23:4 Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, 1
I fear 2 no danger, 3
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff reassure me. 4
49:10 Surely 5 one sees 6 that even wise people die; 7
fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away 8
and leave their wealth to others. 9
58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, 10
he 11 will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat. 12
65:8 Even those living in the most remote areas are awestruck by your acts; 13
you cause those living in the east and west to praise you. 14
68:18 You ascend on high, 15
you have taken many captives. 16
You receive tribute 17 from 18 men,
including even sinful rebels.
Indeed the Lord God lives there! 19
84:6 As they pass through the Baca Valley, 20
he provides a spring for them. 21
The rain 22 even covers it with pools of water. 23
103:16 but when the hot wind 24 blows by, it disappears,
and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.
138:7 Even when I must walk in the midst of danger, 25 you revive me.
You oppose my angry enemies, 26
and your right hand delivers me.
139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, 27
and the night is as bright as 28 day;
darkness and light are the same to you. 29
139:18 If I tried to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
Even if I finished counting them,
I would still have to contend with you. 30
142:3 Even when my strength leaves me, 31
you watch my footsteps. 32
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
1 tn The Piel of נָחַם (nakham), when used with a human object, means “comfort, console.” But here, within the metaphorical framework, it refers to the way in which a shepherd uses his implements to assure the sheep of his presence and calm their nerves. The underlying reality is the emotional stability God provides the psalmist during life threatening situations.
tn The Hebrew term ????????? (tsalmavet) has traditionally been understood as a compound noun meaning “shadow of death” (??? [tsel] + ????? [mavet]; see BDB 853 s.v. ?????????). Other scholars prefer to vocalize the form ???????? (tsalmut) and understand it as an abstract noun (from the root ?????, tsalam) meaning “darkness.” An examination of the word’s usage favors the latter derivation. It is frequently associated with darkness/night and contrasted with light/morning (see Job 3:5; 10:21-22; 12:22; 24:17; 28:3; 34:22; Ps 107:10, 14; Isa 9:1; Jer 13:16; Amos 5:8). In some cases the darkness described is associated with the realm of death (Job 10:21-22; 38:17), but this is a metaphorical application of the word and does not reflect its inherent meaning. If the word does indeed mean “darkness,” it modifies ????? (gay’, “valley, ravine”) quite naturally. At the metaphorical level, v. 4 pictures the shepherd taking his sheep through a dark ravine where predators might lurk. The life-threatening situations faced by the psalmist are the underlying reality behind the imagery.
2 tn The imperfect verbal forms in v. 4, as in vv. 1-3, highlight what is typical in the psalmist’s experience.
3 tn The Hebrew term ??? (ra’) is traditionally translated “evil” here, perhaps suggesting a moral or ethical nuance. But at the level of the metaphor, the word means “danger, injury, harm,” as a sheep might experience from a predator. The life-threatening dangers faced by the psalmist, especially the enemies mentioned in v. 5, are the underlying reality.
4 tn The Piel of ????? (nakham), when used with a human object, means “comfort, console.” But here, within the metaphorical framework, it refers to the way in which a shepherd uses his implements to assure the sheep of his presence and calm their nerves. The underlying reality is the emotional stability God provides the psalmist during life threatening situations.
5 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is understood here as asseverative (emphatic).
6 tn The subject of the verb is probably the typical “man” mentioned in v. 7. The imperfect can be taken here as generalizing or as indicating potential (“surely he/one can see”).
7 tn The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to what is characteristically true. The vav (ו) consecutive with perfect in the third line carries the same force.
8 tn Heb “together a fool and a brutish [man] perish.” The adjective בַּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish”) refers to spiritual insensitivity, not mere lack of intelligence or reasoning ability (see Pss 73:22; 92:6; Prov 12:1; 30:2, as well as the use of the related verb in Ps 94:8).
9 sn Death shows no respect for anyone. No matter how wise or foolish an individual happens to be, all pass away.
10 tn Heb “before your pots perceive thorns.”
11 tn Apparently God (v. 6) is the subject of the verb here.
12 tn Heb “like living, like burning anger he will sweep it away.” The meaning of the text is unclear. The translation assumes that within the cooking metaphor (see the previous line) חַי (khay, “living”) refers here to raw meat (as in 1 Sam 2:15, where it modifies בָּשָׂר, basar, “flesh”) and that חָרוּן (kharun; which always refers to God’s “burning anger” elsewhere) here refers to food that is cooked. The pronominal suffix on the verb “sweep away” apparently refers back to the “thorns” of the preceding line. The image depicts swift and sudden judgment. Before the fire has been adequately kindled and all the meat cooked, the winds of judgment will sweep away everything in their path.
13 tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the ends fear because of your signs.” God’s “signs” are the “awesome acts” (see v. 5) he performs in the earth.
14 tn Heb “the goings out of the morning and the evening you cause to shout for joy.” The phrase “goings out of the morning and evening” refers to the sunrise and sunset, that is, the east and the west.
15 tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.
16 tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”
17 tn Or “gifts.”
18 tn Or “among.”
19 tn Heb “so that the
20 tn The translation assumes that the Hebrew phrase עֵמֶק הַבָּכָא (’emeq habbakha’) is the name of an otherwise unknown arid valley through which pilgrims to Jerusalem passed. The term בָּכָא (bakha’) may be the name of a particular type of plant or shrub that grew in this valley. O. Borowski (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 130) suggests it is the black mulberry. Some take the phrase as purely metaphorical and relate בָּכָא to the root בָּכָה (bakhah, “to weep”). In this case one might translate, “the valley of weeping” or “the valley of affliction.”
21 tc The MT reads “a spring they make it,” but this makes little sense. Many medieval Hebrew
22 tn This rare word may refer to the early (or autumn) rains (see Joel 2:23).
23 tc The MT reads בְּרָכוֹת (bÿrakhot, “blessings”) but the preceding reference to a “spring” favors an emendation to בְּרֵכוֹת (bÿrekhot, “pools”).
sn Pools of water. Because water is so necessary for life, it makes an apt symbol for divine favor and blessing. As the pilgrims traveled to Jerusalem, God provided for their physical needs and gave them a token of his favor and of the blessings awaiting them at the temple.
24 tn Heb “[the] wind.” The word “hot” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
25 tn Or “distress.”
26 tn Heb “against the anger of my enemies you extend your hand.”
27 tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
28 tn Heb “shines like.”
29 tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”
30 tc Heb “I awake and I [am] still with you.” A reference to the psalmist awaking from sleep makes little, if any, sense contextually. For this reason some propose an emendation to הֲקִצּוֹתִי (haqitsoti), a Hiphil perfect form from an otherwise unattested verb קָצַץ (qatsats) understood as a denominative of קֵץ (qets, “end”). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 252-53.
31 tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”
32 tn Heb “you know my path.”