Discovery BoxPsalms 19:12 
Context19:12 Who can know all his errors? 1
Please do not punish me for sins I am unaware of. 2
Psalms 41:11
Context41:11 By this 3 I know that you are pleased with me,
for my enemy does 4 not triumph 5 over me.
Psalms 73:11
Context73:11 They say, “How does God know what we do?
Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?” 6
Psalms 82:5
Context82:5 They 7 neither know nor understand.
They stumble 8 around in the dark,
while all the foundations of the earth crumble. 9
Psalms 83:18
Context83:18 Then they will know 10 that you alone are the Lord, 11
the sovereign king 12 over all the earth.
Psalms 88:18
Context88:18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance; 13
those who know me leave me alone in the darkness. 14
Psalms 119:75
Context119:75 I know, Lord, that your regulations 15 are just.
You disciplined me because of your faithful devotion to me. 16
Psalms 139:2
Context139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.
1 tn Heb “Errors who can discern?” This rhetorical question makes the point that perfect moral discernment is impossible to achieve. Consequently it is inevitable that even those with good intentions will sin on occasion.
2 tn Heb “declare me innocent from hidden [things],” i.e., sins. In this context (see the preceding line) “hidden” sins are not sins committed in secret, but sins which are not recognized as such by the psalmist.
3 sn By this. Having recalled his former lament and petition, the psalmist returns to the confident mood of vv. 1-3. The basis for his confidence may be a divine oracle of deliverance, assuring him that God would intervene and vindicate him. The demonstrative pronoun “this” may refer to such an oracle, which is assumed here, though its contents are not included. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 319, 321.
4 tn Or “will.” One may translate the imperfect verbal form as descriptive (present, cf. NIV) or as anticipatory (future, cf. NEB).
5 tn Heb “shout.”
6 tn Heb “How does God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?” They appear to be practical atheists, who acknowledge God’s existence and sovereignty in theory, but deny his involvement in the world (see Pss 10:4, 11; 14:1).
7 sn Having addressed the defendants, God now speaks to those who are observing the trial, referring to the gods in the third person.
8 tn Heb “walk.” The Hitpael stem indicates iterative action, picturing these ignorant “judges” as stumbling around in the darkness.
9 sn These gods, though responsible for justice, neglect their duty. Their self-imposed ignorance (which the psalmist compares to stumbling around in the dark) results in widespread injustice, which threatens the social order of the world (the meaning of the phrase all the foundations of the earth crumble).
10 tn After the preceding jussives (v. 17), the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose (“so that they may know”) or result.
11 tn Heb “that you, your name [is] the
12 tn Traditionally “the Most High.”
13 tn Heb “you cause to be far from me friend and neighbor.”
14 tn Heb “those known by me, darkness.”
15 tn In this context (note the second line) the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim), which so often refers to the regulations of God’s law elsewhere in this psalm, may refer instead to his decisions or disciplinary judgment.
16 tn Heb “and [in] faithfulness you afflicted me.”
