Psalms 62:5

62:5 Patiently wait for God alone, my soul! ¹ 

For he is the one who gives me confidence. ² 

Psalms 4:4

4:4 Tremble with fear and do not sin! ³ 

Meditate as you lie in bed, and repent of your ways! ⁴  (Selah)

Psalms 30:12

30:12 So now ⁵  my heart ⁶  will sing to you and not be silent;

O Lord my God, I will always ⁷  give thanks to you.

Psalms 31:17

31:17 O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,

for I call out to you!

May evil men be humiliated!

May they go wailing to the grave! ⁸ 

Psalms 35:15

35:15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together;

they gathered together to ambush me. ⁹ 

They tore at me without stopping to rest. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 37:7

37:7 Wait patiently for the Lord! ¹¹ 

Wait confidently ¹²  for him!

Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner, ¹³ 

a man who carries out wicked schemes!

Psalms 131:2

131:2 Indeed ¹⁴  I am composed and quiet, ¹⁵ 

like a young child carried by its mother; ¹⁶ 

I am content like the young child I carry. ¹⁷ 

[62:5]  ¹ tn Heb “only for God be silent, my soul.” The wording is similar to that of v. 1a. Here an imperatival form, דּוֹמִּי (dommiy, “be silent”), appears instead of the noun דּוּמִיָּה (dumiyyah, “silence”). The psalmist is encouraging himself to maintain his trust in God.

[62:5]  ² tn Heb “for from him [is] my hope.”

[4:4]  ³ sn The psalmist warns his enemies that they need to tremble with fear before God and repudiate their sinful ways.

[4:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “say in your heart(s) on your bed(s) and wail/lament.” The verb דֹמּוּ (dommu) is understood as a form of דָמָם (“wail, lament”) in sorrow and repentance. Another option is to take the verb from II דָמָם (damam, “be quiet”); cf. NIV, NRSV “be silent.”

[30:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “so that”; or “in order that.”

[30:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “glory.” Some view כָבוֹד (khavod, “glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 57:9; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.” “Heart” is used in the translation above for the sake of English idiom; the expression “my liver sings” would seem odd indeed to the modern reader.

[30:12]  ⁷ tn Or “forever.”

[31:17]  ⁷ tn The verb יִדְּמוּ (yiddÿmu) is understood as a form of דָּמַם (damam, “wail, lament”). Another option is to take the verb from דָּמַם (“be quiet”; see BDB 198-99 s.v. I דָּמַם), in which case one might translate, “May they lie silent in the grave.”

[35:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “they gathered together against me, stricken [ones], and I did not know.” The Hebrew form נֵכִים (nekhim, “stricken ones” ?) is problematic. Some suggest an emendation to נָכְרִים[כְ] (kÿnokhÿrim, “foreigners”) or “like foreigners,” which would fit with what follows, “[like] foreigners that I do not recognize.” Perhaps the form should be read as a Qal active participle, נֹכִים (nokhim, “ones who strike”) from the verbal root נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike”). The Qal of this verb is unattested in biblical Hebrew, but the peal (basic) stem appears in Old Aramaic (J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire [BibOr], 114; DNWSI 1:730.) In this case one might translate, “attackers gathered together against me though I was not aware of it” (cf. NASB “smiters”; NEB, NRSV “ruffians”; NIV “attackers”).

[35:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they tore and did not keep quiet.” By using the verb “tear,” the psalmist likens his enemies to a wild animal (see Hos 13:8). In v. 17 he compares them to hungry young lions.

[37:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Be quiet before the Lord!”

[37:7]  ¹² tc The Hebrew text has וְהִתְחוֹלֵל (vÿhitkholel, Hitpolel of חִיל, khil, “writhe with fear, suffer”) but this idea fits awkwardly here. The text should be changed to וְתוֹחֵל (vÿtokhel; Hiphil of יָחַל, yakhal, “wait”). It appears that the Hebrew text is the product of dittography: (1) the initial וה (vav-he) is accidentally repeated from the preceding word (יְהוָה, yÿhvah) and (2) the final lamed (ל) is accidentally repeated (note the preceding lamed and the initial lamed on the following form, לו).

[37:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “over one who causes his way to be successful.”

[131:2]  ¹³ tn Or “but.”

[131:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I make level and make quiet my soul.”

[131:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “like a weaned [one] upon his mother.”

[131:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “like the weaned [one] upon me, my soul.”