Discovery BoxPsalms 72:8-14 
Context72:8 May he rule 1 from sea to sea, 2
and from the Euphrates River 3 to the ends of the earth!
72:9 Before him the coastlands 4 will bow down,
and his enemies will lick the dust. 5
72:10 The kings of Tarshish 6 and the coastlands will offer gifts;
the kings of Sheba 7 and Seba 8 will bring tribute.
72:11 All kings will bow down to him;
all nations will serve him.
72:12 For he will rescue the needy 9 when they cry out for help,
and the oppressed 10 who have no defender.
72:13 He will take pity 11 on the poor and needy;
the lives of the needy he will save.
72:14 From harm and violence he will defend them; 12
he will value their lives. 13
Psalms 72:17
ContextMay his dynasty last as long as the sun remains in the sky! 15
May they use his name when they formulate their blessings! 16
May all nations consider him to be favored by God! 17
1 tn The prefixed verbal form is a (shortened) jussive form, indicating this is a prayer of blessing.
2 sn From sea to sea. This may mean from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east. See Amos 8:12. The language of this and the following line also appears in Zech 9:10.
3 tn Heb “the river,” a reference to the Euphrates.
4 tn Or “islands.” The term here refers metonymically to those people who dwell in these regions.
5 sn As they bow down before him, it will appear that his enemies are licking the dust.
6 sn Tarshish was a distant western port, the precise location of which is uncertain.
7 sn Sheba was located in Arabia.
8 sn Seba was located in Africa.
9 tn The singular is representative. The typical needy individual here represents the entire group.
10 tn The singular is representative. The typical oppressed individual here represents the entire group.
11 tn The prefixed verb form is best understood as a defectively written imperfect (see Deut 7:16).
12 tn Or “redeem their lives.” The verb “redeem” casts the
13 tn Heb “their blood will be precious in his eyes.”
14 tn Heb “may his name [be] permanent.” The prefixed verbal form is jussive, not imperfect.
15 tn Heb “before the sun may his name increase.” The Kethib (consonantal text) assumes יָנִין (yanin; a Hiphil of the verbal root נִין, nin) or יְנַיֵן (yÿnayen; a Piel form), while the Qere (marginal reading) assumes יִנּוֹן (yinnon; a Niphal form). The verb נִין occurs only here, though a derived noun, meaning “offspring,” appears elsewhere (see Isa 14:22). The verb appears to mean “propagate, increase” (BDB 630 s.v. נוּן, נִין) or “produce shoots, get descendants” (HALOT 696 s.v. נין). In this context this appears to be a prayer for a lasting dynasty that will keep the king’s name and memory alive.
16 tn Heb “may they bless one another by him,” that is, use the king’s name in their blessing formulae because he is a prime example of one blessed by God (for examples of such blessing formulae, see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11). There is some debate on whether the Hitpael form of בָּרַךְ (barakh, “bless”) is reflexive-reciprocal (as assumed in the present translation) or passive. The Hitpael of בָּרַךְ occurs in five other passages, including the hotly debated Gen 22:18 and 26:4. In these two texts one could understand the verb form as passive and translate, “all the nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring,” or one could take the Hitpael as reflexive or reciprocal and translate, “all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings [i.e., on themselves or one another] by your offspring.” In the first instance Abraham’s (or Isaac’s) offspring are viewed as a channel of divine blessing. In the second instance they are viewed as a prime example of blessing that will appear as part of the nations’ blessing formulae, but not necessarily as a channel of blessing to the nations. In Deut 29:18 one reads: “When one hears the words of this covenant [or “oath”] and invokes a blessing on himself (Hitpael of בָּרַךְ) in his heart, saying: ‘I will have peace, even though I walk with a rebellious heart.’” In this case the Hitpael is clearly reflexive, as the phrases “in his heart” and “I will have peace” indicate. The Hitpael of בָּרַךְ appears twice in Isaiah 65:16: “The one who invokes a blessing on himself (see Deut 9:18) in the land will invoke that blessing by the God of truth; and the one who makes an oath in the land will make that oath by the God of truth.” A passive nuance does not fit here. The parallel line, which mentions making an oath, suggests that the Hitpael of בָּרַךְ refers here to invoking a blessing. Both pronouncements of blessing and oaths will appeal to God as the one who rewards and judges, respectively. Jer 4:2 states: “If you swear, ‘As surely as the
17 tn Heb “all the nations, may they regard him as happy.” The Piel is used here in a delocutive sense (“regard as”).
