Psalms 36:10

36:10 Extend ¹  your loyal love to your faithful followers, ² 

and vindicate ³  the morally upright! ⁴ 

Psalms 109:12

109:12 May no one show him kindness! ⁵ 

May no one have compassion ⁶  on his fatherless children!

Psalms 120:5

120:5 How miserable I am! ⁷ 

For I have lived temporarily ⁸  in Meshech;

I have resided among the tents of Kedar. ⁹ 

Psalms 126:6

126:6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag ¹⁰  of seed,

will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain. ¹¹ 

[36:10]  ¹ tn Heb “draw out to full length.”

[36:10]  ² tn Heb “to those who know you.” The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’, “know”) is used here of those who “know” the Lord in the sense that they recognize his royal authority and obey his will (see Jer 22:16).

[36:10]  ³ tn Heb “and your justice to.” The verb “extend” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the previous line).

[36:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “the pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 32:11; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).

[109:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “may there not be for him one who extends loyal love.”

[109:12]  ⁶ tn Perhaps this refers to being generous (see Ps 37:21).

[120:5]  ⁹ tn Or “woe to me.” The Hebrew term אוֹיָה (’oyah, “woe”) which occurs only here, is an alternate form of אוֹי (’oy).

[120:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I live as a resident alien.”

[120:5]  ¹¹ sn Meshech was located in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). Kedar was located in the desert to east-southeast of Israel. Because of the reference to Kedar, it is possible that Ps 120:5 refers to a different Meshech, perhaps one associated with the individual mentioned as a descendant of Aram in 1 Chr 1:17. (However, the LXX in 1 Chr 1:17 follows the parallel text in Gen 10:23, which reads “Mash,” not Meshech.) It is, of course, impossible that the psalmist could have been living in both the far north and the east at the same time. For this reason one must assume that he is recalling his experience as a wanderer among the nations or that he is using the geographical terms metaphorically and sarcastically to suggest that the enemies who surround him are like the barbarians who live in these distant regions. For a discussion of the problem, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 146.

[126:6]  ¹³ tn The noun occurs only here and in Job 28:18 in the OT. See HALOT 646 s.v. I מֶשֶׁךְ which gives “leather pouch” as the meaning.

[126:6]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew noun אֲלֻמָּה (’alummah, “sheaf”) occurs only here and in Gen 37:7 in the OT.