¹ tn Or “confesses”; cf. BDAG 708 s.v. ὁμολογέω 4, “to acknowledge someth., ordinarily in public, acknowledge, claim, profess, praise.”

² tn Heb “and my praise.” לְמַעַן (l^emaʿan, “for the sake of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

¹ sn Psalm 149. The psalmist calls upon God’s people to praise him because he is just and avenges them.

¹ sn Psalm 145. The psalmist praises God because he is a just and merciful king who cares for his people.

¹ sn Psalm 117. The psalmist tells the nations to praise the Lord for his loyal love and faithfulness.

¹ sn Psalm 118. The psalmist thanks God for his deliverance and urges others to join him in praise.

¹ sn Psalm 113. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign king of the world who reaches down to help the needy.

¹ sn Psalm 98. The psalmist summons the whole earth to praise God because he reveals his justice and delivers Israel.

¹ sn Psalm 65. The psalmist praises God because he forgives sin and blesses his people with an abundant harvest.

¹ tn Or “for,” indicating a more specific reason why he will praise the Lord’s name (cf. v. 6).

³ tc A few medieval Hebrew mss read תְּהִלָּה (t^ehillah, “praise”) instead of תְּפִלָּה (t^efillah, “prayer”).

¹ tn The Hiphil of ידה normally means “give thanks, praise,” but here, as in Prov 28:13, it means “confess.”

¹ sn Psalm 21. The psalmist praises the Lord for the way he protects and blesses the Davidic king.

¹ tn The verb form is cohortative, indicating the psalmist’s resolve (or vow) to praise the Lord when deliverance arrives.

³ tn The cohortative forms in vv. 1-2 express the psalmist’s resolve to praise God publicly.

² sn Prophesied. The reference to prophecy reflects that Zechariah is enabled by the Spirit to speak God’s will. He does so in this case through a praise psalm, which calls for praise and then gives the reason why God should be praised.

⁷ tn Heb “praise.” This could mean that the earth responds in praise as God’s splendor is observed in the skies. However, the Hebrew term תְּהִלָּה (t^ehillah, “praise”) can stand by metonymy for what prompts it (i.e., fame, glory, deeds).

¹ tn This is a common form of praise. The verb בָּרוּךְ (barukh) is the Qal passive participle of the verb. Here must be supplied a jussive, making this participle the predicate: “May Yahweh be blessed.” The verb essentially means “to enrich”; in praise it would mean that he would be enriched by the praises of the people.

⁴ tn Heb “his praise.” The pronominal suffix could be an objective genitive (about him, i.e., the praise he receives) or a subjective genitive (by him, i.e., the praise he gives). If intended to be an objective genitive, the proverb could mean two things. A person must test, sift through and evaluate, the praise he or she receives. Or a person must prove, verify by being worthy of, the word of praise he or she receives. If it is a subjective genitive, it means a person must refine, make valuable, the praise that he or she gives. Some commentators interpret a subjective genitive to mean that people stand revealed by what or how they praise (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 168). But the structure of the saying positions the person as one performing a test, along with the crucible and the furnace.

¹ sn The Beloved’s praise of his appearance follows the typical literary structure of the ancient Near Eastern love songs: (1) introductory summary praise (5:10), (2) detailed descriptive praise from head to foot (5:11-16a), and (3) concluding summary praise (5:16b). There are several striking features about this song that are unique from the typical love songs. (1) The ordinary setting of the ancient Near Eastern love songs was the wedding night. (2) They were ordinarily sung only by a man in praise of his bride. (3) Normally, the love song will conclude with the feet after the legs; however, the Beloved concludes by praising his mouth after his legs.