Psalms 8:1

Psalm 8 ¹ 

For the music director, according to the gittith style; ²  a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord, ³ 

how magnificent ⁴  is your reputation ⁵  throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! ⁶ 

Psalms 8:9

8:9 O Lord, our Lord, ⁷ 

how magnificent ⁸  is your reputation ⁹  throughout the earth! ¹⁰ 

Psalms 99:3-4

99:3 Let them praise your great and awesome name!

He ¹¹  is holy!

99:4 The king is strong;

he loves justice. ¹² 

You ensure that legal decisions will be made fairly; ¹³ 

you promote justice and equity in Jacob.

Psalms 99:9

99:9 Praise ¹⁴  the Lord our God!

Worship on his holy hill,

for the Lord our God is holy!

The Song of Songs 5:9

The Maidens to The Beloved:

5:9 Why is your beloved better than others, ¹⁵ 

O most beautiful of women?

Why is your beloved better than others,

that you would command us in this manner?

The Song of Songs 5:16

5:16 His mouth is very sweet; ¹⁶ 

he is totally desirable. ¹⁷ 

This is my beloved!

This is my companion, O maidens of Jerusalem!

Isaiah 6:3

6:3 They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy ¹⁸  is the Lord who commands armies! ¹⁹  His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!”

Zechariah 9:17

9:17 How precious and fair! ²⁰  Grain will make the young men flourish and new wine the young women.

Philippians 3:8

3:8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! ²¹  – that I may gain Christ,

[8:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.

[8:1]  ² tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

[8:1]  ³ tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

[8:1]  ⁴ tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

[8:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[8:1]  ⁶ tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.

[8:9]  ⁷ tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

[8:9]  ⁸ tn Or “awesome, majestic.”

[8:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[8:9]  ¹⁰ sn Using the poetic device of inclusio, the psalmist ends the psalm the way he began it. The concluding refrain is identical to v. 1.

[99:3]  ¹¹ tn The pronoun refers to the Lord himself (see vv. 5, 9).

[99:4]  ¹² tn Heb “and strength, a king, justice he loves.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult here. The translation assumes that two affirmations are made about the king, the Lord (see v. 1, and Ps 98:6). The noun עֹז (’oz, “strength”) should probably be revocalized as the adjective עַז (’az, “strong”).

[99:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “you establish fairness.”

[99:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “exalt.”

[5:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “How is your beloved [better] than [another] lover?”

[5:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “sweetnesses.” Alternately, “very delicious.” The term מַמְתַקִּים (mamtaqqim, “sweetness”; HALOT 596 s.v. מַמְתַקִּים; BDB 609 s.v. מַמְתַקִּים) is the plural form of the noun מֹתֶק (moteq, “sweetness”). This may be an example of the plural of intensity, that is, “very sweet” (e.g., IBHS 122 §7.4.3a). The rhetorical use of the plural is indicated by the fact that מַמְתַקִּים (“sweetness”) is functioning as a predicate nominative relative to the singular subjective nominative חִכּוֹ (khikko, “his mouth”).

[5:16]  ¹⁷ tn The term מַחֲמַדִּים (makhmaddim, “desirable”) is the plural form of the noun מַחְמַד (makhmad, “desire, desirable thing, precious object”; HALOT 570 s.v. מַחְמָד 1; BDB 326 s.v. מַחְמַד). Like the plural מַמְתַקִּים (“sweetness”) in the preceding parallel line, this use of the plural is probably an example of the plural of intensity: “very desirable.”

[6:3]  ¹⁸ tn Some have seen a reference to the Trinity in the seraphs’ threefold declaration, “holy, holy, holy.” This proposal has no linguistic or contextual basis and should be dismissed as allegorical. Hebrew sometimes uses repetition for emphasis. (See IBHS 233-34 §12.5a; and GKC 431-32 §133.k.) By repeating the word “holy,” the seraphs emphasize the degree of the Lord’s holiness. For another example of threefold repetition for emphasis, see Ezek 21:27 (Heb. v. 32). (Perhaps Jer 22:29 provides another example.)

[6:3]  ¹⁹ tn Perhaps in this context, the title has a less militaristic connotation and pictures the Lord as the ruler of the heavenly assembly. See the note at 1:9.

[9:17]  ²⁰ sn This expostulation best fits the whole preceding description of God’s eschatological work on behalf of his people. His goodness is especially evident in his nurturing of the young men and women of his kingdom.

[3:8]  ²¹ tn The word here translated “dung” was often used in Greek as a vulgar term for fecal matter. As such it would most likely have had a certain shock value for the readers. This may well be Paul’s meaning here, especially since the context is about what the flesh produces.