16:3 As for God’s chosen people who are in the land,
and the leading officials I admired so much 1 –
68:9 O God, you cause abundant showers to fall 2 on your chosen people. 3
When they 4 are tired, you sustain them, 5
80:17 May you give support to the one you have chosen, 6
to the one whom you raised up for yourself! 7
105:6 O children 8 of Abraham, 9 God’s 10 servant,
you descendants 11 of Jacob, God’s 12 chosen ones!
106:23 He threatened 13 to destroy them,
but 14 Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him 15
and turned back his destructive anger. 16
132:14 He said, 17 “This will be my resting place forever;
I will live here, for I have chosen it. 18
132:17 There I will make David strong; 19
I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue. 20
1 tn Heb “regarding the holy ones who [are] in the land, they; and the mighty [ones] in [whom is/was] all my desire.” The difficult syntax makes the meaning of the verse uncertain. The phrase “holy ones” sometimes refers to God’s angelic assembly (see Ps 89:5, 7), but the qualifying clause “who are in the land” suggests that here it refers to God’s people (Ps 34:9) or to their priestly leaders (2 Chr 35:3).
2 tn The verb נוּף (nuf, “cause rain to fall”) is a homonym of the more common נוּף (“brandish”).
3 tn Heb “[on] your inheritance.” This refers to Israel as God’s specially chosen people (see Pss 28:9; 33:12; 74:2; 78:62, 71; 79:1; 94:5, 14; 106:40). Some take “your inheritance” with what follows, but the vav (ו) prefixed to the following word (note וְנִלְאָה, vÿnil’ah) makes this syntactically unlikely.
4 tn Heb “it [is],” referring to God’s “inheritance.”
5 tn Heb “it,” referring to God’s “inheritance.”
6 tn Heb “may your hand be upon the man of your right hand.” The referent of the otherwise unattested phrase “man of your right hand,” is unclear. It may refer to the nation collectively as a man. (See the note on the word “yourself” in v. 17b.)
7 tn Heb “upon the son of man you strengthened for yourself.” In its only other use in the Book of Psalms, the phrase “son of man” refers to the human race in general (see Ps 8:4). Here the phrase may refer to the nation collectively as a man. Note the use of the statement “you strengthened for yourself” both here and in v. 15, where the “son” (i.e., the branch of the vine) refers to Israel.
8 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
9 tc Some
10 tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “sons.”
12 tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “and he said.”
14 tn Heb “if not,” that is, “[and would have] if [Moses] had not.”
15 tn Heb “stood in the gap before him.”
16 tn Heb “to turn back his anger from destroying.”
sn Verses 19-23 describe the events of Exod 32:1-35.
17 tn The words “he said” are added in the translation to clarify that what follows are the
18 tn Heb “for I desired it.”
19 tn Heb “there I will cause a horn to sprout for David.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (cf. Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Pss 18:2; 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). In the ancient Near East powerful warrior-kings would sometimes compare themselves to a goring bull that used its horns to kill its enemies. For examples, see P. Miller, “El the Warrior,” HTR 60 (1967): 422-25, and R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 135-36.
20 tn Heb “I have arranged a lamp for my anointed one.” Here the “lamp” is a metaphor for the Davidic dynasty (see 1 Kgs 11:36).