Discovery BoxPsalms 89:28-34 
Context89:28 I will always extend my loyal love to him,
and my covenant with him is secure. 1
89:29 I will give him an eternal dynasty, 2
and make his throne as enduring as the skies above. 3
89:30 If his sons reject my law
and disobey my regulations,
89:31 if they break 4 my rules
and do not keep my commandments,
89:32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club, 5
their sin by inflicting them with bruises. 6
89:33 But I will not remove 7 my loyal love from him,
nor be unfaithful to my promise. 8
89:34 I will not break 9 my covenant
or go back on what I promised. 10
Psalms 89:39
Context89:39 You have repudiated 11 your covenant with your servant; 12
you have thrown his crown to the ground. 13
1 tn Heb “forever I will keep for him my loyal love and will make my covenant secure for him.”
2 tn Heb “and I will set in place forever his offspring.”
3 tn Heb “and his throne like the days of the heavens.”
4 tn Or “desecrate.”
5 tn Heb “I will punish with a club their rebellion.”
sn Despite the harsh image of beating…with a club, the language reflects a father-son relationship (see v. 30; 2 Sam 7:14). According to Proverbs, a שֵׁבֶט (shevet, “club”) was sometimes utilized to administer corporal punishment to rebellious children (see Prov 13:24; 22:15; 23:13-14; 29:15).
6 tn Heb “with blows their sin.”
7 tn Heb “break”; “make ineffectual.” Some prefer to emend אָפִיר (’afir; the Hiphil of פָּרַר, parar, “to break”) to אָסִיר (’asir; the Hiphil of סוּר, sur, “to turn aside”), a verb that appears in 2 Sam 7:15.
8 tn Heb “and I will not deal falsely with my faithfulness.”
9 tn Or “desecrate.”
10 tn Heb “and what proceeds out of my lips I will not alter.”
11 tn The Hebrew verb appears only here and in Lam 2:7.
12 tn Heb “the covenant of your servant.”
13 tn Heb “you dishonor [or “desecrate”] on the ground his crown.”
