Psalms 97:11

97:11 The godly bask in the light;

the morally upright experience joy. ¹ 

Psalms 112:2

112:2 His descendants ²  will be powerful on the earth;

the godly ³  will be blessed.

Psalms 112:1

Psalm 112 ⁴ 

112:1 Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the one ⁵  who obeys ⁶  the Lord,

who takes great delight in keeping his commands. ⁷ 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁸  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁹  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Galatians 6:14

6:14 But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which ¹⁰  the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

[97:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Light is planted for the godly, and for the upright of heart joy.” The translation assumes an emendation of זָרַע (zara’, “planted”) to זָרַח (zara’, “shines”) which collocates more naturally with “light.” “Light” here symbolizes the joy (note the following line) that accompanies deliverance and the outpouring of divine favor.

[112:2]  ² tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[112:2]  ³ tn Heb “His seed will be mighty on the earth, the generation of the godly.” The Hebrew term דוֹר (dor, “generation”) could be taken as parallel to “offspring” and translated “posterity,” but the singular more likely refers to the godly as a class. See BDB 189-90 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.

[112:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[112:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.

[112:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “fears.”

[112:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.

[1:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[6:14]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “through whom,” referring to the Lord Jesus Christ rather than the cross.