Discovery BoxPsalms 115:17 
Context115:17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any of those who descend into the silence of death. 1
Psalms 139:24
Context139:24 See if there is any idolatrous tendency 2 in me,
and lead me in the reliable ancient path! 3
Psalms 147:20
Context147:20 He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!
1 tn Heb “silence,” a metonymy here for death (see Ps 94:17).
2 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.
3 tn Heb “in the path of antiquity.” This probably refers to the moral path prescribed by the
