Psalms 44:4

44:4 You are my ¹  king, O God!

Decree ²  Jacob’s ³  deliverance!

Psalms 133:3

133:3 It is like the dew of Hermon, ⁴ 

which flows down upon the hills of Zion. ⁵ 

Indeed ⁶  that is where the Lord has decreed

a blessing will be available – eternal life. ⁷ 

Leviticus 25:21

25:21 I will command my blessing for you in the sixth year so that it may yield ⁸  the produce ⁹  for three years,

Deuteronomy 28:8

28:8 The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do – yes, he will bless you in the land he ¹⁰  is giving you.

Matthew 8:8

8:8 But the centurion replied, ¹¹  “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Instead, just say the word and my servant will be healed.

[44:4]  ¹ sn The speaker changes here to an individual, perhaps the worship leader or the king. The oscillation between singular (vv. 4, 6) and plural (vv. 1-3, 5, 7-8) in vv. 1-8 may reflect an antiphonal ceremony.

[44:4]  ² tc The LXX assumes a participle here (מְצַוֶּה [mÿtsavveh], “the one who commands/decrees”) which would stand in apposition to “my God.” It is possible that the MT, which has the imperative (צַוֵּה, tsavveh) form, has suffered haplography of the letter mem (ם). Note that the preceding word (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) ends in mem. Another option is that the MT is divided in the wrong place; perhaps one could move the final mem from אֱלֹהִים to the beginning of the next word and read מְצַוֶּה אֱלֹהָי (’elohay mÿtsavveh, “[You are my king,] my God, the one who decrees”).

[44:4]  ³ tn That is, Israel. See Pss 14:7; 22:23.

[133:3]  ⁴ sn Hermon refers to Mount Hermon, located north of Israel.

[133:3]  ⁵ sn The hills of Zion are those surrounding Zion (see Pss 87:1; 125:2). The psalmist does not intend to suggest that the dew from Mt. Hermon in the distant north actually flows down upon Zion. His point is that the same kind of heavy dew that replenishes Hermon may also be seen on Zion’s hills. See A. Cohen, Psalms (SoBB), 439. “Dew” here symbolizes divine blessing, as the next line suggests.

[133:3]  ⁶ tn Or “for.”

[133:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forever.”

[25:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “and it [i.e., the land] shall make the produce.” The Hebrew term וְעָשָׂת (vÿ’asat, “and it shall make”) is probably an older third feminine singular form of the verb (GKC 210 §75.m). Smr has the normal form.

[25:21]  ⁹ tn Smr and LXX have “its produce” (cf. 25:3, 7, etc.) rather than “the produce.”

[28:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” Because English would not typically reintroduce the proper name following a relative pronoun (“he will bless…the Lord your God is giving”), the pronoun (“he”) has been employed here in the translation.

[8:8]  ¹¹ tn Grk “But answering, the centurion replied.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.