Psalms 40:5

40:5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;

you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us. ¹ 

No one can thwart you! ² 

I want to declare them and talk about them,

but they are too numerous to recount! ³ 

Psalms 40:10

40:10 I have not failed to tell about your justice; ⁴ 

I spoke about your reliability and deliverance;

I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness. ⁵ 

Psalms 71:17-18

71:17 O God, you have taught me since I was young,

and I am still declaring ⁶  your amazing deeds.

71:18 Even when I am old and gray, ⁷ 

O God, do not abandon me,

until I tell the next generation about your strength,

and those coming after me about your power. ⁸ 

Psalms 73:28

73:28 But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. ⁹ 

I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter,

as ¹⁰  I declare all the things you have done.

Psalms 107:22

107:22 Let them present thank offerings,

and loudly proclaim what he has done! ¹¹ 

Psalms 119:13

119:13 With my lips I proclaim

all the regulations you have revealed. ¹² 

Psalms 145:4

145:4 One generation will praise your deeds to another,

and tell about your mighty acts! ¹³ 

Jeremiah 51:10

51:10 The exiles from Judah will say, ¹⁴ 

‘The Lord has brought about a great deliverance for us! ¹⁵ 

Come on, let’s go and proclaim in Zion

what the Lord our God has done!’

[40:5]  ¹ tn Heb “many things you have done, you, O Lord my God, your amazing deeds and your thoughts toward us.” The precise meaning of the text is not clear, but the psalmist seems to be recalling the Lord’s miraculous deeds on Israel’s behalf (see Pss 9:1; 26:7), as well as his covenantal decrees and promises (see Ps 33:11).

[40:5]  ² tn Heb “there is none arrayed against you.” The precise meaning of the text is unclear, but the collocation עָרַךְ אֶל (’arakh ’el, “array against”) is used elsewhere of military (Judg 20:30; 1 Chr 19:17) or verbal opposition (Job 32:14).

[40:5]  ³ tn Heb “I will declare and I will speak, they are too numerous to recount.” The present translation assumes that the cohortatives are used in a hypothetical manner in a formally unmarked conditional sentence, “Should I try to declare [them] and speak [of them]…” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). For other examples of cohortatives in the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, see GKC 320 §108.e. (It should be noted, however, that GKC understands this particular verse in a different manner. See GKC 320 §108.f, where it is suggested that the cohortatives are part of an apodosis with the protasis being suppressed.) Another option is to take the cohortatives as a declaration of the psalmist’s resolve to announce the truth expressed in the next line. In this case one might translate: “I will declare and speak [the truth]: They are too numerous to recount.”

[40:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “your justice I have not hidden in the midst of my heart.”

[40:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “I have not hidden your loyal love and reliability.”

[71:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “and until now I am declaring.”

[71:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “and even unto old age and gray hair.”

[71:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “until I declare your arm to a generation, to everyone who comes your power.” God’s “arm” here is an anthropomorphism that symbolizes his great strength.

[73:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “but as for me, the nearness of God for me [is] good.”

[73:28]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive construct with -לְ (lÿ) is understood here as indicating an attendant circumstance. Another option is to take it as indicating purpose (“so that I might declare”) or result (“with the result that I declare”).

[107:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and let them proclaim his works with a ringing cry.”

[119:13]  ¹² tn Heb “of your mouth.”

[145:4]  ¹³ tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 4 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may one generation praise…and tell about.”

[51:10]  ¹⁴ tn The words “The exiles from Judah will say” are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation to clearly identify for the reader the referent of “us.”

[51:10]  ¹⁵ tn There is some difference of opinion as to the best way to render the Hebrew expression here. Literally it means “brought forth our righteousnesses.” BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 7.b interprets this of the “righteous acts” of the people of Judah and compares the usage in Isa 64:6; Ezek 3:20; 18:24; 33:13. However, Judah’s acts of righteousness (or more simply, their righteousness) was scarcely revealed in their deliverance. Most of the English versions and commentaries refer to “vindication” i.e., that the Lord has exonerated or proven Israel’s claims to be true. However, that would require more explanation than the idea of “deliverance” which is a perfectly legitimate usage of the term (cf. BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 6.a and compare the usage in Isa 46:13; 51:6, 8; 56:1). The present translation interprets the plural form here as a plural of intensity or amplification (GKC 397-98 §124.e) and the suffix as a genitive of advantage (IBHS 147 §9.5.2e). This interpretation is also reflected in REB and God’s Word.