16:11 You lead me in 1 the path of life; 2
I experience absolute joy in your presence; 3
you always give me sheer delight. 4
19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect
and preserves one’s life. 5
The rules set down by the Lord 6 are reliable 7
and impart wisdom to the inexperienced. 8
19:8 The Lord’s precepts are fair 9
and make one joyful. 10
The Lord’s commands 11 are pure 12
and give insight for life. 13
23:6 Surely your goodness and faithfulness 14 will pursue 15 me all my days, 16
and I will live in 17 the Lord’s house 18 for the rest of my life. 19
By David.
27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! 21
I fear no one! 22
The Lord protects my life!
I am afraid of no one! 23
30:9 “What 24 profit is there in taking my life, 25
in my descending into the Pit? 26
Can the dust of the grave 27 praise you?
Can it declare your loyalty? 28
35:4 May those who seek my life be embarrassed and humiliated!
May those who plan to harm me be turned back and ashamed! 29
35:17 O Lord, how long are you going to just stand there and watch this? 30
Rescue 31 me 32 from their destructive attacks;
guard my life 33 from the young lions!
38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; 34
those who want to harm me speak destructive words;
all day long they say deceitful things.
39:6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. 35
Surely they accumulate worthless wealth
without knowing who will eventually haul it away.” 36
40:14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life
be totally embarrassed and ashamed! 37
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed! 38
41:2 May the Lord protect him and save his life! 39
May he be blessed 40 in the land!
Do not turn him over 41 to his enemies! 42
For the music director; a psalm of David.
64:1 Listen to me, 44 O God, as I offer my lament!
Protect 45 my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks. 46
70:2 May those who are trying to take my life
be embarrassed and ashamed! 47
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed! 48
74:19 Do not hand the life of your dove 49 over to a wild animal!
Do not continue to disregard 50 the lives of your oppressed people!
102:24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life! 51
You endure through all generations. 52
104:29 When you ignore them, they panic. 53
When you take away their life’s breath, they die
and return to dust.
109:18 He made cursing a way of life, 54
so curses poured into his stomach like water
and seeped into his bones like oil. 55
142:4 Look to the right and see!
No one cares about me. 56
I have nowhere to run; 57
no one is concerned about my life. 58
143:12 As a demonstration of your loyal love, 59 destroy my enemies!
Annihilate 60 all who threaten my life, 61
for I am your servant.
1 tn Heb “cause me to know”; or “cause me to experience.”
2 tn This is a metaphorical way of saying, “you preserve my life.” The phrase “path of life” stands in contrast to death/Sheol in Prov 2:18-19; 5:5-6; 15:24.
3 tn Heb “abundance of joy [is] with your face.” The plural form of the noun שִׂמְחָה (simkhah, “joy”) occurs only here and in Ps 45:15. It may emphasize the degree of joy experienced.
4 tn Heb “delight [is] in your right hand forever.” The plural form of the adjective נָעִים (na’im, “pleasant, delightful”) may here emphasize the degree of delight experienced (see Job 36:11).
5 tn Heb “[it] restores life.” Elsewhere the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) when used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”) as object, means to “rescue or preserve one’s life” (Job 33:30; Ps 35:17) or to “revive one’s strength” (emotionally or physically; cf. Ruth 4:15; Lam 1:11, 16, 19). Here the point seems to be that the law preserves the life of the one who studies it by making known God’s will. Those who know God’s will know how to please him and can avoid offending him. See v. 11a.
6 tn Traditionally, “the testimony of the
7 tn God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.
8 tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly.
9 tn Or “just.” Perhaps the idea is that they impart a knowledge of what is just and right.
10 tn Heb “[they] make happy [the] heart.” Perhaps the point is that they bring a sense of joyful satisfaction to the one who knows and keeps them, for those who obey God’s law are richly rewarded. See v. 11b.
11 tn Heb “command.” The singular here refers to the law as a whole.
12 tn Because they reflect God’s character, his commands provide a code of moral and ethical purity.
13 tn Heb [they] enlighten [the] eyes.
14 tn The noun חֶסֶד (khesed; v. 6) has been the subject of several monographs. G. R. Clark concludes that חֶסֶד “is not merely an attitude or an emotion; it is an emotion that leads to an activity beneficial to the recipient.” He explains that an act of חֶסֶד is “a beneficent action performed, in the context of a deep and enduring commitment between two persons or parties, by one who is able to render assistance to the needy party who in the circumstances is unable to help him- or herself.” (See G. R. Clark, The Word Hesed in the Hebrew Bible [JSOTSup], 267.) HALOT 336-37 s.v. defines the word as “loyalty,” or “faithfulness.” Other appropriate meanings might be “commitment” and “devotion.”
15 tn The use of רָדַף (radaf, “pursue, chase”) with טוֹב וָחֶסֶד (tov vakhesed, “goodness and faithfulness”) as subject is ironic. This is the only place in the entire OT where either of these nouns appears as the subject of this verb רָדַף (radaf, “pursue”). This verb is often used to describe the hostile actions of enemies. One might expect the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 5) to chase him, but ironically God’s “goodness and faithfulness” (which are personified and stand by metonymy for God himself) pursue him instead. The word “pursue” is used outside of its normal context in an ironic manner and creates a unique, but pleasant word picture of God’s favor (or a kind God) “chasing down” the one whom he loves.
16 tn Heb “all the days of my life.”
17 tn The verb form וְשַׁבְתִּי (vÿshavtiy) is a Qal perfect (with vav [ו] consecutive), first common singular, from שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) and should be translated, “and I will return.” But this makes no sense when construed with the following phrase, “in the house of the
18 tn Heb “the house of the
19 tn The phrase אֹרֶךְ יָמִים (’orekh yamim, “length of days”) is traditionally translated “forever.” However, this phrase, when used elsewhere of people, usually refers to a lengthy period of time, such as one’s lifetime, and does not mean “forever” in the sense of eternity. (Cf. Deut 30:20; Job 12:12; Ps 91:16; Prov 3:2, 16; Lam 5:20.) Furthermore, the parallel phrase “all the days of my life” suggests this more limited meaning. Psalm 21:4, where the phrase is followed by “forever and ever,” may be an exception, though the juxtaposition of the phrases may be an example of intensification, where the second phrase goes beyond the limits of the first, rather than synonymity. Even if one takes both expressions as referring to eternal life, the language is part of the king’s hyperbolic description of the
20 sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.
21 tn Heb “the
22 tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
23 tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
24 sn The following two verses (vv. 9-10) contain the prayer (or an excerpt of the prayer) that the psalmist offered to the Lord during his crisis.
25 tn Heb “What profit [is there] in my blood?” “Blood” here represents his life.
26 tn The Hebrew term שָׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 49:9; 55:24; 103:4).
27 tn Heb “dust.” The words “of the grave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
28 tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “Of course not!”
sn According to the OT, those who descend into the realm of death/Sheol are cut off from God’s mighty deeds and from the worshiping covenant community that experiences divine intervention (Pss 6:5; 88:10-12; Isa 38:18). In his effort to elicit a positive divine response, the psalmist reminds God that he will receive no praise or glory if he allows the psalmist to die. Dead men do not praise God!
29 tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies. See also the distinct jussive form in v. 6.
30 tn Heb “O Lord, how long will you see?”
31 tn Heb “bring back, restore.”
32 tn Or “my life.”
33 tn Heb “my only one.” The psalmist may mean that his life is precious, or that he feels isolated and alone (see Ps 22:20). The verb “guard” is supplied in the translation, because the verb “rescue” is understood by ellipsis (see the previous line).
34 tn Heb “lay snares.”
35 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.
36 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.
37 tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed together, the ones seeking my life to snatch it away.”
38 tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse (“may those…be…embarrassed and ashamed…may those…be turned back and ashamed”) are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.
sn See Ps 35:4 for a similar prayer.
39 tn The prefixed verbal forms are taken as jussives in the translation because the jussive is clearly used in the final line of the verse, suggesting that this is a prayer. The psalmist stops to pronounce a prayer of blessing on the godly individual envisioned in v. 1. Of course, he actually has himself primarily in view. He mixes confidence (vv. 1, 3) with petition (v. 2) because he stands in the interval between the word of assurance and the actual intervention by God.
40 tc The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib), which has a Pual (passive) prefixed form, regarded here as a jussive. The Pual of the verb אָשַׁר (’ashar) also appears in Prov 3:18. The marginal reading (Qere) assumes a vav (ו) consecutive and Pual perfect. Some, with the support of the LXX, change the verb to a Piel (active) form with an objective pronominal suffix, “and may he bless him,” or “and he will bless him” (cf. NIV).
41 tn The negative particle אַל (’al) before the prefixed verbal form indicates the verb is a jussive and the statement a prayer. Those who want to take v. 2 as a statement of confidence suggest emending the negative particle to לֹא (lo’), which is used with the imperfect. See the earlier note on the verbal forms in line one of this verse. According to GKC 322 §109.e, this is a case where the jussive is used rhetorically to “express that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one might translate, “you will not turn him over to his enemies,” and take the preceding verbal forms as indicative in mood.
42 tn Heb “do not give him over to the desire of his enemies” (see Ps 27:12).
43 sn Psalm 64. The psalmist asks God to protect him from his dangerous enemies and then confidently affirms that God will destroy his enemies and demonstrate his justice in the sight of all observers.
44 tn Heb “my voice.”
45 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s request.
46 tn Heb “from the terror of [the] enemy.” “Terror” is used here metonymically for the enemy’s attacks that produce fear because they threaten the psalmist’s life.
47 tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed, the ones seeking my life.” Ps 40:14 has “together” after “ashamed,” and “to snatch it away” after “my life.”
48 tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.
sn See Ps 35:4 for a similar prayer.
49 sn Your dove. The psalmist compares weak and vulnerable Israel to a helpless dove.
50 tn Heb “do not forget forever.”
51 tn Heb “do not lift me up in the middle of my days.”
52 tn Heb “in a generation of generations [are] your years.”
53 tn Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”
54 tn Heb “he put on a curse as [if it were] his garment.”
55 tn Heb “and it came like water into his inner being, and like oil into his bones.” This may refer to this individual’s appetite for cursing. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or massaging oneself with oil. Another option is that the destructive effects of a curse are in view. In this case a destructive curse invades his very being, like water or oil. Some who interpret the verse this way prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” to a conjunctive vav and interpret the prefixed verb as a jussive, “may it come!”
56 tn Heb “there is no one who recognizes me.”
57 tn Heb “ a place of refuge perishes from me.”
58 tn Heb “there is no one who seeks for the sake of my life.”
59 tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”
60 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect.
61 tn Heb “all the enemies of my life.”