2:7 The king says, 1 “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: 2
‘You are my son! 3 This very day I have become your father!
31:22 I jumped to conclusions and said, 4
“I am cut off from your presence!” 5
But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help.
77:6 I said, “During the night I will remember the song I once sang;
I will think very carefully.”
I tried to make sense of what was happening. 6
87:4 I mention Rahab 7 and Babylon to my followers. 8
Here are 9 Philistia and Tyre, 10 along with Ethiopia. 11
It is said of them, “This one was born there.” 12
87:5 But it is said of Zion’s residents, 13
“Each one of these 14 was born in her,
and the sovereign One 15 makes her secure.” 16
89:3 The Lord said, 17
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:
89:19 Then you 18 spoke through a vision to your faithful followers 19 and said:
“I have energized a warrior; 20
I have raised up a young man 21 from the people.
95:10 For forty years I was continually disgusted 22 with that generation,
and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray; 23
they do not obey my commands.’ 24
A song of ascents, 26 by David.
122:1 I was glad because 27 they said to me,
“We will go to the Lord’s temple.”
126:2 At that time we laughed loudly
and shouted for joy. 28
At that time the nations said, 29
“The Lord has accomplished great things for these people.”
132:11 The Lord made a reliable promise to David; 30
he will not go back on his word. 31
He said, 32 “I will place one of your descendants 33 on your throne.
137:7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell. 34
They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, 35
right to its very foundation!”
1 tn The words “the king says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The speaker is the Lord’s chosen king.
2 tn Or “I will relate the decree. The
3 sn ‘You are my son!’ The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26-27). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.
4 tn Heb “and I, I said in my haste.”
5 tn Heb “from before your eyes.”
6 tn Heb “I will remember my song in the night, with my heart I will reflect. And my spirit searched.” As in v. 4, the words of v. 6a are understood as what the psalmist said earlier. Consequently the words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 10). The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive at the beginning of the final line is taken as sequential to the perfect “I thought” in v. 6.
7 sn “Rahab,” which means “proud one,” is used here as a title for Egypt (see Isa 30:7).
8 tn Heb “to those who know me” (see Ps 36:10). Apparently the
9 tn Heb “Look.”
10 map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
11 tn Heb “Cush.”
12 tn Heb “and this one was born there.” The words “It is said of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarification and stylistic purposes (see v. 5). Those advocating the universalistic interpretation understand “there” as referring to Zion, but it seems more likely that the adverb refers to the nations just mentioned. The foreigners are identified by their native lands.
13 tn Heb “and of Zion it is said.” Another option is to translate, “and to Zion it is said.” In collocation with the Niphal of אָמַר (’amar), the preposition lamed (-לְ) can introduce the recipient of the statement (see Josh 2:2; Jer 4:11; Hos 1:10; Zeph 3:16), carry the nuance “concerning, of” (see Num 23:23), or mean “be named” (see Isa 4:3; 62:4).
14 tn Heb “a man and a man.” The idiom also appears in Esth 1:8. The translation assumes that the phrase refers to each of Zion’s residents, in contrast to the foreigners mentioned in v. 4. Those advocating the universalistic interpretation understand this as a reference to each of the nations, including those mentioned in v. 4.
15 tn Traditionally “Most High.”
16 tn Heb “and he makes her secure, the Most High.”
17 tn The words “the
18 tn The pronoun “you” refers to the
19 tc Many medieval
20 tn Heb “I have placed help upon a warrior.”
21 tn Or perhaps “a chosen one.”
22 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.
23 tn Heb “a people, wanderers of heart [are] they.”
24 tn Heb “and they do not know my ways.” In this context the
25 sn Psalm 122. The psalmist expresses his love for Jerusalem and promises to pray for the city’s security.
26 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
27 tn Heb “in the ones saying to me.” After the verb שָׂמַח (samakh), the preposition בְּ (bet) usually introduces the reason for joy.
28 tn Heb “then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with a shout.”
29 tn Heb “they said among the nations.”
30 tn Heb “the
31 tn Heb “he will not turn back from it.”
32 tn The words “he said” are supplied in the translation to clarify that what follows are the
33 tn Heb “the fruit of your body.”
34 tn Heb “remember, O
35 tn Heb “lay [it] bare, lay [it] bare.”