), but this is an unnecessary accommodation to the wording of v. 12.

[49:20]  ³ tn Or “cattle.”

[49:20]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb is derived from דָּמָה (damah, “cease, destroy”; BDB 198 s.v.). Another option is to derive the verb from דָּמָה (damah, “be silent”; see HALOT 225 s.v. II דמה, which sees two homonymic roots [I דָּמַה, “be silent,” and II דָּמַה, “destroy”] rather than a single root) and translate, “they are like dumb beasts.” This makes particularly good sense here, where the preceding line focuses on mankind’s lack of understanding.

[66:5]  ³ tn Or “see.”

[66:5]  ⁴ tn Or “acts” (see Ps 46:8).

[66:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “awesome [is] an act toward the sons of man.” It is unclear how the prepositional phrase relates to what precedes. If collocated with “act,” it may mean “on behalf of” or “toward.” If taken with “awesome” (see 1 Chr 16:25; Pss 89:7; 96:4; Zeph 2:11), one might translate “his awesome acts are beyond human comprehension” or “his awesome acts are superior to anything men can do.”

[75:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “for not from the east or from the west, and not from the wilderness of the mountains.” If one follows this reading the sentence is elliptical. One must supply “does help come,” or some comparable statement. However, it is possible to take הָרִים (harim) as a Hiphil infinitive from רוּם (rum), the same verb used in vv. 4-5 of “lifting up” a horn. In this case one may translate the form as “victory.” In this case the point is that victory does not come from alliances with other nations.