20:9 The Lord will deliver the king; 1
he will answer us 2 when we call to him for help! 3
47:4 He picked out for us a special land 4
to be a source of pride for 5 Jacob, 6 whom he loves. 7 (Selah)
60:10 Have you not rejected us, O God?
O God, you do not go into battle with our armies.
66:6 He turned the sea into dry land; 8
they passed through the river on foot. 9
Let us rejoice in him there! 10
67:7 May God bless us! 11
Then all the ends of the earth will give him the honor he deserves. 12
68:19 The Lord deserves praise! 13
Day after day 14 he carries our burden,
the God who delivers us. (Selah)
79:4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. 15
90:13 Turn back toward us, O Lord!
How long must this suffering last? 16
Have pity on your servants! 17
90:17 May our sovereign God extend his favor to us! 18
Make our endeavors successful!
Yes, make them successful! 19
108:11 Have you not rejected us, O God?
O God, you do not go into battle with our armies.
117:2 For his loyal love towers 20 over us,
and the Lord’s faithfulness endures.
Praise the Lord!
118:27 The Lord is God and he has delivered us. 21
Tie the offering 22 with ropes
to the horns of the altar! 23
1 tc This translation assumes an emendation of the verbal form הוֹשִׁיעָה (hoshi’ah). As it stands, the form is an imperative. In this case the people return to the petitionary mood with which the psalm begins (“O
2 tn If the imperative is retained in the preceding line, then the prefixed verbal form is best taken as a jussive of prayer, “may he answer us.” However, if the imperative in the previous line is emended to a perfect, the prefixed form is best taken as imperfect, “he will answer us” (see the note on the word “king” at the end of the previous line).
3 tn Heb “in the day we call.”
4 tn Heb “he chose for us our inheritance.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite (see “subdued” in v. 3).
5 tn Heb “the pride of.” The phrase is appositional to “our inheritance,” indicating that the land is here described as a source of pride to God’s people.
6 tn That is, Israel.
7 sn Jacob whom he loves. The Lord’s covenantal devotion to his people is in view.
8 sn He turned the sea into dry land. The psalmist alludes to Israel’s crossing the Red Sea (Exod 14:21).
9 tn Because of the reference to “the river,” some understand this as an allusion to Israel’s crossing the Jordan River. However, the Hebrew term נָהָר (nahad) does not always refer to a “river” in the technical sense; it can be used of sea currents (see Jonah 2:4). So this line may also refer to the Red Sea crossing (cf. NEB).
10 tn The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here, as often in poetic texts, to point “to a spot in which a scene is localized vividly in the imagination” (BDB 1027 s.v.).
11 tn The prefixed verb forms in vv. 6b-7a are understood as jussives.
12 tn Heb “will fear him.” After the jussive of the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive is understood as indicating purpose/result. (Note how v. 3 anticipates the universal impact of God showing his people blessing.) Another option is to take the verb as a jussive and translate, “Let all the ends of the earth fear him.”
13 tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”
14 tn It is possible to take this phrase with what precedes (“The Lord deserves praise day after day”) rather than with what follows.
15 tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.
16 tn Heb “Return, O
17 tn Elsewhere the Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) + the preposition עַל (’al) + a personal object has the nuance “be comforted concerning [the personal object’s death]” (see 2 Sam 13:39; Jer 31:15). However, here the context seems to demand “feel sorrow for,” “have pity on.” In Deut 32:36 and Ps 135:14, where “servants” is also the object of the preposition, this idea is expressed with the Hitpael form of the verb.
18 tn Heb “and may the delight of the Master, our God, be on us.” The Hebrew term נֹעַם (no’am, “delight”) is used in Ps 27:4 of the
19 tn Heb “and the work of our hands establish over us, and the work of our hands, establish it.”
20 tn For this sense of the Hebrew verb גָּבַר (gavar), see Ps 103:11 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.
21 tn Heb “and he has given us light.” This may be an elliptical expression, with “his face” being implied as the object (see Num 6:25; Pss 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19). In this case, “his face has given us light” = “he has smiled on us,” or “he has shown us his favor.” Another option (the one reflected in the translation) is that “light” here symbolizes divine blessing in the form of deliverance. “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Some prefer to repoint the form וְיָאֵר (vÿya’er; vav [ו] conjunctive + jussive) and translate the statement as a prayer, “may he give us light.”
22 tn The Hebrew noun חַג (khag) normally means “festival,” but here it apparently refers metonymically to an offering made at the festival. BDB 291 s.v. חַג 2 interprets the word in this way here, citing as comparable the use of later Hebrew חֲגִיגָה, which can refer to both a festival and a festival offering (see Jastrow 424 s.v. חֲגִיגָה).
23 tn The second half of v. 27 has been translated and interpreted in a variety of ways. For a survey of major views, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 122.