Discovery BoxPsalms 34:1-6
ContextWritten by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away. 2
34:1 I will praise 3 the Lord at all times;
my mouth will continually praise him. 4
34:2 I will boast 5 in the Lord;
let the oppressed hear and rejoice! 6
34:3 Magnify the Lord with me!
Let’s praise 7 his name together!
34:4 I sought the Lord’s help 8 and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
34:5 Those who look to him for help are happy;
their faces are not ashamed. 9
34:6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him 10 from all his troubles.
Psalms 35:27
Context35:27 May those who desire my vindication shout for joy and rejoice!
May they continually say, 11 “May the Lord be praised, 12 for he wants his servant to be secure.” 13
Psalms 52:6
Context52:6 When the godly see this, they will be filled with awe,
and will mock the evildoer, saying: 14
Psalms 64:9-10
Context64:9 and all people will fear. 15
They will proclaim 16 what God has done,
and reflect on his deeds.
64:10 The godly will rejoice in the Lord
and take shelter in him.
All the morally upright 17 will boast. 18
Psalms 142:7
Contextthat I may give thanks to your name.
Because of me the godly will assemble, 20
for you will vindicate me. 21
Hosea 3:5
Context3:5 Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. 22 Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings 23 in the future. 24
Acts 2:31-41
Context2:31 David by foreseeing this 25 spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, 26 that he was neither abandoned to Hades, 27 nor did his body 28 experience 29 decay. 30 2:32 This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it. 31 2:33 So then, exalted 32 to the right hand 33 of God, and having received 34 the promise of the Holy Spirit 35 from the Father, he has poured out 36 what you both see and hear. 2:34 For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says,
‘The Lord said to my lord,
“Sit 37 at my right hand
2:35 until I make your enemies a footstool 38 for your feet.”’ 39
2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt 40 that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified 41 both Lord 42 and Christ.” 43
2:37 Now when they heard this, 44 they were acutely distressed 45 and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?” 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized 46 in the name of Jesus Christ 47 for 48 the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 49 2:39 For the promise 50 is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 2:40 With many other words he testified 51 and exhorted them saying, “Save yourselves from this perverse 52 generation!” 2:41 So those who accepted 53 his message 54 were baptized, and that day about three thousand people 55 were added. 56
Acts 4:4
Context4:4 But many of those who had listened to 57 the message 58 believed, and the number of the men 59 came to about five thousand.
[34:1] 1 sn Psalm 34. In this song of thanksgiving the psalmist praises God for delivering him from distress. He encourages others to be loyal to the Lord, tells them how to please God, and assures them that the Lord protects his servants. The psalm is an acrostic; vv. 1-21 begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (Verse 6 begins with the letter he (ה) and v. 7 with the letter zayin (ז). The letter vav (ו), which comes between ה and ז, seems to be omitted, although it does appear at the beginning of v. 6b. The final verse of the psalm, which begins with the letter pe (פ), is outside the acrostic scheme.
[34:1] 2 tn Heb “By David, when he changed his sense before Abimelech and he drove him away and he went.”
[34:1] 4 tn Heb “continually [will] his praise [be] in my mouth.”
[34:2] 5 tn Heb “my soul will boast”; or better, “let my soul boast.” Following the cohortative form in v. 1, it is likely that the prefixed verbal form here is jussive.
[34:2] 6 tn The two prefixed verbal forms in this verse are best taken as jussives, for the psalmist is calling his audience to worship (see v. 3).
[34:4] 8 tn Heb “I sought the
[34:5] 9 tc Heb “they look to him and are radiant and their faces are not ashamed.” The third person plural subject (“they”) is unidentified; there is no antecedent in the Hebrew text. For this reason some prefer to take the perfect verbal forms in the first line as imperatives, “look to him and be radiant” (cf. NEB, NRSV). Some medieval Hebrew
[34:6] 10 tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.
[35:27] 11 tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27a are understood as jussives (see vv. 24b-26).
[35:27] 12 tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the
[35:27] 13 tn Heb “the one who desires the peace of his servant.”
[52:6] 14 tn Heb “and the godly will see and will fear and at him will laugh.”
[64:9] 15 tc Many medieval Hebrew
[64:9] 16 tn Heb “the work of God,” referring to the judgment described in v. 7.
[64:10] 17 tn Heb “upright in heart.”
[64:10] 18 tn That is, about the
[142:7] 19 tn Heb “bring out my life.”
[142:7] 20 tn Or “gather around.”
[142:7] 21 tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.
[3:5] 22 tn Heb “David their king”; cf. NCV “the king from David’s family”; TEV “a descendant of David their king”; NLT “David’s descendant, their king.”
[3:5] 23 tn Heb “his goodness”; NLT “his good gifts.”
[3:5] 24 tn Heb “in the end of the days.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT “in the last days.”
[2:31] 25 tn Grk “David foreseeing spoke.” The participle προϊδών (proidwn) is taken as indicating means. It could also be translated as a participle of attendant circumstance: “David foresaw [this] and spoke.” The word “this” is supplied in either case as an understood direct object (direct objects in Greek were often omitted, but must be supplied for the modern English reader).
[2:31] 26 tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
[2:31] 27 tn Or “abandoned in the world of the dead.” The translation “world of the dead” for Hades is suggested by L&N 1.19. The phrase is an allusion to Ps 16:10.
[2:31] 28 tn Grk “flesh.” See vv. 26b-27. The reference to “body” in this verse picks up the reference to “body” in v. 26. The Greek term σάρξ (sarx) in both verses literally means “flesh”; however, the translation “body” stresses the lack of decay of his physical body. The point of the verse is not merely the lack of decay of his flesh alone, but the resurrection of his entire person, as indicated by the previous parallel line “he was not abandoned to Hades.”
[2:31] 29 tn Grk “see,” but the literal translation of the phrase “see decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “look at decay,” while here “see decay” is really figurative for “experience decay.”
[2:31] 30 sn An allusion to Ps 16:10.
[2:32] 31 tn Or “of him”; Grk “of which [or whom] we are all witnesses” (Acts 1:8).
[2:33] 32 tn The aorist participle ὑψωθείς (Juywqei") could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…” In the translation the more neutral “exalted” (a shorter form of “having been exalted”) was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.
[2:33] 33 sn The expression the right hand of God represents supreme power and authority. Its use here sets up the quotation of Ps 110:1 in v. 34.
[2:33] 34 tn The aorist participle λαβών (labwn) could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…and received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit.” In the translation the more neutral “having received” was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.
[2:33] 35 tn Here the genitive τοῦ πνεύματος (tou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the promise consists of the Holy Spirit.
[2:33] 36 sn The use of the verb poured out looks back to 2:17-18, where the same verb occurs twice.
[2:34] 37 sn Sit at my right hand. The word “sit” alludes back to the promise of “seating one on his throne” in v. 30.
[2:35] 38 sn The metaphor make your enemies a footstool portrays the complete subjugation of the enemies.
[2:35] 39 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1, one of the most often-cited OT passages in the NT, pointing to the exaltation of Jesus.
[2:36] 40 tn Or “know for certain.” This term is in an emphatic position in the clause.
[2:36] 41 tn Grk “has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” The clause has been simplified in the translation by replacing the pronoun “him” with the explanatory clause “this Jesus whom you crucified” which comes at the end of the sentence.
[2:36] 42 sn Lord. This looks back to the quotation of Ps 110:1 and the mention of “calling on the Lord” in 2:21. Peter’s point is that the Lord on whom one calls for salvation is Jesus, because he is the one mediating God’s blessing of the Spirit as a sign of the presence of salvation and the last days.
[2:36] 43 tn Or “and Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
[2:37] 44 tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
[2:37] 45 tn Grk “they were pierced to the heart” (an idiom for acute emotional distress).
[2:38] 46 tn The verb is a third person imperative, but the common translation “let each of you be baptized” obscures the imperative force in English, since it sounds more like a permissive (“each of you may be baptized”) to the average English reader.
[2:38] 47 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
[2:38] 48 tn There is debate over the meaning of εἰς in the prepositional phrase εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν (eis afesin twn Jamartiwn Jumwn, “for/because of/with reference to the forgiveness of your sins”). Although a causal sense has been argued, it is difficult to maintain here. ExSyn 369-71 discusses at least four other ways of dealing with the passage: (1) The baptism referred to here is physical only, and εἰς has the meaning of “for” or “unto.” Such a view suggests that salvation is based on works – an idea that runs counter to the theology of Acts, namely: (a) repentance often precedes baptism (cf. Acts 3:19; 26:20), and (b) salvation is entirely a gift of God, not procured via water baptism (Acts 10:43 [cf. v. 47]; 13:38-39, 48; 15:11; 16:30-31; 20:21; 26:18); (2) The baptism referred to here is spiritual only. Although such a view fits well with the theology of Acts, it does not fit well with the obvious meaning of “baptism” in Acts – especially in this text (cf. 2:41); (3) The text should be repunctuated in light of the shift from second person plural to third person singular back to second person plural again. The idea then would be, “Repent for/with reference to your sins, and let each one of you be baptized…” Such a view is an acceptable way of handling εἰς, but its subtlety and awkwardness count against it; (4) Finally, it is possible that to a first-century Jewish audience (as well as to Peter), the idea of baptism might incorporate both the spiritual reality and the physical symbol. That Peter connects both closely in his thinking is clear from other passages such as Acts 10:47 and 11:15-16. If this interpretation is correct, then Acts 2:38 is saying very little about the specific theological relationship between the symbol and the reality, only that historically they were viewed together. One must look in other places for a theological analysis. For further discussion see R. N. Longenecker, “Acts,” EBC 9:283-85; B. Witherington, Acts, 154-55; F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary, 129-30; BDAG 290 s.v. εἰς 4.f.
[2:38] 49 tn Here the genitive τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος (tou Jagiou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the gift consists of the Holy Spirit.
[2:39] 50 sn The promise refers to the promise of the Holy Spirit that Jesus received from the Father in 2:33 and which he now pours out on others. The promise consists of the Holy Spirit (see note in 2:33). Jesus is the active mediator of God’s blessing.
[2:40] 52 tn Or “crooked” (in a moral or ethical sense). See Luke 3:5.
[2:41] 53 tn Or “who acknowledged the truth of.”
[2:41] 55 tn Grk “souls” (here an idiom for the whole person).
[2:41] 56 tn Or “were won over.”
[4:4] 59 tn In the historical setting it is likely that only men are referred to here. The Greek term ἀνήρ (anhr) usually refers to males or husbands rather than people in general. Thus to translate “of the people” would give a false impression of the number, since any women and children were apparently not included in the count.
