7:9 May the evil deeds of the wicked 1 come to an end! 2
But make the innocent 3 secure, 4
O righteous God,
you who examine 5 inner thoughts and motives! 6
For the music director; a psalm of David.
20:1 May the Lord answer 8 you 9 when you are in trouble; 10
may the God of Jacob 11 make you secure!
22:9 Yes, you are the one who brought me out 12 from the womb
and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.
35:27 May those who desire my vindication shout for joy and rejoice!
May they continually say, 13 “May the Lord be praised, 14 for he wants his servant to be secure.” 15
37:28 For the Lord promotes 16 justice,
and never abandons 17 his faithful followers.
They are permanently secure, 18
but the children 19 of evil men are wiped out. 20
40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit, 21
out of the slimy mud. 22
He placed my feet on a rock
and gave me secure footing. 23
87:5 But it is said of Zion’s residents, 24
“Each one of these 25 was born in her,
and the sovereign One 26 makes her secure.” 27
1 tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.
2 tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.
3 tn Or “the godly” (see Ps 5:12). The singular form is collective (see the plural “upright in heart” in v. 10), though it may reflect the personal focus of the psalmist in this context.
4 tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.
5 tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.
6 tn Heb “and [the one who] tests hearts and kidneys, just God.” The translation inverts the word order to improve the English style. The heart and kidneys were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.
7 sn Psalm 20. The people pray for the king’s success in battle. When the king declares his assurance that the Lord will answer the people’s prayer, they affirm their confidence in God’s enablement.
8 tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in vv. 1b-5 are interpreted as jussives of prayer (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). Another option is to understand them as imperfects, “the
9 sn May the
10 tn Heb “in a day of trouble.”
11 tn Heb “the name of the God of Jacob.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his very person and to the divine characteristics suggested by his name, in this case “God of Jacob,” which highlights his relationship to Israel.
12 tn Or “the one who pulled me.” The verb is derived from either גָחָה (gakhah; see HALOT 187 s.v. גחה) or גִּיחַ (giyakh; see BDB 161 s.v. גִּיחַ) and seems to carry the nuance “burst forth” or “pull out.”
13 tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27a are understood as jussives (see vv. 24b-26).
14 tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the
15 tn Heb “the one who desires the peace of his servant.”
16 tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the
17 tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.
18 tn Or “protected forever.”
19 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
20 tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.
21 tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (sha’on, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).
22 tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
23 tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”
24 tn Heb “and of Zion it is said.” Another option is to translate, “and to Zion it is said.” In collocation with the Niphal of אָמַר (’amar), the preposition lamed (-לְ) can introduce the recipient of the statement (see Josh 2:2; Jer 4:11; Hos 1:10; Zeph 3:16), carry the nuance “concerning, of” (see Num 23:23), or mean “be named” (see Isa 4:3; 62:4).
25 tn Heb “a man and a man.” The idiom also appears in Esth 1:8. The translation assumes that the phrase refers to each of Zion’s residents, in contrast to the foreigners mentioned in v. 4. Those advocating the universalistic interpretation understand this as a reference to each of the nations, including those mentioned in v. 4.
26 tn Traditionally “Most High.”
27 tn Heb “and he makes her secure, the Most High.”