Discovery BoxPsalms 89:28-40
Context89:28 I will always extend my loyal love to him,
and my covenant with him is secure. 1
89:29 I will give him an eternal dynasty, 2
and make his throne as enduring as the skies above. 3
89:30 If his sons reject my law
and disobey my regulations,
89:31 if they break 4 my rules
and do not keep my commandments,
89:32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club, 5
their sin by inflicting them with bruises. 6
89:33 But I will not remove 7 my loyal love from him,
nor be unfaithful to my promise. 8
89:34 I will not break 9 my covenant
or go back on what I promised. 10
89:35 Once and for all I have vowed by my own holiness,
I will never deceive 11 David.
89:36 His dynasty will last forever. 12
His throne will endure before me, like the sun, 13
89:37 it will remain stable, like the moon, 14
his throne will endure like the skies.” 15 (Selah)
89:38 But you have spurned 16 and rejected him;
you are angry with your chosen king. 17
89:39 You have repudiated 18 your covenant with your servant; 19
you have thrown his crown to the ground. 20
89:40 You have broken down all his 21 walls;
you have made his strongholds a heap of ruins.
[89:28] 1 tn Heb “forever I will keep for him my loyal love and will make my covenant secure for him.”
[89:29] 2 tn Heb “and I will set in place forever his offspring.”
[89:29] 3 tn Heb “and his throne like the days of the heavens.”
[89:32] 5 tn Heb “I will punish with a club their rebellion.”
[89:32] 6 tn Heb “with blows their sin.”
[89:33] 7 tn Heb “break”; “make ineffectual.” Some prefer to emend אָפִיר (’afir; the Hiphil of פָּרַר, parar, “to break”) to אָסִיר (’asir; the Hiphil of סוּר, sur, “to turn aside”), a verb that appears in 2 Sam 7:15.
[89:33] 8 tn Heb “and I will not deal falsely with my faithfulness.”
[89:34] 10 tn Heb “and what proceeds out of my lips I will not alter.”
[89:36] 12 tn Heb “his offspring forever will be.”
[89:36] 13 tn Heb “and his throne like the sun before me.”
[89:37] 14 tn Heb “like the moon it will be established forever.”
[89:37] 15 tn Heb “and a witness in the sky, secure.” Scholars have offered a variety of opinions as to the identity of the “witness” referred to here, none of which is very convincing. It is preferable to join וְעֵד (vÿ’ed) to עוֹלָם (’olam) in the preceding line and translate the commonly attested phrase עוֹלָם וְעֵד (“forever”). In this case one may translate the second line, “[it] will be secure like the skies.” Another option (the one reflected in the present translation) is to take עד as a rare noun meaning “throne” or “dais.” This noun is attested in Ugaritic; see, for example, CTA 16 vi 22-23, where ksi (= כִּסֵּא, kisse’, “throne”) and ’d (= עד, “dais”) appear as synonyms in the poetic parallelism (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 91). Emending בַּשַּׁחַק (bashakhaq, “in the heavens”) to כַּשַׁחַק (kashakhaq, “like the heavens”) – bet/kaf (כ/ב) confusion is widely attested – one can then read “[his] throne like the heavens [is] firm/stable.” Verse 29 refers to the enduring nature of the heavens, while Job 37:18 speaks of God spreading out the heavens (שְׁחָקִים, shÿkhaqim) and compares their strength to a bronze mirror. Ps 89:29 uses the term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim, “skies”) which frequently appears in parallelism to שְׁחָקִים.
[89:38] 16 tn The Hebrew construction (conjunction + pronoun, followed by the verb) draws attention to the contrast between what follows and what precedes.
[89:38] 17 tn Heb “your anointed one.” The Hebrew phrase מְשִׁיחֶךָ (mÿshikhekha, “your anointed one”) refers here to the Davidic king (see Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 28:8; 84:9; 132:10, 17).
[89:39] 18 tn The Hebrew verb appears only here and in Lam 2:7.
[89:39] 19 tn Heb “the covenant of your servant.”
[89:39] 20 tn Heb “you dishonor [or “desecrate”] on the ground his crown.”
[89:40] 21 tn The king here represents the land and cities over which he rules.
