Psalms 84:10

84:10 Certainly ¹  spending just one day in your temple courts is better

than spending a thousand elsewhere. ² 

I would rather stand at the entrance ³  to the temple of my God

than live ⁴  in the tents of the wicked.

Psalms 84:1

Psalm 84 ⁵ 

For the music director; according to the gittith style; ⁶  written by the Korahites, a psalm.

84:1 How lovely is the place where you live, ⁷ 

O Lord who rules over all! ⁸ 

Psalms 8:1-2

Psalm 8 ⁹ 

For the music director, according to the gittith style; ¹⁰  a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord, ¹¹ 

how magnificent ¹²  is your reputation ¹³  throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! ¹⁴ 

8:2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies

you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries, ¹⁵ 

so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 20:1

Psalm 20 ¹⁷ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

20:1 May the Lord answer ¹⁸  you ¹⁹  when you are in trouble; ²⁰ 

may the God of Jacob ²¹  make you secure!

Nehemiah 8:10

8:10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. ²²  Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Isaiah 58:13

58:13 You must ²³  observe the Sabbath ²⁴ 

rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. ²⁵ 

You must look forward to the Sabbath ²⁶ 

and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. ²⁷ 

You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,

and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. ²⁸ 

[84:10]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[84:10]  ² tn Heb “better is a day in your courts than a thousand [spent elsewhere].”

[84:10]  ³ tn Heb “I choose being at the entrance of the house of my God over living in the tents of the wicked.” The verb סָפַף (safaf) appears only here in the OT; it is derived from the noun סַף (saf, “threshold”). Traditionally some have interpreted this as a reference to being a doorkeeper at the temple, though some understand it to mean “lie as a beggar at the entrance to the temple” (see HALOT 765 s.v. ספף).

[84:10]  ⁴ tn The verb דּוּר (dur, “to live”) occurs only here in the OT.

[84:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 84. The psalmist expresses his desire to be in God’s presence in the Jerusalem temple, for the Lord is the protector of his people.

[84:1]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הַגִּתִּית (haggittit) is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or instrument.

[84:1]  ⁷ tn Or “your dwelling place[s].” The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; this is the Lord’s special dwelling place (see Pss 43:3; 46:4; 132:5, 7).

[84:1]  ⁸ tn Traditionally, “Lord of hosts.” The title draws attention to God’s sovereign position (see Ps 69:6).

[8:1]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

[8:1]  ¹¹ tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

[8:1]  ¹² tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

[8:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[8:1]  ¹⁴ 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.

[8:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you establish strength because of your foes.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation follows the reading of the LXX which has “praise” (αἶνος, ainos) in place of “strength” (עֹז, ’oz); cf. NIV, NCV, NLT.

[8:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to cause to cease an enemy and an avenger.” The singular forms are collective. The Hitpael participle of נָקַם (naqam) also occurs in Ps 44:16.

[20:1]  ¹⁷ sn Psalm 20. The people pray for the king’s success in battle. When the king declares his assurance that the Lord will answer the people’s prayer, they affirm their confidence in God’s enablement.

[20:1]  ¹⁸ tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in vv. 1b-5 are interpreted as jussives of prayer (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). Another option is to understand them as imperfects, “the Lord will answer,” etc. In this case the people declare their confidence that the Lord will intervene on behalf of the king and extend to him his favor.

[20:1]  ¹⁹ sn May the Lord answer you. The people address the king as they pray to the Lord.

[20:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in a day of trouble.”

[20:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “the name of the God of Jacob.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his very person and to the divine characteristics suggested by his name, in this case “God of Jacob,” which highlights his relationship to Israel.

[8:10]  ²² tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[58:13]  ²³ tn Lit., “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 13-14 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in v. 13), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 14.

[58:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”

[58:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”

[58:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”

[58:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and [call] the holy [day] of the Lord honored.” On קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy”) as indicating a time period, see BDB 872 s.v. 2.e (cf. also Neh 8:9-11).

[58:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and you honor it [by refraining] from accomplishing your ways, from finding your desire and speaking a word.” It is unlikely that the last phrase (“speaking a word”) is a prohibition against talking on the Sabbath; instead it probably refers to making transactions or plans (see Hos 10:4). Some see here a reference to idle talk (cf. 2 Sam 19:30).