Psalms 81:4

81:4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel; ¹ 

it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.

Psalms 94:20

94:20 Cruel rulers ²  are not your allies,

those who make oppressive laws. ³ 

Psalms 148:6

148:6 He established them so they would endure; ⁴ 

he issued a decree that will not be revoked. ⁵ 

Psalms 2:7

2:7 The king says, ⁶  “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: ⁷ 

‘You are my son! ⁸  This very day I have become your father!

[81:4]  ¹ tn Heb “because a statute for Israel [is] it.”

[94:20]  ² tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.

[94:20]  ³ tn Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.

[148:6]  ³ tn Or “forever and ever.”

[148:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “and it will not pass away.”

[2:7]  ⁴ tn The words “the king says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The speaker is the Lord’s chosen king.

[2:7]  ⁵ tn Or “I will relate the decree. The Lord said to me” (in accordance with the Masoretic accentuation).

[2:7]  ⁶ sn ‘You are my son!’ The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26-27). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.