11:4 The Lord is in his holy temple; 1
the Lord’s throne is in heaven. 2
His eyes 3 watch; 4
his eyes 5 examine 6 all people. 7
For the music director; according to the sheminith style; 9 a psalm of David.
12:1 Deliver, Lord!
For the godly 10 have disappeared; 11
people of integrity 12 have vanished. 13
14:4 All those who behave wickedly 14 do not understand – 15
those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,
and do not call out to the Lord.
14:7 I wish the deliverance 16 of Israel would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the well-being of his people, 17
may Jacob rejoice, 18
may Israel be happy! 19
17:4 As for the actions of people 20 –
just as you have commanded,
I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men. 21
28:9 Deliver your people!
Empower 22 the nation that belongs to you! 23
Care for them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms 24 at all times! 25
33:12 How blessed 26 is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen to be his special possession. 27
39:6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. 28
Surely they accumulate worthless wealth
without knowing who will eventually haul it away.” 29
44:2 You, by your power, 30 defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; 31
you crushed 32 the people living there 33 and enabled our ancestors to occupy it. 34
53:4 All those who behave wickedly 35 do not understand 36 –
those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,
and do not call out to God.
53:6 I wish the deliverance 37 of Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the well-being of his people, 38
may Jacob rejoice, 39
may Israel be happy! 40
For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; 42 a prayer 43 of David.
58:1 Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions? 44
Do you judge people 45 fairly?
69:35 For God will deliver Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah,
and his people 46 will again live in them and possess Zion. 47
74:2 Remember your people 48 whom you acquired in ancient times,
whom you rescued 49 so they could be your very own nation, 50
as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell!
74:8 They say to themselves, 51
“We will oppress all of them.” 52
They burn down all the places where people worship God in the land. 53
74:19 Do not hand the life of your dove 54 over to a wild animal!
Do not continue to disregard 55 the lives of your oppressed people!
78:20 Yes, 56 he struck a rock and water flowed out,
streams gushed forth.
But can he also give us food?
Will he provide meat for his people?”
78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, 57
and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and of Israel, his chosen nation. 58
79:13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will continually thank you. 59
We will tell coming generations of your praiseworthy acts. 60
89:19 Then you 61 spoke through a vision to your faithful followers 62 and said:
“I have energized a warrior; 63
I have raised up a young man 64 from the people.
89:50 Take note, O Lord, 65 of the way your servants are taunted, 66
and of how I must bear so many insults from people! 67
95:7 For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he owns. 68
Today, if only you would obey him! 69
95:10 For forty years I was continually disgusted 70 with that generation,
and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray; 71
they do not obey my commands.’ 72
100:3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us and we belong to him; 73
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
101:6 I will favor the honest people of the land, 74
and allow them to live with me. 75
Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me. 76
101:8 Each morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land,
and remove all evildoers from the city of the Lord.
106:5 so I may see the prosperity 77 of your chosen ones,
rejoice along with your nation, 78
and boast along with the people who belong to you. 79
106:48 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise, 80
in the future and forevermore. 81
Let all the people say, “We agree! 82 Praise the Lord!” 83
107:8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people! 84
107:15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people! 85
107:21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people! 86
107:31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people! 87
107:32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people!
Let them praise him in the place where the leaders preside! 88
107:35 As for his people, 89 he turned 90 a desert into a pool of water,
and a dry land into springs of water.
110:3 Your people willingly follow you 91 when you go into battle. 92
On the holy hills 93 at sunrise 94 the dew of your youth 95 belongs to you. 96
126:2 At that time we laughed loudly
and shouted for joy. 97
At that time the nations said, 98
“The Lord has accomplished great things for these people.”
1 tn Because of the royal imagery involved here, one could translate “lofty palace.” The
2 sn The
3 sn His eyes. The anthropomorphic language draws attention to God’s awareness of and interest in the situation on earth. Though the enemies are hidden by the darkness (v. 2), the Lord sees all.
4 tn The two Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this verse describe the
5 tn Heb “eyelids.”
6 tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 7:9; 26:2; 139:23.
7 tn Heb “test the sons of men.”
8 sn Psalm 12. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene, for society is overrun by deceitful, arrogant oppressors and godly individuals are a dying breed. When the Lord announces his intention to defend the oppressed, the psalmist affirms his confidence in the divine promise.
9 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.
10 tn The singular form is collective or representative. Note the plural form “faithful [ones]” in the following line. A “godly [one]” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
11 tn Or “have come to an end.”
12 tn Heb “the faithful [ones] from the sons of man.”
13 tn The Hebrew verb פָּסַס (pasas) occurs only here. An Akkadian cognate means “efface, blot out.”
14 tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8.
15 tn Heb “Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question (rendered in the translation as a positive affirmation) expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5-7).
16 sn The deliverance of Israel. This refers metonymically to God, the one who lives in Zion and provides deliverance for Israel.
17 tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv).
18 tn The verb form is jussive.
19 tn Because the parallel verb is jussive, this verb, which is ambiguous in form, should be taken as a jussive as well.
20 tn Heb “with regard to the deeds of man[kind].”
21 tn Heb “by the word of your lips, I, I have watched the paths of the violent” (i.e., “watched” in the sense of “watched for the purpose of avoiding”).
22 tn Or “bless.”
23 tn Heb “your inheritance.” The parallelism (note “your people”) indicates that Israel is in view.
24 tn Heb “shepherd them and lift them up.”
sn The shepherd metaphor is sometimes associated with royal responsibility. See 2 Sam 5:2; 7:7; Mic 5:2-4).
25 tn Or “forever.”
26 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
27 tn Heb “inheritance.”
28 tn Heb “surely, as an image man walks about.” The preposition prefixed to “image” indicates identity here.
sn People go through life (Heb “man walks about”). “Walking” is here used as a metaphor for living. The point is that human beings are here today, gone tomorrow. They have no lasting substance and are comparable to mere images or ghosts.
29 tc Heb “Surely [in] vain they strive, he accumulates and does not know who gathers them.” The MT as it stands is syntactically awkward. The verb forms switch from singular (“walks about”) to plural (“they strive”) and then back to singular (“accumulates and does not know”), even though the subject (generic “man”) remains the same. Furthermore there is no object for the verb “accumulates” and no plural antecedent for the plural pronoun (“them”) attached to “gathers.” These problems can be removed if one emends the text from הֶבֶל יֶהֱמָיוּן (hevel yehemaun, “[in] vain they strive”) to הֶבְלֵי הָמוֹן (hevley hamon, “vain things of wealth”). This assumes a misdivision in the MT and a virtual dittography of vav (ו) between the mem and nun of המון. The present translation follows this emendation.
30 tn Heb “you, your hand.”
31 tn Heb “dispossessed nations and planted them.” The third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1). See Ps 80:8, 15.
32 tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Hiphil preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive) from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil; be bad”). If retained it apparently means, “you injured; harmed.” Some prefer to derive the verb from רָעַע (“break”; cf. NEB “breaking up the peoples”), in which case the form must be revocalized as Qal (since this verb is unattested in the Hiphil).
33 tn Or “peoples.”
34 tn Heb “and you sent them out.” The translation assumes that the third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1), as in the preceding parallel line. See Ps 80:11, where Israel, likened to a vine, “spreads out” its tendrils to the west and east. Another option is to take the “peoples” as the referent of the pronoun and translate, “and you sent them away,” though this does not provide as tight a parallel with the corresponding line.
35 tn Heb “the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8. Ps 14:4 adds כֹּל (kol, “all of”) before “workers of wickedness.”
36 tn Heb “Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5-6).
37 tn This refers metonymically to God, the one who lives in Zion and provides deliverance for Israel.
38 tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv).
39 tn The verb form is jussive.
40 tn Because the parallel verb is jussive, this verb, which is ambiguous in form, should be taken as a jussive as well.
41 sn Psalm 58. The psalmist calls on God to punish corrupt judges because a vivid display of divine judgment will convince observers that God is the just judge of the world who vindicates the godly.
42 tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 57, 59, and 75.
43 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam) which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 56-57, 59-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
44 tn Heb “Really [in] silence, what is right do you speak?” The Hebrew noun אֵלֶם (’elem, “silence”) makes little, if any, sense in this context. Some feel that this is an indictment of the addressees’ failure to promote justice; they are silent when they should make just decisions. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֵלִם (’elim), which in turn is understood as a defectively written form of אֵילִים (’elim, “rulers,” a metaphorical use of אַיִל, ’ayil, “ram”; see Exod 15:15; Ezek 17:13). The rhetorical question is sarcastic, challenging their claim to be just. Elsewhere the collocation of דָּבַר (davar, “speak”) with צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “what is right”) as object means “to speak the truth” (see Ps 52:3; Isa 45:19). Here it refers specifically to declaring what is right in a legal setting, as the next line indicates.
45 tn Heb “the sons of mankind.” The translation assumes the phrase is the object of the verb “to judge.” Some take it as a vocative, “Do you judge fairly, O sons of mankind?” (Cf. NASB; see Ezek 20:4; 22:2; 23:36.)
46 tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
47 tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to “Zion” (see Pss 48:12; 102:14); thus the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
48 tn Heb “your assembly,” which pictures God’s people as an assembled community.
49 tn Heb “redeemed.” The verb “redeem” casts God in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).
50 tn Heb “the tribe of your inheritance” (see Jer 10:16; 51:19).
51 tn Heb “in their heart.”
52 tc Heb “[?] altogether.” The Hebrew form נִינָם (ninam) is problematic. It could be understood as the noun נִין (nin, “offspring”) but the statement “their offspring altogether” would make no sense here. C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:159) emends יָחַד (yakhad, “altogether”) to יָחִיד (yakhid, “alone”) and translate “let their offspring be solitary” (i.e., exiled). Another option is to understand the form as a Qal imperfect first common plural from יָנָה (yanah, “to oppress”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix, “we will oppress them.” However, this verb, when used in the finite form, always appears in the Hiphil. Therefore, it is preferable to emend the form to the Hiphil נוֹנֵם (nonem, “we will oppress them”).
53 tn Heb “they burn down all the meeting places of God in the land.”
54 sn Your dove. The psalmist compares weak and vulnerable Israel to a helpless dove.
55 tn Heb “do not forget forever.”
56 tn Heb “look.”
57 tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”
58 tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”
59 tn Or (hyperbolically) “will thank you forever.”
60 tn Heb “to a generation and a generation we will report your praise.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.
61 tn The pronoun “you” refers to the
62 tc Many medieval
63 tn Heb “I have placed help upon a warrior.”
64 tn Or perhaps “a chosen one.”
65 tc Many medieval Hebrew
66 tn Heb “remember, O Lord, the taunt against your servants.” Many medieval Hebrew
67 tn Heb “my lifting up in my arms [or “against my chest”] all of the many, peoples.” The term רַבִּים (rabbim, “many”) makes no apparent sense here. For this reason some emend the text to רִבֵי (rivey, “attacks by”), a defectively written plural construct form of רִיב (riv, “dispute; quarrel”).
68 tn Heb “of his hand.”
69 tn Heb “if only you would listen to his voice.” The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (cf. Ps 81:8). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.
70 tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite or an imperfect. If the latter, it emphasizes the ongoing nature of the condition in the past. The translation reflects this interpretation of the verbal form.
71 tn Heb “a people, wanderers of heart [are] they.”
72 tn Heb “and they do not know my ways.” In this context the
73 tn The present translation (like most modern translations) follows the Qere (marginal reading), which reads literally, “and to him [are] we.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and not we.” The suffixed preposition לו (“to him”) was confused aurally with the negative particle לא because the two sound identical.
74 tn Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.”
75 tn The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.”
76 tn Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.”
77 tn Heb “good.”
78 tn Heb “in order that [I may] rejoice with the rejoicing of your nation.”
79 tn Heb “with your inheritance.”
80 tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.
81 tn Heb “from everlasting to everlasting.”
82 tn Heb “surely” (אָמֵן, ’amen), traditionally transliterated “amen.”
83 sn The final verse (v. 48) is a conclusion to this fourth “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the first, second and third “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 41:13; 72:18-19; 89:52, respectively).
84 tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.”
85 tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.
86 tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.
87 tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.
88 tn Heb “in the seat of the elders.”
89 tn The words “As for his people” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. The psalmist contrasts God’s judgment on his enemies with his blessing of his people. See the note on the word “enemies” in v. 39 for further discussion.
90 tn The verbal form appears to be a preterite, which is most naturally taken as narrational. See the note on the word “turned” in v. 33.
91 tn Heb “your people, free will offerings.” Perhaps the people, in their willingness to volunteer, are compared metaphorically to freewill offerings. Following the LXX, some revocalize the text and read “with you is nobility.”
92 tn Heb “in the day of your power.”
93 tc Heb “in splendor of holiness.” The plural construct form הַדְרֵי (hadrey, from הָדַר, hadar, “splendor”) occurs only here; it may indicate degree or perhaps refer by metonymy to garments (see Pss 29:2 and 96:9, where the phrase הַדְרַת קֹדֶשׁ [hadrat qodesh] refers to “holy attire”). If one retains the reading of the MT, this phrase should probably be taken with the preceding line. However, because of the subsequent references to “dawn” and to “dew,” it is better to emend the text to הַרְרֵי קֹדֶשׁ (harrey qodesh, “mountains of holiness”), a reading found in many medieval Hebrew
94 tn Heb “from the womb of dawn.” The Hebrew noun רֶחֶם (rekhem, “womb”) is probably used here metonymically for “birth.” The form מִשְׁחָר (mishkhar) occurs only here and should be emended to שַׁחַר (shakhar, “dawn”) with the mem (מ) being understood as dittographic (note the final mem [ם] on the preceding word). The phrase “womb [i.e., “birth”] of dawn” refers to sunrise.
95 sn The point of the metaphor is not entirely clear. The dew may symbolize the king’s youthful vitality or, more likely (note the parallelism), may refer to his army of strong, youthful warriors.
96 tn Heb “to you [is].”
97 tn Heb “then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with a shout.”
98 tn Heb “they said among the nations.”