Discovery BoxPsalms 21:4 
Context21:4 He asked you to sustain his life, 1
and you have granted him long life and an enduring dynasty. 2
Psalms 45:16
Context45:16 Your 3 sons will carry 4 on the dynasty of your ancestors; 5
you will make them princes throughout the land.
Psalms 89:29
Context89:29 I will give him an eternal dynasty, 6
and make his throne as enduring as the skies above. 7
Psalms 132:17
Context132:17 There I will make David strong; 8
I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue. 9
1 tn Heb “life he asked from you.” Another option is to translate the perfect verbal forms in v. 4 with the present tense, “he asks…you grant.”
2 tn Heb “you have granted him length of days forever and ever.” The phrase “length of days,” when used of human beings, usually refers to a lengthy period of time (such as one’s lifetime). See, for example, Deut 30:20; Job 12:12; Ps 91:16; Prov 3:2, 16; Lam 5:20. The additional phrase “forever and ever” is hyperbolic. While it seems to attribute eternal life to the king (see Pss 61:6-7; 72:5 as well), the underlying reality is the king’s enduring dynasty. He will live on, as it were, through his descendants, who will continue to rule over his kingdom long after he has passed off the scene.
3 tn The pronoun is second masculine singular, indicating the king is being addressed from this point to the end of the psalm.
4 tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive and the statement interpreted as a prayer, “May your sons carry on the dynasty of your ancestors!” The next line could then be taken as a relative clause, “[your sons] whom you will make princes throughout the land.”
5 tn Heb “in place of your fathers will be your sons.”
6 tn Heb “and I will set in place forever his offspring.”
7 tn Heb “and his throne like the days of the heavens.”
8 tn Heb “there I will cause a horn to sprout for David.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (cf. Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Pss 18:2; 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). In the ancient Near East powerful warrior-kings would sometimes compare themselves to a goring bull that used its horns to kill its enemies. For examples, see P. Miller, “El the Warrior,” HTR 60 (1967): 422-25, and R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 135-36.
9 tn Heb “I have arranged a lamp for my anointed one.” Here the “lamp” is a metaphor for the Davidic dynasty (see 1 Kgs 11:36).
