Psalms 72:6

72:6 He ¹  will descend like rain on the mown grass, ² 

like showers that drench ³  the earth. ⁴ 

Psalms 72:1

Psalm 72 ⁵ 

For ⁶  Solomon.

72:1 O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions! ⁷ 

Grant the king’s son ⁸  the ability to make fair decisions! ⁹ 

Psalms 4:1

Psalm 4 ¹⁰ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of David.

4:1 When I call out, answer me,

O God who vindicates me! ¹¹ 

Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place. ¹² 

Have mercy on me ¹³  and respond to ¹⁴  my prayer!

Isaiah 44:3-5

44:3 For I will pour water on the parched ground ¹⁵ 

and cause streams to flow ¹⁶  on the dry land.

I will pour my spirit on your offspring

and my blessing on your children.

44:4 They will sprout up like a tree in the grass, ¹⁷ 

like poplars beside channels of water.

44:5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’

and another will use ¹⁸  the name ‘Jacob.’

One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’

and use the name ‘Israel.’” ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 33:22

33:22 I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.’” ²⁰ 

Revelation 7:14

7:14 So ²¹  I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” ²²  Then ²³  he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They ²⁴  have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!

[72:6]  ¹ tn That is, the king (see vv. 2, 4).

[72:6]  ² tn The rare term zg refers to a sheep’s fleece in Deut 18:4 and Job 31:20, but to “mown” grass or crops here and in Amos 7:1.

[72:6]  ³ tc The form in the Hebrew text appears to be an otherwise unattested noun. Many prefer to emend the form to a verb from the root זָרַף (zaraf). BHS in textual note b on this verse suggests a Hiphil imperfect, third masculine plural יַזְרִיפוּ (yazrifu), while HALOT 283 s.v. *זרף prefers a Pilpel perfect, third masculine plural זִרְזְפוּ (zirzÿfu). The translation assumes the latter.

[72:6]  ⁴ sn The imagery of this verse compares the blessings produced by the king’s reign to fructifying rains that cause the crops to grow.

[72:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 72. This royal psalm contains a prayer for the Davidic king (note the imperatival form in v. 1 and the jussive forms in vv. 16-17). It is not entirely clear if vv. 2-15 express a prayer or anticipate a future reign. The translation assumes a blend of petition and vision: (I) opening prayer (v. 1), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 2-7); (II) prayer (v. 8), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 9-14); (III) closing prayer (vv. 15-17). Whether a prayer, vision, or combination of the two, the psalm depicts the king’s universal rule of peace and prosperity. As such it is indirectly messianic, for the ideal it expresses will only be fully realized during the Messiah’s earthly reign. Verses 18-19 are a conclusion for Book 2 of the Psalter (Pss 42-72; cf. Ps 41:13, which contains a similar conclusion for Book 1), while v. 20 appears to be a remnant of an earlier collection of psalms or an earlier edition of the Psalter.

[72:1]  ⁶ tn The preposition could be understood as indicating authorship (“Of Solomon”), but since the psalm is a prayer for a king, it may be that the superscription reflects a tradition that understood this as a prayer for Solomon.

[72:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “O God, your judgments to [the] king give.”

[72:1]  ⁸ sn Grant the king…Grant the king’s son. It is not entirely clear whether v. 1 envisions one individual or two. The phrase “the king’s son” in the second line may simply refer to “the king” of the first line, drawing attention to the fact that he has inherited his dynastic rule. Another option is that v. 1 envisions a co-regency between father and son (a common phenomenon in ancient Israel) or simply expresses a hope for a dynasty that champions justice.

[72:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “and your justice to [the] son of [the] king.”

[4:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 4. The psalmist asks God to hear his prayer, expresses his confidence that the Lord will intervene, and urges his enemies to change their ways and place their trust in God. He concludes with another prayer for divine intervention and again affirms his absolute confidence in God’s protection.

[4:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “God of my righteousness.”

[4:1]  ¹² tn Heb “in distress (or “a narrow place”) you make (a place) large for me.” The function of the Hebrew perfect verbal form here is uncertain. The translation above assumes that the psalmist is expressing his certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm (vv. 3, 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“lead me”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[4:1]  ¹³ tn Or “show me favor.”

[4:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “hear.”

[44:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the thirsty.” Parallelism suggests that dry ground is in view (see “dry land” in the next line.)

[44:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and streams”; KJV “floods.” The verb “cause…to flow” is supplied in the second line for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[44:4]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew term בֵין (ven) is usually taken as a preposition, in which case one might translate, “among the grass.” But בֵין is probably the name of a tree (cf. C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 133). If one alters the preposition bet (בְּ) to kaf (כְּ), one can then read, “like a binu-tree.” (The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supports this reading.) This forms a nice parallel to “like poplars” in the next line. חָצִיר (khatsir) is functioning as an adverbial accusative of location.

[44:5]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text has a Qal verb form, “and another will call by the name of Jacob.” With support from Symmachus (an ancient Greek textual witness), some read the Niphal, “and another will be called by the name of Jacob.”

[44:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and by the name of Israel he will title.” Some, with support from several ancient versions, prefer to change the Piel (active) verb form to a Pual (passive), “and he will be titled by the name of Israel.”

[33:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Just as the stars in the sky cannot be numbered or the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will greatly increase [or multiply] the seed of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.” The word “seed of” does not carry over to the “the Levites” as a noun governing two genitives because “the Levites” has the accusative marker in front of it. The sentence has been broken down in conformity with contemporary English style.

[7:14]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.

[7:14]  ²² tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.

[7:14]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[7:14]  ²⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.