30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,
and his good favor restores one’s life. 1
One may experience sorrow during the night,
but joy arrives in the morning. 2
31:10 For my life nears its end in pain;
my years draw to a close as I groan. 3
My strength fails me because of 4 my sin,
and my bones become brittle. 5
31:13 For I hear what so many are saying, 6
the terrifying news that comes from every direction. 7
When they plot together against me,
they figure out how they can take my life.
39:5 Look, you make my days short-lived, 8
and my life span is nothing from your perspective. 9
Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. 10
133:3 It is like the dew of Hermon, 11
which flows down upon the hills of Zion. 12
Indeed 13 that is where the Lord has decreed
a blessing will be available – eternal life. 14
1 tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).
2 tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.
3 tn Heb “and my years in groaning.”
4 tn Heb “stumbles in.”
5 tn Heb “grow weak.”
6 tn Heb “the report of many.”
7 tn Heb “the terror from all around.”
8 tn Heb “Look, handbreadths you make my days.” The “handbreadth” (equivalent to the width of four fingers) was one of the smallest measures used by ancient Israelites. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 309.
9 tn Heb “is like nothing before you.”
10 tn Heb “surely, all vapor [is] all mankind, standing firm.” Another option is to translate, “Surely, all mankind, though seemingly secure, is nothing but a vapor.”
11 sn Hermon refers to Mount Hermon, located north of Israel.
12 sn The hills of Zion are those surrounding Zion (see Pss 87:1; 125:2). The psalmist does not intend to suggest that the dew from Mt. Hermon in the distant north actually flows down upon Zion. His point is that the same kind of heavy dew that replenishes Hermon may also be seen on Zion’s hills. See A. Cohen, Psalms (SoBB), 439. “Dew” here symbolizes divine blessing, as the next line suggests.
13 tn Or “for.”
14 tn Heb “there the