¹ tn Or “prove to be reliable.”

² tn Or “prove to be reliable.”

² tn Heb “and a reliable spirit renew in my inner being.”

² tn Heb “I have not hidden your loyal love and reliability.”

³ tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.

³ tn God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.

¹ tn The text has “he pours out faithfully”; the word rendered “faithfully” or “reliably” (אֱמוּנָה, ʾemunah) is used frequently for giving testimony in court, and so here the subject matter is the reliable witness.

¹ tn Heb “Will you be to me like a deceptive (brook), like waters which do not last [or are not reliable].”

¹ tn Heb “a witness of faithfulness.” The genitive functions in an attributive sense: “faithful witness” (so KJV, NRSV); TEV “reliable witness.”

² sn The rules you set down. God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.

¹ tn Heb “and a throne will be established in faithfulness, and he will sit on it in reliability, in the tent of David.”

¹ sn God’s commands are a reliable guide to right and wrong. By keeping them the psalmist is doing what is right, yet he is still persecuted.

² tn The word “truth” (אֱמֶת, ʾemet) is derived from the verbal root אָמַן (ʾaman) which means “to be firm, trustworthy.” There are a number of derived nouns that have the sense of reliability: “pillars,” “master craftsman,” “nurse,” “guardian.” Modifiers related to this group of words include things like “faithful,” “surely,” “truly” (ʾamen). In the derived stems the verb develops various nuances: The Niphal has the meanings of “reliable, faithful, sure, steadfast,” and the Hiphil has the meaning “believe” (i.e., consider something dependable). The noun “truth” means what is reliable or dependable, firm or sure.

⁴ sn By way of Christ’s faithfulness. Though Paul elsewhere teaches justification by faith, this presupposes that the object of our faith (Christ) is reliable and worthy of such faith.

³ tn Heb “by your truth.” The Hebrew term does not refer here to abstract truth, however, but to the reliable moral guidance found in the covenant law (see vv 10-11).

³ tn Heb “but doers of truthfulness.” The term “truthfulness” is an objective genitive, meaning: “those who practice truth” or “those who act in good faith.” Their words and works are reliable.

¹ tn The word is normally translated “believe” in the Bible. The idea is that of considering something dependable and acting on it. The idea of reliability is found also in the Niphal stem usages.

³ tn The Niphal form of the verb has the sense of “to be faithful; to be sure; to be reliable.” Joseph will test his brothers to see if their words are true.

⁴ tn The expression “men of truth” (אַנְשֵׁי אֱמֶת, ʾanshe ʾemet) indicates that these men must be seekers of truth, who know that the task of a judge is to give true judgment (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 220). The word “truth” includes the ideas of faithfulness or reliability, as well as factuality itself. It could be understood to mean “truthful men,” men whose word is reliable and true.

¹ tn The sentence begins with vav (ו) plus a perfect verb. It does not show simple sequence, which would have been indicated with a vav plus preterite as in the surrounding clauses. The nuance may be that Abram had already come to believe or did so while God was speaking. For a detailed discussion of the vav plus perfect construction in Hebrew narrative, see R. Longacre, “Weqatal Forms in Biblical Hebrew Prose: A Discourse-modular Approach,” Biblical Hebrew and Discourse Linguistics, 50-98. The verb אָמַן (ʾaman) occurs with a Niphal and Hiphil opposition. In the Niphal it means “to be faithful, reliable, firm, enduring.” While in the Hiphil, the form used here, it means “to consider or treat something as reliable, or dependable.” Abram regarded God as reliable for this promise; he believed.