Psalms 64:7

64:7 But God will shoot ¹  at them;

suddenly they will be ²  wounded by an arrow. ³ 

Psalms 64:1

Psalm 64 ⁴ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

64:1 Listen to me, ⁵  O God, as I offer my lament!

Protect ⁶  my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks. ⁷ 

Psalms 18:11

18:11 He shrouded himself in darkness, ⁸ 

in thick rain clouds. ⁹ 

Psalms 19:10

19:10 They are of greater value ¹⁰  than gold,

than even a great amount of pure gold;

they bring greater delight ¹¹  than honey,

than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb.

Psalms 19:2

19:2 Day after day it speaks out; ¹² 

night after night it reveals his greatness. ¹³ 

Psalms 15:1

Psalm 15 ¹⁴ 

A psalm of David.

15:1 Lord, who may be a guest in your home? ¹⁵ 

Who may live on your holy hill? ¹⁶ 

[64:7]  ¹ tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive is normally used in narrative contexts to describe completed past actions. It is possible that the conclusion to the psalm (vv. 7-10) was added to the lament after God’s judgment of the wicked in response to the psalmist’s lament (vv. 1-6). The translation assumes that these verses are anticipatory and express the psalmist’s confidence that God would eventually judge the wicked. The psalmist uses a narrative style as a rhetorical device to emphasize his certitude. See GKC 329-30 §111.w.

[64:7]  ² tn The perfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s certitude about the coming demise of the wicked.

[64:7]  ³ tn The translation follows the traditional accentuation of the MT. Another option is to translate, “But God will shoot them down with an arrow, suddenly they will be wounded” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[64:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 64. The psalmist asks God to protect him from his dangerous enemies and then confidently affirms that God will destroy his enemies and demonstrate his justice in the sight of all observers.

[64:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “my voice.”

[64:1]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s request.

[64:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the terror of [the] enemy.” “Terror” is used here metonymically for the enemy’s attacks that produce fear because they threaten the psalmist’s life.

[18:11]  ⁸ tc Heb “he made darkness his hiding place around him, his covering.” 2 Sam 22:12 reads, “he made darkness around him coverings,” omitting “his hiding place” and pluralizing “covering.” Ps 18:11 may include a conflation of synonyms (“his hiding place” and “his covering”) or 2 Sam 22:12 may be the result of haplography/homoioarcton. Note that three successive words in Ps 18:11 begin with the Hebrew letter samek: סִתְרוֹ סְבִיבוֹתָיו סֻכָּתוֹ (sitro sÿvivotayv sukkato).

[18:11]  ⁹ tc Heb “darkness of water, clouds of clouds.” The noun “darkness” (חֶשְׁכַת, kheshkhat) is probably a corruption of an original reading חשׁרת, a form that is preserved in 2 Sam 22:12. The latter is a construct form of חַשְׁרָה (khashrah, “sieve”) which occurs only here in the OT. A cognate Ugaritic noun means “sieve,” and a related verb חָשַׁר (khashar, “to sift”) is attested in postbiblical Hebrew and Aramaic. The phrase חַשְׁרַת מַיִם (khashrat mayim) means literally “a sieve of water.” It pictures the rain clouds as a sieve through which the rain falls to the ground (see F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry [SBLDS], 146, n. 33).

[19:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “more desirable.”

[19:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “are sweeter.” God’s law is “sweet’ in the sense that, when obeyed, it brings a great reward (see v. 11b).

[19:2]  ¹² tn Heb “it gushes forth a word.” The “sky” (see v. 1b) is the subject of the verb. Though not literally speaking (see v. 3), it clearly reveals God’s royal majesty. The sun’s splendor and its movement across the sky is in view (see vv. 4-6).

[19:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “it [i.e., the sky] declares knowledge,” i.e., knowledge about God’s royal majesty and power (see v. 1). This apparently refers to the splendor and movements of the stars. The imperfect verbal forms in v. 2, like the participles in the preceding verse, combine with the temporal phrases (“day after day” and “night after night”) to emphasize the ongoing testimony of the sky.

[15:1]  ¹⁴ sn Psalm 15. This psalm describes the character qualities that one must possess to be allowed access to the divine presence.

[15:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Who may live as a resident alien in your tent?”

[15:1]  ¹⁶ sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill probably refers to Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 43:3; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.