Psalms 7:4

7:4 or have wronged my ally, ¹ 

or helped his lawless enemy, ² 

Psalms 35:14

35:14 I mourned for them as I would for a friend or my brother. ³ 

I bowed down ⁴  in sorrow as if I were mourning for my mother. ⁵ 

Psalms 50:18

50:18 When you see a thief, you join him; ⁶ 

you associate with men who are unfaithful to their wives. ⁷ 

Psalms 63:6

63:6 whenever ⁸  I remember you on my bed,

and think about you during the nighttime hours.

Psalms 66:18

66:18 If I had harbored sin in my heart, ⁹ 

the Lord would not have listened.

Psalms 73:15

73:15 If I had publicized these thoughts, ¹⁰ 

I would have betrayed your loyal followers. ¹¹ 

Psalms 89:30-31

89:30 If his sons reject my law

and disobey my regulations,

89:31 if they break ¹²  my rules

and do not keep my commandments,

Psalms 89:35

89:35 Once and for all I have vowed by my own holiness,

I will never deceive ¹³  David.

Psalms 94:18

94:18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”

your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.

Psalms 95:11

95:11 So I made a vow in my anger,

‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’” ¹⁴ 

Psalms 113:9

113:9 He makes the barren woman of the family ¹⁵ 

a happy mother of children. ¹⁶ 

Praise the Lord!

Psalms 130:3

130:3 If you, O Lord, were to keep track of ¹⁷  sins,

O Lord, who could stand before you? ¹⁸ 

Psalms 139:8

139:8 If I were to ascend ¹⁹  to heaven, you would be there.

If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be. ²⁰ 

Psalms 139:19

139:19 If only ²¹  you would kill the wicked, O God!

Get away from me, you violent men! ²² 

Psalms 139:24

139:24 See if there is any idolatrous tendency ²³  in me,

and lead me in the reliable ancient path! ²⁴ 

[7:4]  ¹ tn Heb “if I have repaid the one at peace with me evil.” The form שׁוֹלְמִי (sholÿmi, “the one at peace with me”) probably refers to a close friend or ally, i.e., one with whom the psalmist has made a formal agreement. See BDB 1023 s.v. שָׁלוֹם 4.a.

[7:4]  ² tn Heb “or rescued my enemy in vain.” The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive (the verb form is pseudo-cohortative; see IBHS 576-77 §34.5.3) carries on the hypothetical nuance of the perfect in the preceding line. Some regard the statement as a parenthetical assertion that the psalmist is kind to his enemies. Others define חָלַץ (khalats) as “despoil” (cf. NASB, NRSV “plundered”; NIV “robbed”), an otherwise unattested nuance for this verb. Still others emend the verb to לָחַץ (lakhats, “oppress”). Most construe the adverb רֵיקָם (reqam, “emptily, vainly”) with “my enemy,” i.e., the one who is my enemy in vain.” The present translation (1) assumes an emendation of צוֹרְרִי (tsorÿriy, “my enemy”) to צוֹרְרוֹ (tsorÿro, “his [i.e., the psalmist’s ally’s] enemy”) following J. Tigay, “Psalm 7:5 and Ancient Near Eastern Treaties,” JBL 89 (1970): 178-86, (2) understands the final mem (ם) on רֵיקָם as enclitic, and (3) takes רִיק (riq) as an adjective modifying “his enemy.” (For other examples of a suffixed noun followed by an attributive adjective without the article, see Pss 18:17 (“my strong enemy”), 99:3 (“your great and awesome name”) and 143:10 (“your good spirit”). The adjective רִיק occurs with the sense “lawless” in Judg 9:4; 11:3; 2 Chr 13:7. In this case the psalmist affirms that he has not wronged his ally, nor has he given aid to his ally’s enemies. Ancient Near Eastern treaties typically included such clauses, with one or both parties agreeing not to lend aid to the treaty partner’s enemies.

[35:14]  ³ tn Heb “like a friend, like a brother to me I walked about.”

[35:14]  ⁴ sn I bowed down. Bowing down was a posture for mourning. See Ps 38:6.

[35:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “like mourning for a mother [in] sorrow I bowed down.”

[50:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “you run with him.”

[50:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “and with adulterers [is] your portion.”

[63:6]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term אִם (’im) is used here in the sense of “when; whenever,” as in Ps 78:34.

[66:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “sin if I had seen in my heart.”

[73:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “If I had said, ‘I will speak out like this.’”

[73:15]  ¹² tn Heb “look, the generation of your sons I would have betrayed.” The phrase “generation of your [i.e., God’s] sons” occurs only here in the OT. Some equate the phrase with “generation of the godly” (Ps 14:5), “generation of the ones seeking him” (Ps 24:6), and “generation of the upright” (Ps 112:2). In Deut 14:1 the Israelites are referred to as God’s “sons.” Perhaps the psalmist refers here to those who are “Israelites” in the true sense because of their loyalty to God (note the juxtaposition of “Israel” with “the pure in heart” in v. 1).

[89:31]  ¹³ tn Or “desecrate.”

[89:35]  ¹⁵ tn Or “lie to.”

[95:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my resting place.” The promised land of Canaan is here viewed metaphorically as a place of rest for God’s people, who are compared to sheep (see v. 7).

[113:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “of the house.”

[113:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “sons.”

[130:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “observe.”

[130:3]  ²² tn The words “before you” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist must be referring to standing before God’s judgment seat. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one.”

[139:8]  ²³ tn The Hebrew verb סָלַק (salaq, “to ascend”) occurs only here in the OT, but the word is well-attested in Aramaic literature from different time periods and displays a wide semantic range (see DNWSI 2:788-90).

[139:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “look, you.”

[139:19]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (see Pss 81:8; 95:7, as well as GKC 321 §109.b).

[139:19]  ²⁶ tn Heb “men of bloodshed.”

[139:24]  ²⁷ tn Many understand the Hebrew term עֹצֶב (’otsev) as a noun meaning “pain,” and translate the phrase דֶּרֶךְ עֹצֶב (derekh ’otsev) as “of pain,” but this makes little sense here. (Some interpret it to refer to actions which bring pain to others.) It is preferable to take עֹצֶב as “idol” (see HALOT 865 s.v. I עֹצֶב) and understand “way of an idol” to refer to idolatrous actions or tendency. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.

[139:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in the path of antiquity.” This probably refers to the moral path prescribed by the Lord at the beginning of Israel’s history. See Jer 6:16; 18:15, as well as L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.