Psalms 50:9-12

50:9 I do not need to take a bull from your household

or goats from your sheepfolds.

50:10 For every wild animal in the forest belongs to me,

as well as the cattle that graze on a thousand hills.

50:11 I keep track of every bird in the hills,

and the insects of the field are mine.

50:12 Even if I were hungry, I would not tell you,

for the world and all it contains belong to me.


tn Or “I will not take.”

tn Heb “[the] animals on a thousand hills.” The words “that graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The term בְּהֵמוֹה (bÿhemot, “animal”) refers here to cattle (see Ps 104:14).

tn Heb “I know.”

tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word, which occurs only here and in Ps 80:13, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.