5:12 Certainly 1 you reward 2 the godly, 3 Lord.
Like a shield you protect 4 them 5 in your good favor. 6
11:7 Certainly 7 the Lord is just; 8
he rewards godly deeds; 9
the upright will experience his favor. 10
45:12 Rich people from Tyre 11
will seek your favor by bringing a gift. 12
51:18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her! 13
Fortify 14 the walls of Jerusalem! 15
77:7 I asked, 16 “Will the Lord reject me forever?
Will he never again show me his favor?
78:34 When he struck them down, 17 they sought his favor; 18
they turned back and longed for God.
89:15 How blessed are the people who worship you! 19
O Lord, they experience your favor. 20
89:17 For you give them splendor and strength. 21
By your favor we are victorious. 22
119:58 I seek your favor 23 with all my heart.
Have mercy on me as you promised! 24
1 tn Or “For.”
2 tn Or “bless.” The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line highlight how God characteristically rewards and protects the godly.
3 tn Or “innocent.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense.
4 tn Heb “surround.” In 1 Sam 23:26 the verb describes how Saul and his men hemmed David in as they chased him.
5 tn Heb “him.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense and is thus translated “them.”
6 tn Or “with favor” (cf. NRSV). There is no preposition before the noun in the Hebrew text, nor is there a pronoun attached. “Favor” here stands by metonymy for God’s defensive actions on behalf of the one whom he finds acceptable.
7 tn Or “for.”
8 tn Or “righteous.”
9 tn Heb “he loves righteous deeds.” The “righteous deeds” are probably those done by godly people (see v. 5). The Lord “loves” such deeds in the sense that he rewards them. Another option is to take צְדָקוֹת (tsÿdaqot) as referring to God’s acts of justice (see Ps 103:6). In this case one could translate, “he loves to do just deeds.”
10 tn Heb “the upright will see his face.” The singular subject (“upright”) does not agree with the plural verb. However, collective singular nouns can be construed with a plural predicate (see GKC 462 §145.b). Another possibility is that the plural verb יֶחֱזוּ (yekhezu) is a corruption of an original singular form. To “see” God’s “face” means to have access to his presence and to experience his favor (see Ps 17:15 and Job 33:26 [where רָאָה (ra’ah), not חָזָה (khazah), is used]). On the form פָנֵימוֹ (fanemo, “his face”) see GKC 300-301 §103.b, n. 3.
11 map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
12 tn Heb “and a daughter of Tyre with a gift, your face they will appease, the rich of people.” The phrase “daughter of Tyre” occurs only here in the OT. It could be understood as addressed to the bride, indicating she was a Phoenician (cf. NEB). However, often in the OT the word “daughter,” when collocated with the name of a city or country, is used to personify the referent (see, for example, “Daughter Zion” in Ps 9:14, and “Daughter Babylon” in Ps 137:8). If that is the case here, then “Daughter Tyre” identifies the city-state of Tyre as the place from which the rich people come (cf. NRSV). The idiom “appease the face” refers to seeking one’s favor (see Exod 32:11; 1 Sam 13:12; 1 Kgs 13:6; 2 Kgs 13:4; 2 Chr 33:12; Job 11:19; Ps 119:58; Prov 19:6; Jer 26:19; Dan 9:13; Zech 7:2; 8:21-22; Mal 1:9).
13 tn Heb “do what is good for Zion in your favor.”
14 tn Or “Build.” The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
15 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
16 tn As in vv. 4 and 6a, the words of vv. 7-9 are understood as a quotation of what the psalmist said earlier. Therefore the words “I asked” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
17 tn Or “killed them,” that is, killed large numbers of them.
18 tn Heb “they sought him.”
19 tn Heb “who know the shout.” “Shout” here refers to the shouts of the
20 tn Heb “in the light of your face they walk.” The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; Dan 9:17).
21 tn Heb “for the splendor of their strength [is] you.”
22 tn Heb “you lift up our horn,” or if one follows the marginal reading (Qere), “our horn is lifted up.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).
23 tn Heb “I appease your face.”
24 tn Heb “according to your word.”