1:3 He is like 1 a tree planted by flowing streams; 2
it 3 yields 4 its fruit at the proper time, 5
and its leaves never fall off. 6
He succeeds in everything he attempts. 7
13:2 How long must I worry, 8
and suffer in broad daylight? 9
How long will my enemy gloat over me? 10
42:10 My enemies’ taunts cut into me to the bone, 11
as they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” 12
48:2 It is lofty and pleasing to look at, 13
a source of joy to the whole earth. 14
Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon; 15
it is the city of the great king.
63:11 But the king 16 will rejoice in God;
everyone who takes oaths in his name 17 will boast,
for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up. 18
1 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same characteristic force as the imperfect in the preceding verse. According to the psalmist, the one who studies and obeys God’s commands typically prospers.
2 tn Heb “channels of water.”
3 tn Heb “which.”
4 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in v. 3 draw attention to the typical nature of the actions/states they describe.
5 tn Heb “in its season.”
6 tn Or “fade”; “wither.”
sn The author compares the godly individual to a tree that has a rich water supply (planted by flowing streams), develops a strong root system, and is filled with leaves and fruit. The simile suggests that the godly have a continual source of life which in turn produces stability and uninterrupted prosperity.
7 tn Heb “and all which he does prospers”; or “and all which he does he causes to prosper.” (The simile of the tree does not extend to this line.) It is not certain if the Hiphil verbal form (יַצְלִיחַ, yatsliakh) is intransitive-exhibitive (“prospers”) or causative (“causes to prosper”) here. If the verb is intransitive, then כֹּל (kol, “all, everything”) is the subject. If the verb is causative, then the godly individual or the Lord himself is the subject and כֹּל is the object. The wording is reminiscent of Josh 1:8, where the Lord tells Joshua: “This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper (literally, “cause your way to prosper”) and be successful.”
8 tn Heb “How long will I put counsel in my being?”
9 tn Heb “[with] grief in my heart by day.”
10 tn Heb “be exalted over me.” Perhaps one could translate, “How long will my enemy defeat me?”
11 tc Heb “with a shattering in my bones my enemies taunt me.” A few medieval Hebrew
12 sn “Where is your God?” The enemies ask this same question in v. 3.
13 tn Heb “beautiful of height.” The Hebrew term נוֹף (nof, “height”) is a genitive of specification after the qualitative noun “beautiful.” The idea seems to be that Mount Zion, because of its lofty appearance, is pleasing to the sight.
14 sn A source of joy to the whole earth. The language is hyperbolic. Zion, as the dwelling place of the universal king, is pictured as the world’s capital. The prophets anticipated this idealized picture becoming a reality in the eschaton (see Isa 2:1-4).
15 tn Heb “Mount Zion, the peaks of Zaphon.” Like all the preceding phrases in v. 2, both phrases are appositional to “city of our God, his holy hill” in v. 1, suggesting an identification in the poet’s mind between Mount Zion and Zaphon. “Zaphon” usually refers to the “north” in a general sense (see Pss 89:12; 107:3), but here, where it is collocated with “peaks,” it refers specifically to Mount Zaphon, located in the vicinity of ancient Ugarit and viewed as the mountain where the gods assembled (see Isa 14:13). By alluding to West Semitic mythology in this way, the psalm affirms that Mount Zion is the real divine mountain, for it is here that the
16 sn The psalmist probably refers to himself in the third person here.
17 tn Heb “who swears [an oath] by him.”
18 tn The Niphal of this verb occurs only here and in Gen 8:2, where it is used of God “stopping” or “damming up” the great deep as he brought the flood to an end.