7:16 He becomes the victim of his own destructive plans 1
and the violence he intended for others falls on his own head. 2
41:2 May the Lord protect him and save his life! 3
May he be blessed 4 in the land!
Do not turn him over 5 to his enemies! 6
47:5 God has ascended his throne 7 amid loud shouts; 8
the Lord has ascended his throne amid the blaring of ram’s horns. 9
For the music director; by David, a psalm, a song.
68:1 God springs into action! 11
His enemies scatter;
his adversaries 12 run from him. 13
68:4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!
Exalt the one who rides on the clouds! 14
For the Lord is his name! 15
Rejoice before him!
78:38 Yet he is compassionate.
He forgives sin and does not destroy.
He often holds back his anger,
and does not stir up his fury. 16
78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; 17
he gave the symbol of his splendor 18 into the hand of the enemy. 19
78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, 20
and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and of Israel, his chosen nation. 21
A psalm.
98:1 Sing to the Lord a new song, 23
for he performs 24 amazing deeds!
His right hand and his mighty arm
accomplish deliverance. 25
100:3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us and we belong to him; 26
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
109:18 He made cursing a way of life, 27
so curses poured into his stomach like water
and seeped into his bones like oil. 28
126:6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag 29 of seed,
will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain. 30
148:13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty extends over the earth and sky.
148:14 He has made his people victorious, 31
and given all his loyal followers reason to praise –
the Israelites, the people who are close to him. 32
Praise the Lord!
1 tn Heb “his harm [i.e., the harm he conceived for others, see v. 14] returns on his head.”
2 tn Heb “and on his forehead his violence [i.e., the violence he intended to do to others] comes down.”
3 tn The prefixed verbal forms are taken as jussives in the translation because the jussive is clearly used in the final line of the verse, suggesting that this is a prayer. The psalmist stops to pronounce a prayer of blessing on the godly individual envisioned in v. 1. Of course, he actually has himself primarily in view. He mixes confidence (vv. 1, 3) with petition (v. 2) because he stands in the interval between the word of assurance and the actual intervention by God.
4 tc The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib), which has a Pual (passive) prefixed form, regarded here as a jussive. The Pual of the verb אָשַׁר (’ashar) also appears in Prov 3:18. The marginal reading (Qere) assumes a vav (ו) consecutive and Pual perfect. Some, with the support of the LXX, change the verb to a Piel (active) form with an objective pronominal suffix, “and may he bless him,” or “and he will bless him” (cf. NIV).
5 tn The negative particle אַל (’al) before the prefixed verbal form indicates the verb is a jussive and the statement a prayer. Those who want to take v. 2 as a statement of confidence suggest emending the negative particle to לֹא (lo’), which is used with the imperfect. See the earlier note on the verbal forms in line one of this verse. According to GKC 322 §109.e, this is a case where the jussive is used rhetorically to “express that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one might translate, “you will not turn him over to his enemies,” and take the preceding verbal forms as indicative in mood.
6 tn Heb “do not give him over to the desire of his enemies” (see Ps 27:12).
7 sn God ascended his throne. In the context of vv. 3-4, which refer to the conquest of the land under Joshua, v. 5 is best understood as referring to an historical event. When the Lord conquered the land and placed his people in it, he assumed a position of kingship, as predicted by Moses (see Exod 15:17-18, as well as Ps 114:1-2). That event is here described metaphorically in terms of a typical coronation ceremony for an earthly king (see 2 Sam 15:10; 2 Kgs 9:13). Verses 1-2, 8-9 focus on God’s continuing kingship, which extends over all nations.
8 tn Heb “God ascended amid a shout.” The words “his throne” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The
9 tn Heb “the
10 sn Psalm 68. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior and celebrates the fact that God exerts his power on behalf of his people.
11 tn Or “rises up.” The verb form is an imperfect, not a jussive. The psalmist is describing God’s appearance in battle in a dramatic fashion.
12 tn Heb “those who hate him.”
13 sn The wording of v. 1 echoes the prayer in Num 10:35: “Spring into action,
14 tn Traditionally the Hebrew term עֲרָבוֹת (’aravot) is taken as “steppe-lands” (often rendered “deserts”), but here the form is probably a homonym meaning “clouds.” Verse 33, which depicts God as the one who “rides on the sky” strongly favors this (see as well Deut 33:26), as does the reference in v. 9 to God as the source of rain. The term עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “cloud”) is cognate with Akkadian urpatu/erpetu and with Ugaritic ’rpt. The phrase rkb ’rpt (“one who rides on the clouds”) appears in Ugaritic mythological texts as an epithet of the storm god Baal. The nonphonemic interchange of the bilabial consonants b and p is attested elsewhere in roots common to Hebrew and Ugaritic, though the phenomenon is relatively rare.
15 tc Heb “in the
16 tn One could translate v. 38 in the past tense (“he was compassionate…forgave sin and did not destroy…held back his anger, and did not stir up his fury”), but the imperfect verbal forms are probably best understood as generalizing. Verse 38 steps back briefly from the narrational summary of Israel’s history and lays the theological basis for v. 39, which focuses on God’s mercy toward sinful Israel.
17 tn Heb “and he gave to captivity his strength.” The expression “his strength” refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant, which was housed in the tabernacle at Shiloh.
18 tn Heb “and his splendor into the hand of an enemy.” The expression “his splendor” also refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant.
19 sn Verses 60-61 refer to the Philistines’ capture of the ark in the days of Eli (1 Sam 4:1-11).
20 tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”
21 tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”
22 sn Psalm 98. The psalmist summons the whole earth to praise God because he reveals his justice and delivers Israel.
23 sn A new song is appropriate because the Lord is constantly intervening in the world as its just king. See Ps 96:1.
24 tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 1-3 are understood here as describing characteristic divine activities. Another option is to translate them as present perfects, “has performed…has accomplished deliverance, etc.” referring to completed actions that have continuing results.
25 tn Heb “his right hand delivers for him and his holy arm.” The right hand and arm symbolize his power as a warrior-king (see Isa 52:10). His arm is “holy” in the sense that it is in a category of its own; God’s power is incomparable.
26 tn The present translation (like most modern translations) follows the Qere (marginal reading), which reads literally, “and to him [are] we.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and not we.” The suffixed preposition לו (“to him”) was confused aurally with the negative particle לא because the two sound identical.
27 tn Heb “he put on a curse as [if it were] his garment.”
28 tn Heb “and it came like water into his inner being, and like oil into his bones.” This may refer to this individual’s appetite for cursing. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or massaging oneself with oil. Another option is that the destructive effects of a curse are in view. In this case a destructive curse invades his very being, like water or oil. Some who interpret the verse this way prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” to a conjunctive vav and interpret the prefixed verb as a jussive, “may it come!”
29 tn The noun occurs only here and in Job 28:18 in the OT. See HALOT 646 s.v. I מֶשֶׁךְ which gives “leather pouch” as the meaning.
30 tn The Hebrew noun אֲלֻמָּה (’alummah, “sheaf”) occurs only here and in Gen 37:7 in the OT.
sn Verse 6 expands the image of v. 5. See the note on the word “harvest” there.
31 tn Heb “and he lifted up a horn for his people.” 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; 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). Another option is to take the “horn” as a symbol for the Davidic king, through whom the
32 tn “[there is] praise for all his loyal followers, to the sons of Israel, the people near him.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the victory that prompts it.