1:5 For this reason 1 the wicked cannot withstand 2 judgment, 3
nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly. 4
19:12 Who can know all his errors? 5
Please do not punish me for sins I am unaware of. 6
31:2 Listen to me! 7
Quickly deliver me!
Be my protector and refuge, 8
a stronghold where I can be safe! 9
36:12 I can see the evildoers! They have fallen! 10
They have been knocked down and are unable to get up! 11
41:10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,
so I can pay them back!” 12
50:16 God says this to the evildoer: 13
“How can you declare my commands,
and talk about my covenant? 14
89:6 For who in the skies can compare to the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings, 15
89:48 No man can live on without experiencing death,
or deliver his life from the power of Sheol. 16 (Selah)
90:11 Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger? 17
Your raging fury causes people to fear you. 18
104:14 He provides grass 19 for the cattle,
and crops for people to cultivate, 20
so they can produce food from the ground, 21
ב (Bet)
119:9 How can a young person 22 maintain a pure life? 23
By guarding it according to your instructions! 24
119:115 Turn away from me, you evil men,
so that I can observe 25 the commands of my God. 26
129:6 May they be like the grass on the rooftops
which withers before one can even pull it up, 27
1 tn Or “Therefore.”
2 tn Heb “arise in,” but the verb is used metonymically here in the sense of “stand”; “endure,” as in 1 Sam 13:14 and Job 8:15. The negated Hebrew imperfect verbal form is here taken as indicating incapability or lack of potential, though one could understand the verb form as indicating what is typical (“do not withstand”) or what will happen (“will not withstand”).
3 tn Heb “the judgment.” The article indicates a judgment that is definite in the mind of the speaker. In the immediate context this probably does not refer to the “final judgment” described in later biblical revelation, but to a temporal/historical judgment which the author anticipates. Periodically during the OT period, God would come in judgment, removing the wicked from the scene, while preserving a godly remnant (see Gen 6-9; Ps 37; Hab 3).
4 tn Heb “and sinners in the assembly (or “circle”) of [the] godly.” The negative particle and verb from the preceding line are assumed by ellipsis here (“will not arise/stand”).
sn The assembly of the godly is insulated from divine judgment (Ps 37:12-17, 28-29).
5 tn Heb “Errors who can discern?” This rhetorical question makes the point that perfect moral discernment is impossible to achieve. Consequently it is inevitable that even those with good intentions will sin on occasion.
6 tn Heb “declare me innocent from hidden [things],” i.e., sins. In this context (see the preceding line) “hidden” sins are not sins committed in secret, but sins which are not recognized as such by the psalmist.
7 tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”
8 tn Heb “become for me a rocky summit of refuge.”
9 tn Heb “a house of strongholds to deliver me.”
10 tn Heb “there the workers of wickedness have fallen.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the evildoers lying fallen at a spot that is vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.).
11 tn The psalmist uses perfect verbal forms in v. 12 to describe the demise of the wicked as if it has already taken place.
12 tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) here indicates purpose or result (“Then I will repay them”) after the preceding imperatives.
13 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
14 tn Heb “What to you to declare my commands and lift up my covenant upon your mouth?” The rhetorical question expresses sarcastic amazement. The
15 tn Heb “sons of gods”; or “sons of God.” Though אֵלִים (’elim) is vocalized as a plural form (“gods”) in the Hebrew text, it is likely that the final mem (ם) is actually enclitic rather than a plural marker. In this case one may read “God.” Some, following a Qumran text and the LXX, also propose the phrase occurred in the original text of Deut 32:8. The phrase בְנֵי אֵלִים (vÿney ’elim, “sons of gods” or “sons of God”) occurs only here and in Ps 29:1. Since the “sons of gods/God” are here associated with “the assembly of the holy ones” and “council of the holy ones,” the heavenly assembly (comprised of so-called “angels” and other supernatural beings) appears to be in view. See Job 5:1; 15:15 and Zech 14:5, where these supernatural beings are referred to as “holy ones.” In Canaanite mythological texts the divine council of the high god El is called “the sons of El.” The OT apparently uses the Canaanite phrase, applying it to the supernatural beings that surround the
16 tn Heb “Who [is] the man [who] can live and not see death, [who] can deliver his life from the hand of Sheol?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
17 tn Heb “Who knows the strength of your anger?”
18 tn Heb “and like your fear [is] your raging fury.” Perhaps one should emend וּכְיִרְאָתְךְ (ukhyir’otekh, “and like your fear”) to יִרְאָתְךְ (yir’otkh, “your fear”), understanding a virtual dittography (אַפֶּךָ וּכְיִרְאָתְךְ, ’apekha ukhyir’otekh) to have occurred. In this case the psalmist asserts “your fear [is] your raging fury,” that is, your raging fury is what causes others to fear you. The suffix on “fear” is understood as objective.
19 tn Heb “causes the grass to sprout up.”
20 tn Heb “for the service of man” (see Gen 2:5).
21 tn Heb “to cause food to come out from the earth.”
22 tn Heb “young man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, the gender specific “young man” has been translated with the more neutral “young person.”
23 tn Heb “purify his path.”
24 tn Heb “by keeping according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew
25 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
26 tn The psalmist has already declared that he observes God’s commands despite persecution, so here the idea must be “so that I might observe the commands of my God unhindered by threats.”
27 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁלַף (shalaf) normally means “to draw [a sword]” or “to pull.” BDB 1025 s.v. suggests the meaning “to shoot up” here, but it is more likely that the verb here means “to pluck; to pull up,” a nuance attested for this word in later Hebrew and Aramaic (see Jastrow 1587 s.v. שָׁלַף).