Psalms 56:4

56:4 In God – I boast in his promise ¹  –

in God I trust, I am not afraid.

What can mere men ²  do to me? ³ 

Psalms 79:2

79:2 They have given the corpses of your servants

to the birds of the sky; ⁴ 

the flesh of your loyal followers

to the beasts of the earth.

Psalms 145:21

145:21 My mouth will praise the Lord. ⁵ 

Let all who live ⁶  praise his holy name forever!

[56:4]  ¹ tn Heb “in God I boast, his word.” The syntax in the Hebrew text is difficult. (1) The line could be translated, “in God I boast, [in] his word.” Such a translation assumes that the prepositional phrase “in God” goes with the following verb “I boast” (see Ps 44:8) and that “his word” is appositional to “in God” and more specifically identifies the basis for the psalmist’s confidence. God’s “word” is here understood as an assuring promise of protection. Another option (2) is to translate, “in God I will boast [with] a word.” In this case, the “word” is a song of praise. (In this view the pronominal suffix “his” must be omitted as in v. 10.) The present translation reflects yet another option (3): In this case “I praise his word” is a parenthetical statement, with “his word” being the object of the verb. The sentence begun with the prepositional phrase “in God” is then completed in the next line, with the prepositional phrase being repeated after the parenthesis.

[56:4]  ² tn Heb “flesh,” which refers by metonymy to human beings (see v. 11, where “man” is used in this same question), envisioned here as mortal and powerless before God.

[56:4]  ³ tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.

[79:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”

[145:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “the praise of the Lord my mouth will speak.”

[145:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “all flesh.”