14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven 1 at the human race, 2
to see if there is anyone who is wise 3 and seeks God. 4
14:4 All those who behave wickedly 5 do not understand – 6
those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,
and do not call out to the Lord.
27:13 Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience
the Lord’s favor in the land of the living? 7
35:13 When they were sick, I wore sackcloth, 8
and refrained from eating food. 9
(If I am lying, may my prayers go unanswered!) 10
53:2 God looks down from heaven 11 at the human race, 12
to see if there is anyone who is wise 13 and seeks God. 14
53:4 All those who behave wickedly 15 do not understand 16 –
those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,
and do not call out to God.
95:7 For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he owns. 17
Today, if only you would obey him! 18
106:9 He shouted at 19 the Red Sea and it dried up;
he led them through the deep water as if it were a desert.
132:12 If your sons keep my covenant
and the rules I teach them,
their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
139:9 If I were to fly away 20 on the wings of the dawn, 21
and settle down on the other side 22 of the sea,
139:11 If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me, 23
and the light will turn to night all around me,” 24
1 sn The picture of the
2 tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”
3 tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.
4 sn Anyone who is wise and seeks God refers to the person who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.
5 tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8.
6 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).
7 tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is incomplete: “If I had not believed [I would] see the goodness of the
8 tn Heb “as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.” Sackcloth was worn by mourners. When the psalmist’s enemies were sick, he was sorry for their misfortune and mourned for them.
9 sn Fasting was also a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities, such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.
10 tn Heb “and my prayer upon my chest will return.” One could translate, “but my prayer was returning upon my chest,” but the use of the imperfect verbal form sets this line apart from the preceding and following lines (vv. 13a, 14), which use the perfect to describe the psalmist’s past actions.
11 sn The picture of the
12 tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”
13 tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.
14 tn That is, who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.
15 tn Heb “the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8. Ps 14:4 adds כֹּל (kol, “all of”) before “workers of wickedness.”
16 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).
17 tn Heb “of his hand.”
18 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.
19 tn Or “rebuked.”
20 tn Heb “rise up.”
21 sn On the wings of the dawn. This personification of the “dawn” may find its roots in mythological traditions about the god Shachar, whose birth is described in an Ugaritic myth (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 126) and who is mentioned in Isa 14:12 as the father of Helel.
22 tn Heb “at the end.”
23 tn The Hebrew verb שׁוּף (shuf), which means “to crush; to wound,” in Gen 3:15 and Job 9:17, is problematic here. For a discussion of attempts to relate the verb to Arabic roots, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 251. Many emend the form to יְשׂוּכֵּנִי (yesukkeniy), from the root שׂכך (“to cover,” an alternate form of סכך), a reading assumed in the present translation.
24 tn Heb “and night, light, around me.”