21:6 For you grant him lasting blessings;
you give him great joy by allowing him into your presence. 1
33:16 No king is delivered by his vast army;
a warrior is not saved by his great might.
33:17 A horse disappoints those who trust in it for victory; 2
despite its great strength, it cannot deliver.
35:18 Then I will give you thanks in the great assembly; 3
I will praise you before a large crowd of people! 4
47:2 For the sovereign Lord 5 is awe-inspiring; 6
he is the great king who rules the whole earth! 7
66:3 Say to God:
“How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power your enemies cower in fear 8 before you.
69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! 9
Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!
79:11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners! 10
Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die! 11
86:5 Certainly 12 O Lord, you are kind 13 and forgiving,
and show great faithfulness to all who cry out to you.
86:13 For you will extend your great loyal love to me, 14
and will deliver my life 15 from the depths of Sheol. 16
86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.
You are patient 17 and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness. 18
89:7 a God who is honored 19 in the great angelic assembly, 20
and more awesome than 21 all who surround him?
96:4 For the Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise;
he is more awesome than all gods. 22
112:1 Praise the Lord!
How blessed is the one 24 who obeys 25 the Lord,
who takes great delight in keeping his commands. 26
1 tn Heb “you make him happy with joy with [i.e., “close by” or “in”] your face.” On the idiom “with your face” (i.e., “in your presence”) see Ps 16:11 and BDB 816 s.v. פָּנֻה II.2.a.
2 tn Heb “a lie [is] the horse for victory.”
3 sn The great assembly is also mentioned in Ps 22:25.
4 tn Heb “among numerous people.”
5 tn Heb “the
6 tn Or “awesome.” The Niphal participle נוֹרָא (nora’), when used of God in the psalms, focuses on the effect that his royal splendor and powerful deeds have on those witnessing his acts (Pss 66:3, 5; 68:35; 76:7, 12; 89:7; 96:4; 99:3; 111:9). Here it refers to his capacity to fill his defeated foes with terror and his people with fearful respect.
7 tn Heb “a great king over all the earth.”
8 tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 81:15 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “be weak, powerless” (see also Ps 109:24).
9 tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”
10 tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”
11 tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
12 tn Or “for.”
13 tn Heb “good.”
14 tn Heb “for your loyal love [is] great over me.”
15 tn Or “for he will have delivered my life.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here.
16 tn Or “lower Sheol.”
17 tn Heb “slow to anger.”
18 tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”
sn The psalmist’s confession of faith in this verse echoes Exod 34:6.
19 tn Heb “feared.”
20 tn Heb “in the great assembly of the holy ones.”
21 tn Or perhaps “feared by.”
22 tn Or perhaps “and feared by all gods.” See Ps 89:7.
23 sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
24 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.
25 tn Heb “fears.”
26 tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.