2 Samuel 2:1-32 
Context2:1 Afterward David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” The Lord told him, “Go up.” David asked, “Where should I go?” The Lord replied, 1 “To Hebron.” 2:2 So David went up, along with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, formerly the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 2:3 David also brought along the men who were with him, each with his family. They settled in the cities 2 of Hebron. 2:4 The men of Judah came and there they anointed David as king over the people 3 of Judah.
David was told, 4 “The people 5 of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul.” 2:5 So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead and told them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you have shown this kindness 6 to your lord Saul by burying him. 2:6 Now may the Lord show you true kindness! 7 I also will reward you, 8 because you have done this deed. 2:7 Now be courageous 9 and prove to be valiant warriors, for your lord Saul is dead. The people of Judah have anointed me as king over them.”
2:8 Now Abner son of Ner, the general in command of Saul’s army, had taken Saul’s son Ish-bosheth 10 and had brought him to Mahanaim. 2:9 He appointed him king over Gilead, the Geshurites, 11 Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. 2:10 Ish-bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he began to rule over Israel. He ruled two years. However, the people 12 of Judah followed David. 2:11 David was king in Hebron over the people of Judah for seven and a half years. 13
2:12 Then Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 2:13 Joab son of Zeruiah and the servants of David also went out and confronted them at the pool of Gibeon. One group stationed themselves on one side of the pool, and the other group on the other side of the pool. 2:14 Abner said to Joab, “Let the soldiers get up and fight 14 before us.” Joab said, “So be it!” 15
2:15 So they got up and crossed over by number: twelve belonging to Benjamin and to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. 2:16 As they grappled with one another, each one stabbed his opponent with his sword and they fell dead together. 16 So that place is called the Field of Flints; 17 it is in Gibeon.
2:17 Now the battle was very severe that day; Abner and the men of Israel were overcome by David’s soldiers. 18 2:18 The three sons of Zeruiah were there – Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. (Now Asahel was as quick on his feet as one of the gazelles in the field.) 2:19 Asahel chased Abner, without turning to the right or to the left as he followed Abner.
2:20 Then Abner turned and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?” He replied, “Yes it is!” 2:21 Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right or to your left. Capture one of the soldiers 19 and take his equipment for yourself!” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him. 2:22 So Abner spoke again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me! I do not want to strike you to the ground. 20 How then could I show 21 my face in the presence of Joab your brother?” 2:23 But Asahel 22 refused to turn aside. So Abner struck him in the abdomen with the back end of his 23 spear. The spear came out his back; Asahel 24 collapsed on the spot and died there right before Abner. 25 Everyone who now comes to the place where Asahel fell dead pauses in respect. 26
2:24 So Joab and Abishai chased Abner. At sunset they came to the hill of Ammah near Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. 2:25 The Benjaminites formed their ranks 27 behind Abner and were like a single army, standing at the top of a certain hill.
2:26 Then Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will turn bitter in the end? When will you tell the people to turn aside from pursuing their brothers?” 2:27 Joab replied, “As surely as God lives, if you had not said this, it would have been morning before the people would have abandoned pursuit 28 of their brothers!” 2:28 Then Joab blew the ram’s horn and all the people stopped in their tracks. 29 They stopped chasing Israel and ceased fighting. 30 2:29 Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan River 31 and went through the whole region of Bitron 32 and came to Mahanaim.
2:30 Now Joab returned from chasing Abner and assembled all the people. Nineteen of David’s soldiers were missing, in addition to Asahel. 2:31 But David’s soldiers had slaughtered the Benjaminites and Abner’s men – in all, 360 men had died! 2:32 They took Asahel’s body and buried him in his father’s tomb at Bethlehem. 33 Joab and his men then traveled all that night and reached Hebron by dawn.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Context13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 13:2 And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 13:3 If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, 34 but do not have love, I receive no benefit.
13:4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. 13:6 It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. 13:7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
13:8 Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. 13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 13:10 but when what is perfect 35 comes, the partial will be set aside. 13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, 36 I set aside childish ways. 13:12 For now we see in a mirror indirectly, 37 but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Ezekiel 11:1-25
Context11:1 A wind 38 lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s temple that faces the east. There, at the entrance of the gate, I noticed twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people. 39 11:2 The Lord 40 said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked advice in this city. 11:3 They say, 41 ‘The time is not near to build houses; 42 the city 43 is a cooking pot 44 and we are the meat in it.’ 11:4 Therefore, prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”
11:5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came 45 upon me and said to me, “Say: This is what the Lord says: ‘This is what you are thinking, 46 O house of Israel; I know what goes through your minds. 47 11:6 You have killed many people in this city; you have filled its streets with corpses.’ 11:7 Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The corpses you have dumped 48 in the midst of the city 49 are the meat, and this city 50 is the cooking pot, but I will take you out of it. 51 11:8 You fear the sword, so the sword I will bring against you,’ declares the sovereign Lord. 11:9 ‘But I will take you out of the city. 52 And I will hand you over to foreigners. I will execute judgments on you. 11:10 You will die by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 11:11 This city will not be a cooking pot for you, and you will not 53 be meat within it; I will judge you at the border of Israel. 11:12 Then you will know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose regulations you have not carried out. Instead you have behaved according to the regulations of the nations around you!’”
11:13 Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I threw myself face down and cried out with a loud voice, “Alas, sovereign Lord! You are completely wiping out the remnant of Israel!” 54
11:14 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 11:15 “Son of man, your brothers, 55 your relatives, 56 and the whole house of Israel, all of them are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem 57 have said, ‘They have gone 58 far away from the Lord; to us this land has been given as a possession.’
11:16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Although I have removed them far away among the nations and have dispersed them among the countries, I have been a little 59 sanctuary for them among the lands where they have gone.’
11:17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When I regather you from the peoples and assemble you from the lands where you have been dispersed, I will give you back the country of Israel.’
11:18 “When they return to it, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 11:19 I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them; 60 I will remove the hearts of stone from their bodies 61 and I will give them tender hearts, 62 11:20 so that they may follow my statutes and observe my regulations and carry them out. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. 63 11:21 But those whose hearts are devoted to detestable things and abominations, I hereby repay them for what they have done, 64 says the sovereign Lord.”
11:22 Then the cherubim spread 65 their wings with their wheels alongside them while the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them. 11:23 The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stopped 66 over the mountain east of it. 11:24 Then a wind 67 lifted me up and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia, 68 in the vision given to me by the Spirit of God.
Then the vision I had seen went up from me. 11:25 So I told the exiles everything 69 the Lord had shown me.
Psalms 50:1-23
ContextA psalm by Asaph.
50:1 El, God, the Lord 71 speaks,
and summons the earth to come from the east and west. 72
50:2 From Zion, the most beautiful of all places, 73
God comes in splendor. 74
50:3 Our God approaches and is not silent; 75
consuming fire goes ahead of him
and all around him a storm rages. 76
50:4 He summons the heavens above,
as well as the earth, so that he might judge his people. 77
“Assemble my covenant people before me, 79
those who ratified a covenant with me by sacrifice!” 80
50:6 The heavens declare his fairness, 81
for God is judge. 82 (Selah)
“Listen my people! I am speaking!
Listen Israel! I am accusing you! 84
I am God, your God!
50:8 I am not condemning 85 you because of your sacrifices,
or because of your burnt sacrifices that you continually offer me. 86
50:9 I do not need to take 87 a bull from your household
or goats from your sheepfolds.
50:10 For every wild animal in the forest belongs to me,
as well as the cattle that graze on a thousand hills. 88
50:11 I keep track of 89 every bird in the hills,
and the insects 90 of the field are mine.
50:12 Even if I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all it contains belong to me.
50:13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls?
Do I drink the blood of goats? 91
50:14 Present to God a thank-offering!
Repay your vows to the sovereign One! 92
50:15 Pray to me when you are in trouble! 93
I will deliver you, and you will honor me!” 94
50:16 God says this to the evildoer: 95
“How can you declare my commands,
and talk about my covenant? 96
50:17 For you hate instruction
and reject my words. 97
50:18 When you see a thief, you join him; 98
you associate with men who are unfaithful to their wives. 99
50:19 You do damage with words, 100
and use your tongue to deceive. 101
50:20 You plot against your brother; 102
you slander your own brother. 103
50:21 When you did these things, I was silent, 104
so you thought I was exactly like you. 105
But now I will condemn 106 you
and state my case against you! 107
50:22 Carefully consider this, you who reject God! 108
Otherwise I will rip you to shreds 109
and no one will be able to rescue you.
50:23 Whoever presents a thank-offering honors me. 110
To whoever obeys my commands, I will reveal my power to deliver.” 111
1 tn Heb “he said.” The referent (the
2 tc The expression “the cities of Hebron” is odd; we would expect the noun to be in the singular, if used at all. Although the Syriac Peshitta has the expected reading “in Hebron,” the MT is clearly the more difficult reading and should probably be retained here.
3 tn Heb “house.”
4 tn Heb “and they told David.” The subject appears to be indefinite, allowing one to translate the verb as passive with David as subject.
5 tn Heb “men.”
6 tn Or “loyalty.”
7 tn Or “loyalty and devotion.”
8 tn Heb “will do with you this good.”
9 tn Heb “let your hands be strong.”
10 sn The name Ish-bosheth means in Hebrew “man of shame.” It presupposes an earlier form such as Ish-baal (“man of the Lord”), with the word “baal” being used of Israel’s God. But because the Canaanite storm god was named “Baal,” that part of the name was later replaced with the word “shame.”
11 tc The MT here reads “the Ashurite,” but this is problematic if it is taken to mean “the Assyrian.” Ish-bosheth’s kingdom obviously was not of such proportions as to extend to Assyria. The Syriac Peshitta renders the word as “the Geshurite,” while the Targum has “of the house of Ashur.” We should probably emend the Hebrew text to read “the Geshurite.” The Geshurites lived in the northeastern part of the land of Palestine.
12 tn Heb “house.”
13 tn Heb “And the number of the days in which David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.”
14 tn Heb “play.” What is in view here is a gladiatorial contest in which representative groups of soldiers engage in mortal combat before the watching armies. Cf. NAB “perform for us”; NASB “hold (have NRSV) a contest before us”; NLT “put on an exhibition of hand-to-hand combat.”
15 tn Heb “let them arise.”
16 tn Heb “and they grabbed each one the head of his neighbor with his sword in the side of his neighbor and they fell together.”
17 tn The meaning of the name “Helkath Hazzurim” (so NIV; KJV, NASB, NRSV similar) is not clear. BHK relates the name to the Hebrew term for “side,” and this is reflected in NAB “the Field of the Sides”; the Greek OT revocalizes the Hebrew to mean something like “Field of Adversaries.” Cf. also TEV, NLT “Field of Swords”; CEV “Field of Daggers.”
18 tn Heb “servants.” So also elsewhere.
19 tn Heb “young men.” So also elsewhere.
20 tn Heb “Why should I strike you to the ground?”
21 tn Heb “lift.”
22 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Asahel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 tn Heb “the.” The article functions here as a possessive pronoun.
24 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Asahel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Heb “and they stand.”
27 tn Heb “were gathered together.”
28 tn The Hebrew verb נַעֲלָה (na’alah) used here is the Niphal perfect 3rd person masculine singular of עָלָה (’alah, “to go up”). In the Niphal this verb “is used idiomatically, of getting away from so as to abandon…especially of an army raising a siege…” (see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 244).
29 tn Heb “stood.”
30 tn Heb “they no longer chased after Israel and they no longer fought.”
31 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
32 tn Heb “and they went, all the Bitron.” The meaning of the Hebrew word “Bitron,” which is used only here in the OT, is disputed. The translation above follows BDB 144 s.v. בִּתְרוֹן in taking the word to be a proper name of an area east of the Jordan. A different understanding was advocated by W. R. Arnold, who took the word to refer to the forenoon or morning; a number of modern scholars and translations have adopted this view (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT). See W. R. Arnold, “The Meaning of בתרון,” AJSL 28 (1911-1912): 274-83. In this case one could translate “and they traveled all morning long.”
33 map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.
34 tc The reading καυχήσωμαι (kauchswmai, “I might boast”) is well supported by Ì46 א A B 048 33 1739* pc co Hiermss. The competing reading, καυθήσομαι (kauqhsomai, “I will burn”), is found in C D F G L 81 1175 1881* al latt and a host of patristic writers. From this reading other variants were obviously derived: καυθήσωμαι (kauqhswmai), a future subjunctive (“I might burn”) read by the Byzantine text and a few others (Ψ 1739c 1881c Ï); and καυθῇ (kauqh, “it might be burned”) read by 1505 pc. On an external level, the Alexandrian reading is obviously superior, though the Western and Byzantine readings need to be accounted for. (The following discussion is derived largely from TCGNT 497-98). Internally, καυχήσωμαι is superior for the following reasons: (1) Once the Church started suffering persecution and martyrdom by fire, the v.l. naturally arose. Once there, it is difficult to see why any scribe would intentionally change it to καυχήσωμαι. (2) Involving as it does the change of just two letters (χ to θ [c to q], ω to ο [w to o]), this reading could be accomplished without much fanfare. Yet, it appears cumbersome in the context, both because of the passive voice and especially the retention of the first person (“If I give up my body that I may be burned”). A more logical word would have been the third person passive, καυθῇ, as read in 1505 (“If I give up my body that it may be burned”). (3) Although the connection between giving up one’s body and boasting is ambiguous, this very ambiguity has all the earmarks of being from Paul. It may have the force of giving up one’s body into slavery. In any event, it looks to be the harder reading. Incidentally, the Byzantine reading is impossible because the future subjunctive did not occur in Koine Greek. As the reading of the majority of Byzantine minuscules, its roots are clearly post-Koine and as such is a “grammatical monstrosity that cannot be attributed to Paul” (TCGNT 498). Cf. also the notes in BDF §28; MHT 2:219.
35 tn Or “when completion.”
36 tn The Greek term translated “adult” here is ἀνήρ (anhr), a term which ordinarily refers to males, husbands, etc. In this context Paul contrasts the states of childhood and adulthood, so the term has been translated “adult”; cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1.b.
37 tn Grk “we are seeing through [= using] a mirror by means of a dark image.” Corinth was well known in the ancient world for producing some of the finest bronze mirrors available. Paul’s point in this analogy, then, is not that our current understanding and relationship with God is distorted (as if the mirror reflected poorly), but rather that it is “indirect,” (i.e., the nature of looking in a mirror) compared to the relationship we will enjoy with him in the future when we see him “face to face” (cf. G. D. Fee, First Corinthians [NICNT], 648). The word “indirectly” translates the Greek phrase ἐν αἰνίγματι (ejn ainigmati, “in an obscure image”) which itself may reflect an allusion to Num 12:8 (LXX οὐ δι᾿ αἰνιγμάτων), where God says that he speaks to Moses “mouth to mouth [= face to face]…and not in dark figures [of speech].” Though this allusion to the OT is not explicitly developed here, it probably did not go unnoticed by the Corinthians who were apparently familiar with OT traditions about Moses (cf. 1 Cor 10:2). Indeed, in 2 Cor 3:13-18 Paul had recourse with the Corinthians to contrast Moses’ ministry under the old covenant with the hope afforded through apostolic ministry and the new covenant. Further, it is in this context, specifically in 2 Cor 3:18, that the apostle invokes the use of the mirror analogy again in order to unfold the nature of the Christian’s progressive transformation by the Spirit.
38 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
39 sn The phrase officials of the people occurs in Neh 11:1; 1 Chr 21:2; 2 Chr 24:23.
40 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
41 tn The Hebrew verb may mean “think” in this context. This content of what they say (or think) represents their point of view.
42 sn The expression build houses may mean “establish families” (Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; Prov 24:27).
43 tn Heb “she” or “it”; the feminine pronoun refers here to Jerusalem.
44 sn Jerusalem is also compared to a pot in Ezek 24:3-8. The siege of the city is pictured as heating up the pot.
45 tn Heb “fell.”
46 tn The Hebrew verb commonly means “to say,” but may also mean “to think” (see also v. 3).
47 tn Heb “I know the steps of your spirits.”
48 tn Heb “placed.”
49 tn Heb “in its midst.”
51 tc Many of the versions read “I will bring you out” (active) rather than “he brought out” (the reading of MT).
52 tn Heb “its midst.”
53 tn The Hebrew text does not have the negative particle, but it is implied. The negative particle in the previous line does double duty here.
54 tc The LXX reads this statement as a question. Compare this to the question in 9:8. It is possible that the interrogative particle has been omitted by haplography. However, an exclamatory statement as in the MT also makes sense and the LXX may have simply tried to harmonize this passage with 9:8.
55 tc The MT reads “your brothers, your brothers” either for empahsis (D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:341, n. 1; 346) or as a result of dittography.
56 tc The MT reads גְאֻלָּתֶךָ (gÿ’ullatekha, “your redemption-men”), referring to the relatives responsible for deliverance in times of hardship (see Lev 25:25-55). The LXX and Syriac read “your fellow exiles,” assuming an underlying Hebrew text of גָלוּתֶךָ (galutekha) or having read the א (aleph) as an internal mater lectionis for holem.
57 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
58 tc The MT has an imperative form (“go far!”), but it may be read with different vowels as a perfect verb (“they have gone far”).
59 tn Or “have been partially a sanctuary”; others take this as temporal (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV “a little while”).
60 tc The MT reads “you”; many Hebrew
61 tn Heb “their flesh.”
62 tn Heb “heart of flesh.”
63 sn The expression They will be my people, and I will be their God occurs as a promise to Abraham (Gen 17:8), Moses (Exod 6:7), and the nation (Exod 29:45).
64 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”
65 tn Heb “lifted.”
66 tn Heb “stood.”
67 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
68 tn Heb “to Chaldea.”
69 tn Heb “all the words of.”
70 sn Psalm 50. This psalm takes the form of a covenant lawsuit in which the Lord comes to confront his people in a formal manner (as in Isa 1:2-20). The Lord emphasizes that he places priority on obedience and genuine worship, not empty ritual.
71 sn Israel’s God is here identified with three names: El (אֵל [’el], or “God”), Elohim (אֱלֹהִים [’elohim], or “God”), and Yahweh (יְהוָה [yÿhvah] or “the
72 tn Heb “and calls [the] earth from the sunrise to its going.”
73 tn Heb “the perfection of beauty.”
74 tn Or “shines forth.”
sn Comes in splendor. The psalmist may allude ironically to Deut 33:2, where God “shines forth” from Sinai and comes to superintend Moses’ blessing of the tribes.
75 tn According to GKC 322 §109.e, the jussive (note the negative particle אַל, ’al) is used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.”
76 tn Heb “fire before him devours, and around him it is very stormy.”
77 tn Or perhaps “to testify against his people.”
sn The personified heavens and earth (see v. 1 as well) are summoned to God’s courtroom as witnesses against God’s covenant people (see Isa 1:2). Long before this Moses warned the people that the heavens and earth would be watching their actions (see Deut 4:26; 30:19; 31:28; 32:1).
78 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. God’s summons to the defendant follows.
79 tn Or “Gather to me my covenant people.” The Hebrew term חָסִיד (khasid, “covenant people”) elsewhere in the psalms is used in a positive sense of God’s loyal followers (see the note at Ps 4:3), but here, as the following line makes clear, the term has a neutral sense and simply refers to those who have outwardly sworn allegiance to God, not necessarily to those whose loyalty is genuine.
80 tn Heb “the cutters of my covenant according to sacrifice.” A sacrifice accompanied the covenant-making ceremony and formally ratified the agreement (see Exod 24:3-8).
81 tn Or “justice.”
82 tn Or “for God, he is about to judge.” The participle may be taken as substantival (as in the translation above) or as a predicate (indicating imminent future action in this context).
83 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. God’s charges against his people follow.
84 tn Heb “Israel, and I will testify against you.” The imperative “listen” is understood in the second line by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
85 tn Or “rebuking.”
86 tn Heb “and your burnt sacrifices before me continually.”
87 tn Or “I will not take.”
88 tn Heb “[the] animals on a thousand hills.” The words “that graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The term בְּהֵמוֹה (bÿhemot, “animal”) refers here to cattle (see Ps 104:14).
89 tn Heb “I know.”
90 tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word, which occurs only here and in Ps 80:13, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.
91 tn The rhetorical questions assume an emphatic negative response, “Of course not!”
92 tn Heb “Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.
93 tn Heb “call [to] me in a day of trouble.”
94 sn In vv. 7-15 the Lord makes it clear that he was not rebuking Israel because they had failed to offer sacrifices (v. 8a). On the contrary, they had been faithful in doing so (v. 8b). However, their understanding of the essence of their relationship with God was confused. Apparently they believed that he needed/desired such sacrifices and that offering them would ensure their prosperity. But the Lord owns all the animals of the world and did not need Israel’s meager sacrifices (vv. 9-13). Other aspects of the relationship were more important to the Lord. He desired Israel to be thankful for his blessings (v. 14a), to demonstrate gratitude for his intervention by repaying the vows they made to him (v. 14b), and to acknowledge their absolute dependence on him (v. 15a). Rather than viewing their sacrifices as somehow essential to God’s well-being, they needed to understand their dependence on him.
95 tn Heb “evil [one].” The singular adjective is used here in a representative sense; it refers to those within the larger covenant community who have blatantly violated the
96 tn Heb “What to you to declare my commands and lift up my covenant upon your mouth?” The rhetorical question expresses sarcastic amazement. The
97 tn Heb “and throw my words behind you.”
98 tn Heb “you run with him.”
99 tn Heb “and with adulterers [is] your portion.”
100 tn Heb “your mouth you send with evil.”
101 tn Heb “and your tongue binds together [i.e., “frames”] deceit.”
102 tn Heb “you sit, against your brother you speak.” To “sit” and “speak” against someone implies plotting against that person (see Ps 119:23).
103 tn Heb “against the son of your mother you give a fault.”
104 tn Heb “these things you did and I was silent.” Some interpret the second clause (“and I was silent”) as a rhetorical question expecting a negative answer, “[When you do these things], should I keep silent?” (cf. NEB). See GKC 335 §112.cc.
sn The Lord was silent in the sense that he delayed punishment. Of course, God’s patience toward sinners eventually runs out. The divine “silence” is only temporary (see v. 3, where the psalmist, having described God’s arrival, observes that “he is not silent”).
105 tn The Hebrew infinitive construct (הֱיוֹת, heyot) appears to function like the infinitive absolute here, adding emphasis to the following finite verbal form (אֶהְיֶה, ’ehyeh). See GKC 339-40 §113.a. Some prefer to emend הֱיוֹת (heyot) to the infinitive absolute form הָיוֹ (hayo).
106 tn Or “rebuke” (see v. 8).
107 tn Heb “and I will set in order [my case against you] to your eyes.” The cohortative form expresses the
108 tn Heb “[you who] forget God.” “Forgetting God” here means forgetting about his commandments and not respecting his moral authority.
109 sn Elsewhere in the psalms this verb is used (within a metaphorical framework) of a lion tearing its prey (see Pss 7:2; 17:12; 22:13).
110 sn The reference to a thank-offering recalls the earlier statement made in v. 14. Gratitude characterizes genuine worship.
111 tn Heb “and [to one who] sets a way I will show the deliverance of God.” Elsewhere the phrase “set a way” simply means “to travel” (see Gen 30:36; cf. NRSV). The present translation assumes an emendation of וְשָׂם דֶּרֶךְ (vÿsam derekh) to וְשֹׁמֵר דְּרָכַּי (vÿshomer dÿrakhay, “and [the one who] keeps my ways” [i.e., commands, see Pss 18:21; 37:34). Another option is to read וְשֹׁמֵר דַּרְכּוֹ (vÿshomer darko, “and [the one who] guards his way,” i.e., “the one who is careful to follow a godly lifestyle”; see Ps 39:1).
