Psalms 7:5

7:5 may an enemy relentlessly chase ¹  me ²  and catch me; ³ 

may he trample me to death ⁴ 

and leave me lying dishonored in the dust. ⁵  (Selah)

Psalms 15:1

Psalm 15 ⁶ 

A psalm of David.

15:1 Lord, who may be a guest in your home? ⁷ 

Who may live on your holy hill? ⁸ 

Psalms 16:9

16:9 So my heart rejoices

and I am happy; ⁹ 

My life is safe. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 55:6

55:6 I say, ¹¹  “I wish I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and settle in a safe place!

Psalms 65:4

65:4 How blessed ¹²  is the one whom you choose,

and allow to live in your palace courts. ¹³ 

May we be satisfied with the good things of your house –

your holy palace. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 68:6

68:6 God settles those who have been deserted in their own homes; ¹⁵ 

he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity. ¹⁶ 

But sinful rebels live in the desert. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 74:2

74:2 Remember your people ¹⁸  whom you acquired in ancient times,

whom you rescued ¹⁹  so they could be your very own nation, ²⁰ 

as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell!

Psalms 78:55

78:55 He drove the nations out from before them;

he assigned them their tribal allotments ²¹ 

and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. ²² 

Psalms 120:5

120:5 How miserable I am! ²³ 

For I have lived temporarily ²⁴  in Meshech;

I have resided among the tents of Kedar. ²⁵ 

[7:5]  ¹ tn The vocalization of the verb form seems to be a mixture of Qal and Piel (see GKC 168 §63.n). The translation assumes the Piel, which would emphasize the repetitive nature of the action. The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a jussive. The psalmist is so certain that he is innocent of the sins mentioned in vv. 3-4, he pronounces an imprecation on himself for rhetorical effect.

[7:5]  ² tn Heb “my life.” The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.

[7:5]  ³ tn Heb “and may he overtake.” The prefixed verbal form is distinctly jussive. The object “me,” though unexpressed, is understood from the preceding statement.

[7:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and may he trample down to the earth my life.”

[7:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “and my honor in the dust may he cause to dwell.” The prefixed verbal form is distinctly jussive. Some emend כְבוֹדִי (khÿvodiy, “my honor”) to כְבֵדִי (khÿvediy, “my liver” as the seat of life), but the term כְבוֹדִי (khÿvodiy) is to be retained since it probably refers to the psalmist’s dignity or honor.

[15:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 15. This psalm describes the character qualities that one must possess to be allowed access to the divine presence.

[15:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “Who may live as a resident alien in your tent?”

[15:1]  ⁸ 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.

[16:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my glory is happy.” Some view the Hebrew term כְּבוֹדִי (kÿvodiy, “my glory”) 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 30:12; 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.”

[16:9]  ¹² tn Heb “yes, my flesh dwells securely.” The psalmist’s “flesh” stands by metonymy for his body and, by extension, his physical life.

[55:6]  ¹⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the descriptive (present progressive) force of the verbs in v. 5.

[65:4]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[65:4]  ²² tn Heb “[whom] you bring near [so that] he might live [in] your courts.”

[65:4]  ²³ tn Or “temple.”

[68:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “God causes the solitary ones to dwell in a house.” The participle suggests this is what God typically does.

[68:6]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he brings out prisoners into prosperity.” Another option is to translate, “he brings out prisoners with singing” (cf. NIV). The participle suggests this is what God typically does.

[68:6]  ²⁸ tn Or “in a parched [land].”

[74:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “your assembly,” which pictures God’s people as an assembled community.

[74:2]  ³² tn Heb “redeemed.” The verb “redeem” casts God in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).

[74:2]  ³³ tn Heb “the tribe of your inheritance” (see Jer 10:16; 51:19).

[78:55]  ³⁶ tn Heb “he caused to fall [to] them with a measuring line an inheritance.”

[78:55]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and caused the tribes of Israel to settle down in their tents.”

[120:5]  ⁴¹ tn Or “woe to me.” The Hebrew term אוֹיָה (’oyah, “woe”) which occurs only here, is an alternate form of אוֹי (’oy).

[120:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “I live as a resident alien.”

[120:5]  ⁴³ sn Meshech was located in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). Kedar was located in the desert to east-southeast of Israel. Because of the reference to Kedar, it is possible that Ps 120:5 refers to a different Meshech, perhaps one associated with the individual mentioned as a descendant of Aram in 1 Chr 1:17. (However, the LXX in 1 Chr 1:17 follows the parallel text in Gen 10:23, which reads “Mash,” not Meshech.) It is, of course, impossible that the psalmist could have been living in both the far north and the east at the same time. For this reason one must assume that he is recalling his experience as a wanderer among the nations or that he is using the geographical terms metaphorically and sarcastically to suggest that the enemies who surround him are like the barbarians who live in these distant regions. For a discussion of the problem, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 146.