43:4 Then I will go 1 to the altar of God,
to the God who gives me ecstatic joy, 2
so that I express my thanks to you, 3 O God, my God, with a harp.
68:35 You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple! 4
It is the God of Israel 5 who gives the people power and strength.
God deserves praise! 6
137:6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
and do not give Jerusalem priority
over whatever gives me the most joy. 7
1 tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”
2 tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
3 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.
4 tn Heb “awesome [is] God from his holy places.” The plural of מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “holy places”) perhaps refers to the temple precincts (see Ps 73:17; Jer 51:51).
5 tn Heb “the God of Israel, he.”
6 tn Heb “blessed [be] God.”
7 tn Heb “if I do not lift up Jerusalem over the top of my joy.”