Psalms 73:15

73:15 If I had publicized these thoughts, ¹ 

I would have betrayed your loyal followers. ² 

Psalms 78:13

78:13 He divided the sea and led them across it;

he made the water stand in a heap.

Psalms 78:69

78:69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above; ³ 

as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. ⁴ 

Psalms 141:7

141:7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil, ⁵ 

so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

[73:15]  ¹ tn Heb “If I had said, ‘I will speak out like this.’”

[73:15]  ² 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).

[78:69]  ³ tc Heb “and he built like the exalting [ones] his sanctuary.” The phrase כְּמוֹ־רָמִים (kÿmo-ramim, “like the exalting [ones]”) is a poetic form of the comparative preposition followed by a participial form of the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”). The text should be emended to כִּמְרֹמִים (kimromim, “like the [heavenly] heights”). See Ps 148:1, where “heights” refers to the heavens above.

[78:69]  ⁴ tn Heb “like the earth, [which] he established permanently.” The feminine singular suffix on the Hebrew verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish”) refers to the grammatically feminine noun “earth.”

[141:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “like splitting and breaking open in the earth.” The meaning of the statement and the point of the comparison are not entirely clear. Perhaps the psalmist is suggesting that he and other godly individuals are as good as dead; their bones are scattered about like dirt that is dug up and tossed aside.