12:6 The Lord’s words are absolutely reliable. 1
They are as untainted as silver purified in a furnace on the ground,
where it is thoroughly refined. 2
19:4 Yet its voice 3 echoes 4 throughout the earth;
its 5 words carry 6 to the distant horizon. 7
In the sky 8 he has pitched a tent for the sun. 9
38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; 10
those who want to harm me speak destructive words;
all day long they say deceitful things.
40:9 I have told the great assembly 11 about your justice. 12
Look! I spare no words! 13
O Lord, you know this is true.
59:12 They speak sinful words. 14
So let them be trapped by their own pride
and by the curses and lies they speak!
141:6 They will be thrown down the side of a cliff by their judges. 15
They 16 will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.
1 tn Heb “the words of the
2 tn Heb “[like] silver purified in a furnace of [i.e., “on”] the ground, refined seven times.” The singular participle מְזֻקָּק (mÿzuqqaq, “refined”) modifies “silver.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of שִׁבְעָתָיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”), see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 79:12; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
3 tc The MT reads, “their measuring line” (קוּם, qum). The noun קַו (qav, “measuring line”) makes no sense in this context. The reading קוֹלָם (qolam, “their voice”) which is supported by the LXX, is preferable.
4 tn Heb “goes out,” or “proceeds forth.”
5 tn Heb “their” (see the note on the word “its” in v. 3).
6 tn The verb is supplied in the translation. The Hebrew text has no verb; יָצָא (yatsa’, “goes out”) is understood by ellipsis.
7 tn Heb “to the end of the world.”
8 tn Heb “in them” (i.e., the heavens).
9 sn He has pitched a tent for the sun. The personified sun emerges from this “tent” in order to make its daytime journey across the sky. So the “tent” must refer metaphorically to the place where the sun goes to rest during the night.
10 tn Heb “lay snares.”
11 sn The great assembly is also mentioned in Pss 22:25 and 35:18.
12 tn Heb “I proclaim justice in the great assembly.” Though “justice” appears without a pronoun here, the
13 tn Heb “Look! My lips I do not restrain.”
14 tn Heb “the sin of their mouth [is] the word of their lips.”
15 tn Heb “they are thrown down by the hands of a cliff, their judges.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult and the meaning uncertain. The perfect verbal form is understood as rhetorical; the psalmist describes the anticipated downfall of the wicked as if it had already occurred. “Their judges” could be taken as the subject of the verb, but this makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes the judges are the agents and that the wicked, mentioned earlier in the psalm, are the subjects of the verb.
16 tn It is unclear how this statement relates to the preceding sentence. Perhaps the judges are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the verb “will listen,” and “my words” are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the phrase “are pleasant.” The psalmist may be affirming here his confidence that he will be vindicated when he presents his case before the judges, while the wicked will be punished.