Psalms 49:7

49:7 Certainly a man cannot rescue his brother; ¹ 

he cannot pay God an adequate ransom price ² 

Psalms 25:22

25:22 O God, rescue ³  Israel

from all their distress! ⁴ 

Psalms 26:11

26:11 But I have integrity! ⁵ 

Rescue me ⁶  and have mercy on me!

Psalms 119:134

119:134 Deliver me ⁷  from oppressive men,

so that I can keep ⁸  your precepts.

Psalms 130:8

130:8 He will deliver ⁹  Israel

from all the consequences of their sins. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 44:26

44:26 Rise up and help us!

Rescue us ¹¹  because of your loyal love!

Psalms 69:18

69:18 Come near me and redeem me! ¹² 

Because of my enemies, rescue me!

Psalms 71:23

71:23 My lips will shout for joy! Yes, ¹³  I will sing your praises!

I will praise you when you rescue me! ¹⁴ 

Psalms 31:5

31:5 Into your hand I entrust my life; ¹⁵ 

you will rescue ¹⁶  me, O Lord, the faithful God.

Psalms 34:22

34:22 The Lord rescues his servants; ¹⁷ 

all who take shelter in him escape punishment. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 49:15

49:15 But ¹⁹  God will rescue ²⁰  my life ²¹  from the power ²²  of Sheol;

certainly ²³  he will pull me to safety. ²⁴  (Selah)

Psalms 55:18

55:18 He will rescue ²⁵  me and protect me from those who attack me, ²⁶ 

even though ²⁷  they greatly outnumber me. ²⁸ 

Psalms 78:42

78:42 They did not remember what he had done, ²⁹ 

how he delivered them from the enemy, ³⁰ 

[49:7]  ¹ tn Heb “a brother, he surely does not ransom, a man.” The sequence אִישׁ...אָח (’akh...’ish, “a brother…a man”) is problematic, for the usual combination is אָח...אָח (“a brother…a brother”) or אִישׁ...אִישׁ (“a man…a man”). When אִישׁ and אָח are combined, the usual order is אָח...אִישׁ (“a man…a brother”), with “brother” having a third masculine singular suffix, “his brother.” This suggests that “brother” is the object of the verb and “man” the subject. (1) Perhaps the altered word order and absence of the suffix can be explained by the text’s poetic character, for ellipsis is a feature of Hebrew poetic style. (2) Another option, supported by a few medieval Hebrew mss, is to emend “brother” to the similar sounding אַךְ (’akh, “surely; but”) which occurs in v. 15 before the verb פָּדָה (padah, “ransom”). If this reading is accepted the Qal imperfect יִפְדֶּה (yifddeh, “he can [not] ransom”) would need to be emended to a Niphal (passive) form, יִפָּדֶה (yifadeh, “he can[not] be ransomed”) unless one understands the subject of the Qal verb to be indefinite (“one cannot redeem a man”). (A Niphal imperfect can be collocated with a Qal infinitive absolute. See GKC 344-45 §113.w.) No matter how one decides the textual issues, the imperfect in this case is modal, indicating potential, and the infinitive absolute emphasizes the statement.

[49:7]  ² tn Heb “he cannot pay to God his ransom price.” Num 35:31 may supply the legal background for the metaphorical language used here. The psalmist pictures God as having a claim on the soul of the individual. When God comes to claim the life that ultimately belongs to him, he demands a ransom price that is beyond the capability of anyone to pay. The psalmist’s point is that God has ultimate authority over life and death; all the money in the world cannot buy anyone a single day of life beyond what God has decreed.

[25:22]  ³ tn Or “redeem.”

[25:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “his distresses.”

[26:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I in my integrity walk.” The psalmist uses the imperfect verbal form to emphasize this is his practice. The construction at the beginning of the verse (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist and the sinners mentioned in vv. 9-10.

[26:11]  ⁶ tn Or “redeem me.”

[119:134]  ⁷ tn Or “redeem me.”

[119:134]  ⁸ tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[130:8]  ⁹ tn Or “redeem.”

[130:8]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew noun עָוֹן (’avon) can refer to sin, the guilt sin produces, or the consequences of sin. Only here is the noun collocated with the verb פָּדָה (padah, “to redeem; to deliver”). The psalmist may refer to forgiveness per se (v. 4), but the emphasis in this context is likely on deliverance from the national consequences of sin. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 192.

[44:26]  ¹¹ tn Or “redeem us.” See Pss 25:22; 26:11; 69:18; 119:134.

[69:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “come near my life and redeem it.” The verb “redeem” casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).

[71:23]  ¹⁵ tn Or “when.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) has an emphasizing (asseverative) function here.

[71:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and my life [or “soul”] which you will have redeemed.” The perfect verbal form functions here as a future perfect. The psalmist anticipates praising God, for God will have rescued him by that time.

[31:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my spirit.” The noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) here refers to the animating spirit that gives the psalmist life.

[31:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “redeem.” The perfect verbal form is understood here as anticipatory, indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer that he can describe his deliverance as if it had already happened. Another option is to take the perfect as precative, expressing a wish or request (“rescue me”; cf. NIV). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[34:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “redeems the life of his servants.” The Hebrew participial form suggests such deliverance is characteristic.

[34:22]  ²⁰ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 31:19).

[49:15]  ²¹ tn Or “certainly.”

[49:15]  ²² tn Or “redeem.”

[49:15]  ²³ tn Or “me.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[49:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “hand.”

[49:15]  ²⁵ tn Or “for.”

[49:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he will take me.” To improve the poetic balance of the verse, some move the words “from the power of Sheol” to the following line. The verse would then read: “But God will rescue my life; / from the power of Sheol he will certainly deliver me” (cf. NEB).

[55:18]  ²³ tn The perfect verbal form is here used rhetorically to indicate that the action is certain to take place (the so-called perfect of certitude).

[55:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he will redeem in peace my life from [those who] draw near to me.”

[55:18]  ²⁵ tn Or “for.”

[55:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “among many they are against me.” For other examples of the preposition עִמָּד (’immad) used in the sense of “at, against,” see HALOT 842 s.v.; BDB 767 s.v.; IBHS 219 §11.2.14b.

[78:42]  ²⁵ tn Heb “his hand,” symbolizing his saving activity and strength, as the next line makes clear.

[78:42]  ²⁶ tn Heb “[the] day [in] which he ransomed them from [the] enemy.”