Discovery BoxPsalms 43:4
Context43:4 Then I will go 1 to the altar of God,
to the God who gives me ecstatic joy, 2
so that I express my thanks to you, 3 O God, my God, with a harp.
Psalms 30:1
ContextA psalm – a song used at the dedication of the temple; 5 by David.
30:1 I will praise you, O Lord, for you lifted me up, 6
and did not allow my enemies to gloat 7 over me.
[43:4] 1 tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”
[43:4] 2 tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
[43:4] 3 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.
[30:1] 4 sn Psalm 30. The author thanks the Lord for delivering him from death and urges others to join him in praise. The psalmist experienced divine discipline for a brief time, but when he cried out for help the Lord intervened and restored his favor.
[30:1] 5 tn Heb “a song of the dedication of the house.” The referent of “house” is unclear. It is possible that David wrote this psalm for the dedication ceremony of Solomon’s temple. Another possibility is that the psalm was used on the occasion of the dedication of the second temple following the return from exile, or on the occasion of the rededication of the temple in Maccabean times.
[30:1] 6 tn Elsewhere the verb דָּלָה (dalah) is used of drawing water from a well (Exod 2:16, 19; Prov 20:5). The psalmist was trapped in the pit leading to Sheol (see v. 3), but the
