56:4 In God – I boast in his promise 1 –
in God I trust, I am not afraid.
What can mere men 2 do to me? 3
63:11 But the king 4 will rejoice in God;
everyone who takes oaths in his name 5 will boast,
for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up. 6
64:5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. 7
They plan how to hide 8 snares,
and boast, 9 “Who will see them?” 10
106:5 so I may see the prosperity 11 of your chosen ones,
rejoice along with your nation, 12
and boast along with the people who belong to you. 13
106:47 Deliver us, O Lord, our God!
Gather us from among the nations!
Then we will give thanks 14 to your holy name,
and boast about your praiseworthy deeds. 15
1 tn Heb “in God I boast, his word.” The syntax in the Hebrew text is difficult. (1) The line could be translated, “in God I boast, [in] his word.” Such a translation assumes that the prepositional phrase “in God” goes with the following verb “I boast” (see Ps 44:8) and that “his word” is appositional to “in God” and more specifically identifies the basis for the psalmist’s confidence. God’s “word” is here understood as an assuring promise of protection. Another option (2) is to translate, “in God I will boast [with] a word.” In this case, the “word” is a song of praise. (In this view the pronominal suffix “his” must be omitted as in v. 10.) The present translation reflects yet another option (3): In this case “I praise his word” is a parenthetical statement, with “his word” being the object of the verb. The sentence begun with the prepositional phrase “in God” is then completed in the next line, with the prepositional phrase being repeated after the parenthesis.
2 tn Heb “flesh,” which refers by metonymy to human beings (see v. 11, where “man” is used in this same question), envisioned here as mortal and powerless before God.
3 tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.
4 sn The psalmist probably refers to himself in the third person here.
5 tn Heb “who swears [an oath] by him.”
6 tn The Niphal of this verb occurs only here and in Gen 8:2, where it is used of God “stopping” or “damming up” the great deep as he brought the flood to an end.
7 tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”
8 tn Heb “they report about hiding.”
9 tn Heb “they say.”
10 tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).
11 tn Heb “good.”
12 tn Heb “in order that [I may] rejoice with the rejoicing of your nation.”
13 tn Heb “with your inheritance.”
14 tn Heb “to give thanks.” The infinitive construct indicates result after the imperative.
15 tn Heb “to boast in your praise.”