Discovery BoxPsalms 7:3 
Context7:3 O Lord my God, if I have done what they say, 1
or am guilty of unjust actions, 2
Psalms 16:6
Context16:6 It is as if I have been given fertile fields
or received a beautiful tract of land. 3
Psalms 81:8
Context81:8 I said, 4 ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn 5 you!
O Israel, if only you would obey me! 6
Psalms 94:17
Context94:17 If the Lord had not helped me,
I would have laid down in the silence of death. 7
Psalms 104:2
Context104:2 He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.
He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,
Psalms 109:29
Context109:29 My accusers will be covered 8 with shame,
and draped in humiliation as if it were a robe.
Psalms 119:14
Context119:14 I rejoice in the lifestyle prescribed by your rules 9
as if 10 they were riches of all kinds. 11
Psalms 124:1
ContextA song of ascents, 13 by David.
124:1 “If the Lord had not been on our side” –
let Israel say this! –
Psalms 130:3
Context130:3 If you, O Lord, were to keep track of 14 sins,
O Lord, who could stand before you? 15
Psalms 139:24
Context139:24 See if there is any idolatrous tendency 16 in me,
and lead me in the reliable ancient path! 17
1 tn Heb “if I have done this.”
2 tn Heb “if there is injustice in my hands.” The “hands” figuratively suggest deeds or actions.
3 tn Heb “measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant [places]; yes, property [or “an inheritance”] is beautiful for me.” On the dative use of עַל, see BDB 758 s.v. II.8. Extending the metaphor used in v. 5, the psalmist compares the divine blessings he has received to a rich, beautiful tract of land that one might receive by allotment or inheritance.
4 tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Verses 8-10 appear to recall what the
5 tn Or perhaps “command.”
6 tn The Hebrew particle אִם (“if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (GKC 321 §109.b). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.
7 tn Heb “If the
8 tn Heb “clothed.” Another option is to translate the prefixed verbal forms in this line and the next as jussives (“may my accusers be covered with shame”).
9 tn Heb “in the way of your rules.”
10 tn Heb “as upon,” meaning “as if” (see 2 Chr 32:19).
11 tn Heb “all wealth.” The phrase refers to all kinds of wealth and riches. See Prov 1:13; 6:31; 24:4; Ezek 27:12, 18.
12 sn Psalm 124. Israel acknowledges that the Lord delivered them from certain disaster.
13 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
14 tn Heb “observe.”
15 tn The words “before you” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist must be referring to standing before God’s judgment seat. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one.”
16 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.
17 tn Heb “in the path of antiquity.” This probably refers to the moral path prescribed by the
