Psalms 42:4

42:4 I will remember and weep! ¹ 

For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God,

shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival. ² 

Psalms 95:2

95:2 Let’s enter his presence ³  with thanksgiving!

Let’s shout out to him in celebration! ⁴ 

Psalms 95:2

95:2 Let’s enter his presence ⁵  with thanksgiving!

Let’s shout out to him in celebration! ⁶ 

Psalms 20:1

Psalm 20 ⁷ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

20:1 May the Lord answer ⁸  you ⁹  when you are in trouble; ¹⁰ 

may the God of Jacob ¹¹  make you secure!

Psalms 20:1

Psalm 20 ¹² 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

20:1 May the Lord answer ¹³  you ¹⁴  when you are in trouble; ¹⁵ 

may the God of Jacob ¹⁶  make you secure!

Psalms 31:2

31:2 Listen to me! ¹⁷ 

Quickly deliver me!

Be my protector and refuge, ¹⁸ 

a stronghold where I can be safe! ¹⁹ 

[42:4]  ¹ tn Heb “These things I will remember and I will pour out upon myself my soul.” “These things” are identified in the second half of the verse as those times when the psalmist worshiped in the Lord’s temple. The two cohortative forms indicate the psalmist’s resolve to remember and weep. The expression “pour out upon myself my soul” refers to mourning (see Job 30:16).

[42:4]  ² tc Heb “for I was passing by with the throng [?], I was walking with [?] them to the house of God; with a voice of a ringing shout and thanksgiving a multitude was observing a festival.” The Hebrew phrase בַּסָּךְ אֶדַּדֵּם (bassakh ’eddaddem, “with the throng [?] I was walking with [?]”) is particularly problematic. The noun סָךְ (sakh) occurs only here. If it corresponds to הָמוֹן (hamon, “multitude”) then one can propose a meaning “throng.” The present translation assumes this reading (cf. NIV, NRSV). The form אֶדַּדֵּם (“I will walk with [?]”) is also very problematic. The form can be taken as a Hitpael from דָּדָה (dadah; this verb possibly appears in Isa 38:15), but the pronominal suffix is problematic. For this reason many emend the form to ם[י]אַדִּרִ (’adirim, “nobles”) or ם-רִ[י]אַדִ (’adirim, “great,” with enclitic mem [ם]). The present translation understands the latter and takes the adjective “great” as modifying “throng.” If one emends סָךְ (sakh, “throng [?]”) to סֹךְ (sokh, “shelter”; see the Qere of Ps 27:5), then ר[י]אַדִּ (’addir) could be taken as a divine epithet, “[in the shelter of] the majestic one,” a reading which may find support in the LXX and Syriac Peshitta.

[95:2]  ³ tn Heb “meet his face.”

[95:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “with songs of joy.”

[95:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “meet his face.”

[95:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “with songs of joy.”

[20:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 20. The people pray for the king’s success in battle. When the king declares his assurance that the Lord will answer the people’s prayer, they affirm their confidence in God’s enablement.

[20:1]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in vv. 1b-5 are interpreted as jussives of prayer (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). Another option is to understand them as imperfects, “the Lord will answer,” etc. In this case the people declare their confidence that the Lord will intervene on behalf of the king and extend to him his favor.

[20:1]  ⁹ sn May the Lord answer you. The people address the king as they pray to the Lord.

[20:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in a day of trouble.”

[20:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the name of the God of Jacob.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his very person and to the divine characteristics suggested by his name, in this case “God of Jacob,” which highlights his relationship to Israel.

[20:1]  ¹² sn Psalm 20. The people pray for the king’s success in battle. When the king declares his assurance that the Lord will answer the people’s prayer, they affirm their confidence in God’s enablement.

[20:1]  ¹³ tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in vv. 1b-5 are interpreted as jussives of prayer (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). Another option is to understand them as imperfects, “the Lord will answer,” etc. In this case the people declare their confidence that the Lord will intervene on behalf of the king and extend to him his favor.

[20:1]  ¹⁴ sn May the Lord answer you. The people address the king as they pray to the Lord.

[20:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in a day of trouble.”

[20:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the name of the God of Jacob.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his very person and to the divine characteristics suggested by his name, in this case “God of Jacob,” which highlights his relationship to Israel.

[31:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”

[31:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “become for me a rocky summit of refuge.”

[31:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a house of strongholds to deliver me.”