7:14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,
who conceives destructive plans,
and gives birth to harmful lies – 1
16:10 You will not abandon me 2 to Sheol; 3
you will not allow your faithful follower 4 to see 5 the Pit. 6
34:8 Taste 7 and see that the Lord is good!
How blessed 8 is the one 9 who takes shelter in him! 10
36:12 I can see the evildoers! They have fallen! 11
They have been knocked down and are unable to get up! 12
50:18 When you see a thief, you join him; 13
you associate with men who are unfaithful to their wives. 14
52:6 When the godly see this, they will be filled with awe,
and will mock the evildoer, saying: 15
68:24 They 16 see your processions, O God –
the processions of my God, my king, who marches along in holy splendor. 17
94:7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;
the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” 18
94:9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?
Does the one who forms the human eye not see? 19
119:74 Your loyal followers will be glad when they see me, 20
for I find hope in your word.
128:5 May the Lord bless you 21 from Zion,
that you might see 22 Jerusalem 23 prosper
all the days of your life,
139:24 See if there is any idolatrous tendency 24 in me,
and lead me in the reliable ancient path! 25
1 tn Heb “and he conceives harm and gives birth to a lie.”
sn Pregnant with wickedness…gives birth to harmful lies. The psalmist metaphorically pictures the typical sinner as a pregnant woman, who is ready to give birth to wicked, destructive schemes and actions.
2 tn Or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
3 sn In ancient Israelite cosmology Sheol is the realm of the dead, viewed as being under the earth’s surface. See L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 165-76.
4 tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד [khasid], traditionally rendered “holy one”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10). The psalmist here refers to himself, as the parallel line (“You will not abandon me to Sheol”) indicates.
5 tn That is, “experience.” The psalmist is confident that the Lord will protect him in his present crisis (see v. 1) and prevent him from dying.
sn According to Peter, the words of Ps 16:8-11 are applicable to Jesus (Acts 2:25-29). Peter goes on to argue that David, being a prophet, foresaw future events and spoke of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:30-33). Paul seems to concur with Peter in this understanding (see Acts 13:35-37). For a discussion of the NT application of these verses to Jesus’ resurrection, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “A Theology of the Psalms,” A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, 292-95.
6 tn The Hebrew word שָׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 30:9; 49:9; 55:24; 103:4). Note the parallelism with the previous line.
7 tn This verb is normally used of tasting or savoring food. The metaphor here appears to compare the
8 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
9 tn Heb “man.” The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.”
10 tn “Taking shelter” in the
11 tn Heb “there the workers of wickedness have fallen.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the evildoers lying fallen at a spot that is vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.).
12 tn The psalmist uses perfect verbal forms in v. 12 to describe the demise of the wicked as if it has already taken place.
13 tn Heb “you run with him.”
14 tn Heb “and with adulterers [is] your portion.”
15 tn Heb “and the godly will see and will fear and at him will laugh.”
16 tn The subject is probably indefinite, referring to bystanders in general who witness the procession.
17 tn The Hebrew text has simply “in holiness.” The words “who marches along” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
18 tn Heb “does not understand.”
19 tn Heb “The one who plants an ear, does he not hear? The one who forms an eye, does he not see?”
20 tn Heb “those who fear you will see me and rejoice.”
21 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer (note the imperatives that are subordinated to this clause in vv. 5b-6a). Having described the blessings that typically come to the godly, the psalmist concludes by praying that this ideal may become reality for the representative godly man being addressed.
22 tn The imperative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding jussive.
23 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
24 tn Many understand the Hebrew term עֹצֶב (’otsev) as a noun meaning “pain,” and translate the phrase דֶּרֶךְ עֹצֶב (derekh ’otsev) as “of pain,” but this makes little sense here. (Some interpret it to refer to actions which bring pain to others.) It is preferable to take עֹצֶב as “idol” (see HALOT 865 s.v. I עֹצֶב) and understand “way of an idol” to refer to idolatrous actions or tendency. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.
25 tn Heb “in the path of antiquity.” This probably refers to the moral path prescribed by the