Discovery BoxPsalms 37:12 
Context37:12 Evil men plot against the godly 1
and viciously attack them. 2
Psalms 37:17
Context37:17 for evil men will lose their power, 3
but the Lord sustains 4 the godly.
Psalms 37:39
Context37:39 But the Lord delivers the godly; 5
he protects them in times of trouble. 6
Psalms 40:5
Context40:5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;
you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us. 7
No one can thwart you! 8
I want to declare them and talk about them,
but they are too numerous to recount! 9
Psalms 97:11
Context97:11 The godly bask in the light;
the morally upright experience joy. 10
Psalms 118:20
Context118:20 This is the Lord’s gate –
the godly enter through it.
1 tn Or “innocent.” The singular is used here in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and the typical godly individual are in view.
2 tn Heb “and gnashes at him with his teeth” (see Ps 35:16). The language may picture the evil men as wild animals. The active participles in v. 12 are used for purposes of dramatic description.
3 tn Heb “for the arms of the evil ones will be broken.”
4 tn The active participle here indicates this is characteristically true.
5 tn Heb “and the deliverance of the godly [ones] [is] from the
6 tn Heb “[he is] their place of refuge in a time of trouble.”
7 tn Heb “many things you have done, you, O
8 tn Heb “there is none arrayed against you.” The precise meaning of the text is unclear, but the collocation עָרַךְ אֶל (’arakh ’el, “array against”) is used elsewhere of military (Judg 20:30; 1 Chr 19:17) or verbal opposition (Job 32:14).
9 tn Heb “I will declare and I will speak, they are too numerous to recount.” The present translation assumes that the cohortatives are used in a hypothetical manner in a formally unmarked conditional sentence, “Should I try to declare [them] and speak [of them]…” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). For other examples of cohortatives in the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, see GKC 320 §108.e. (It should be noted, however, that GKC understands this particular verse in a different manner. See GKC 320 §108.f, where it is suggested that the cohortatives are part of an apodosis with the protasis being suppressed.) Another option is to take the cohortatives as a declaration of the psalmist’s resolve to announce the truth expressed in the next line. In this case one might translate: “I will declare and speak [the truth]: They are too numerous to recount.”
10 tn Heb “Light is planted for the godly, and for the upright of heart joy.” The translation assumes an emendation of זָרַע (zara’, “planted”) to זָרַח (zara’, “shines”) which collocates more naturally with “light.” “Light” here symbolizes the joy (note the following line) that accompanies deliverance and the outpouring of divine favor.
