Psalms 51:18-19

51:18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her! ¹ 

Fortify ²  the walls of Jerusalem! ³ 

51:19 Then you will accept ⁴  the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;

then bulls will be sacrificed ⁵  on your altar. ⁶ 

Psalms 51:1

Psalm 51 ⁷ 

For the music director; a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba. ⁸ 

51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of ⁹  your loyal love!

Because of ¹⁰  your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! ¹¹ 

Psalms 8:1

Psalm 8 ¹² 

For the music director, according to the gittith style; ¹³  a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord, ¹⁴ 

how magnificent ¹⁵  is your reputation ¹⁶  throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! ¹⁷ 

Psalms 8:1

Psalm 8 ¹⁸ 

For the music director, according to the gittith style; ¹⁹  a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord, ²⁰ 

how magnificent ²¹  is your reputation ²²  throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! ²³ 

Psalms 8:1

Psalm 8 ²⁴ 

For the music director, according to the gittith style; ²⁵  a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord, ²⁶ 

how magnificent ²⁷  is your reputation ²⁸  throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! ²⁹ 

Psalms 29:1

Psalm 29 ³⁰ 

A psalm of David.

29:1 Acknowledge the Lord, you heavenly beings, ³¹ 

acknowledge the Lord’s majesty and power! ³² 

Hebrews 13:15

13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name.

[51:18]  ¹ tn Heb “do what is good for Zion in your favor.”

[51:18]  ² tn Or “Build.” The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:18]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[51:19]  ⁴ tn Or “desire, take delight in.”

[51:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “then they will offer up bulls.” The third plural subject is indefinite.

[51:19]  ⁶ sn Verses 18-19 appear to reflect the exilic period, when the city’s walls lay in ruins and the sacrificial system had been disrupted.

[51:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 51. The psalmist confesses his sinfulness to God and begs for forgiveness and a transformation of his inner character. According to the psalm superscription, David offered this prayer when Nathan confronted him with his sin following the king’s affair with Bathsheba (see 2 Sam 11-12). However, the final two verses of the psalm hardly fit this situation, for they assume the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and that the sacrificial system has been temporarily suspended. These verses are probably an addition to the psalm made during the period of exile following the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. The exiles could relate to David’s experience, for they, like him, and had been forced to confront their sin. They appropriated David’s ancient prayer and applied it to their own circumstances.

[51:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “a psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him when he had gone to Bathsheba.”

[51:1]  ⁹ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ¹¹ tn Traditionally “blot out my transgressions.” Because of the reference to washing and cleansing in the following verse, it is likely that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to wiping an object clean (note the use of the verb מָחָה (makhah) in the sense of “wipe clean; dry” in 2 Kgs 21:13; Prov 30:20; Isa 25:8). Another option is that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to erasing or blotting out names from a register (see Exod 32:32-33). In this case one might translate, “erase all record of my rebellious acts.”

[8:1]  ¹² sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.

[8:1]  ¹³ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

[8:1]  ¹⁴ tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

[8:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

[8:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[8:1]  ¹⁷ tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.

[8:1]  ¹⁸ sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.

[8:1]  ¹⁹ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

[8:1]  ²⁰ tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

[8:1]  ²¹ tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

[8:1]  ²² tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[8:1]  ²³ tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.

[8:1]  ²⁴ sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.

[8:1]  ²⁵ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

[8:1]  ²⁶ tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

[8:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

[8:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[8:1]  ²⁹ tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.

[29:1]  ³⁰ sn Psalm 29. In this hymn of praise the psalmist calls upon the heavenly assembly to acknowledge the royal splendor of the Lord. He describes the Lord’s devastating power as revealed in the thunderstorm and affirms that the Lord exerts this awesome might on behalf of his people. In its original context the psalm was a bold polemic against the Canaanite storm god Baal, for it affirms that the Lord is the real king who controls the elements of the storm, contrary to pagan belief. See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 150 (1994): 280-82.

[29:1]  ³¹ tc Heb “sons of gods,” or “sons of God.” Though אֵלִים (’elim) is vocalized as a plural form (“gods”) in the MT, it is likely that the final mem is actually enclitic, rather than a plural marker. In this case one may read “God.” Some, following a Qumran text and the LXX, also propose the phrase occurred in the original text of Deut 32:8.

[29:1]  ³² tn Or “ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.”