Psalms 34:15

34:15 The Lord pays attention to the godly

and hears their cry for help. ¹ 

Psalms 39:9

39:9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth

because of what you have done. ² 

Psalms 60:2

60:2 You made the earth quake; you split it open. ³ 

Repair its breaches, for it is ready to fall. ⁴ 

Psalms 78:2

78:2 I will sing a song that imparts wisdom;

I will make insightful observations about the past. ⁵ 

[34:15]  ¹ tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord [are] toward the godly, and his ears [are] toward their cry for help.”

[39:9]  ² tn Heb “because you acted.” The psalmist has in mind God’s disciplinary measures (see vv. 10-13).

[60:2]  ³ tn The verb פָּצַם (patsam, “split open”) occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “crack,” and an Aramaic cognate is used in Tg. Jer 22:14 with the meaning “break open, frame.” See BDB 822 s.v. and Jastrow 1205 s.v. פְּצַם.

[60:2]  ⁴ sn It is ready to fall. The earth is compared to a wall that has been broken by the force of the earthquake (note the preceding line) and is ready to collapse.

[78:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will open with a wise saying my mouth, I will utter insightful sayings from long ago.” Elsewhere the Hebrew word pair חִידָה+מָשָׁל (mashal + khidah) refers to a taunt song (Hab 2:6), a parable (Ezek 17:2), proverbial sayings (Prov 1:6), and an insightful song that reflects on the mortality of humankind and the ultimate inability of riches to prevent death (Ps 49:4).