Psalm 138-145

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 138:1 sn Psalm 138. The psalmist vows to thank the Lord for his deliverance and protection.
2. Psalm 138:1 tn The referent of the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) is unclear. It refers either to the angelic assembly (see Gen 3:5; Ps 8:5) or to the pagan gods (see Pss 82:1, 6; 86:8; 97:7), in which case the psalmist’s praise takes on a polemical tone.
3. Psalm 138:2 tc The MT reads, “for you have made great over all your name your word.” If retained, this must mean that God’s mighty intervention, in fulfillment of his word of promise, surpassed anything he had done prior to this. However, the statement is odd and several emendations have been proposed. Some read, “for you have exalted over everything your name and your word,” while others suggest, “for you have exalted over all the heavens your name and your word.” The translation assumes an emendation of “your name” to “your heavens” (a construction that appears in Pss 8:3 and 144:5). The point is that God has been faithful to his promise and the reliability of that promise is apparent to all. For a fuller discussion of these options, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 244.
4. Psalm 138:3 tn Heb “in the day.”
5. Psalm 138:3 tn Heb “you made me bold in my soul [with] strength.”
6. Psalm 138:4 tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in the following verse are understood as jussives, for the psalmist appears to be calling upon the kings to praise God. Another option is to take them as imperfects and translate, “the kings of the earth will give thanks…and will sing.” In this case the psalmist anticipates a universal response to his thanksgiving song.
7. Psalm 138:4 tn Heb “the words of your mouth.”
8. Psalm 138:5 tn Heb “ways.”
9. Psalm 138:5 tn Heb “great.”
10. Psalm 138:6 tc The form of the verb is יְיֵדָע (y^eyedaʿ) commonly understood to be Qal of יָדַע I (yadaʿ), although the Qal should not have two yod’s. Most likely one י (yod) should be deleted as dittography, or the second should be read as a ו (vav) and the form be understood as a Hifil.tn The Hifil of יָדַע II (yadaʿ) means “to humiliate,” causative of the Qal “be submissive, humbled, quiet” (cf. Job 21:19; Prov 5:6; Isa 45:4; Jer 14:18; Hos 9:7). DCH supposes that the Qal can mean “to humiliate” in this verse. The more common homophonous root יָדַע means “to know,” sometimes with the nuance “to care for.” Alternatively the adjective גָּבֹהַּ (gavoah) can be understood as the subject, referring to God, “the exalted one cares for [the lowly] from a distance,” but the parallel thought in the next verse favors a contrast in this verse also.
11. Psalm 138:7 tn Or “distress.”
12. Psalm 138:7 tn Heb “against the anger of my enemies you extend your hand.”
13. Psalm 138:8 tn Heb “avenges on my behalf.” For the meaning “to avenge” for the verb גָּמַר (gamar), see HALOT 197-98 s.v. גמר.
14. Psalm 138:8 tn Heb “the works of your hands.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the singular, “work of your hands.”
15. Psalm 139:1 sn Psalm 139. The psalmist acknowledges that God, who created him, is aware of his every action and thought. He invites God to examine his motives, for he is confident they are pure.
16. Psalm 139:1 tn The statement is understood as generalizing—the psalmist describes what God typically does.
17. Psalm 139:3 tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זֶרֶת (zeret, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279-80 s.v. זָרָה).
18. Psalm 139:3 tn Heb “all my ways.”
19. Psalm 139:4 tn Or “for.”
20. Psalm 139:4 tn Heb “look, O Lord, you know all of it.”
21. Psalm 139:6 tn Heb “too amazing [is this] knowledge for me, it is elevated, I cannot attain to it.”
22. Psalm 139:7 tn Heb “Where can I go from your spirit, and where from your face can I flee?” God’s “spirit” may refer here (1) to his presence (note the parallel term, “your face,” and see Ps 104:29-30, where God’s “face” is his presence and his “spirit” is the life-giving breath he imparts) or (2) to his personal Spirit (see Ps 51:10).
23. Psalm 139:8 tn The Hebrew verb סָלַק (salaq, “to ascend”) occurs only here in the OT, but the word is well-attested in Aramaic literature from different time periods and displays a wide semantic range (see DNWSI 2:788-90).
24. Psalm 139:8 tn The verb יָצַע (yatzaʿ) is rare in the Bible (see Isa 58:5 also Hiphil, and Isa 1:14; Est 4:3 for Hophal examples). There are three main options for understanding this phrase. It may mean “to descend to Sheol,” as in the LXX. This takes the motion in the verb as very generic for this context and understands “Sheol” without a preposition as the default “to Sheol.” Many translations take it as spreading out [something] to act as a bed, couch, or area to lie down. It is uncertain that the idea of a bed has to be implied and this does not required to fit the other contexts. Or, as taken here, it may “to spread [oneself] out, to sprawl.” Each view has merits and it is difficult to decide because the are so few examples.
25. Psalm 139:8 tn Heb “look, you.”
26. Psalm 139:9 tn Heb “rise up.”
27. Psalm 139:9 sn On the wings of the dawn. This personification of the “dawn” may find its roots in mythological traditions about the god Shachar, whose birth is described in an Ugaritic myth (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 126) and who is mentioned in Isa 14:12 as the father of Helel.
28. Psalm 139:9 tn Heb “at the end.”
29. Psalm 139:11 tn The Hebrew verb שׁוּף (shuf), which means “to crush; to wound,” in Gen 3:15 and Job 9:17, is problematic here. For a discussion of attempts to relate the verb to Arabic roots, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 251. Many emend the form to יְשׂוּכֵּנִי (y^esukkeni), from the root שָׂכַך (sakhakh, “to cover,” an alternate form of סָכַך [sakhakh]), a reading assumed in the present translation.
30. Psalm 139:11 tn Heb “and night, light, around me.”
31. Psalm 139:12 tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
32. Psalm 139:12 tn Heb “shines like.”
33. Psalm 139:12 tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”
34. Psalm 139:13 tn Or “for.”
35. Psalm 139:13 tn Heb “my kidneys.” The kidneys were sometimes viewed as the seat of one’s emotions and moral character (cf. Pss 7:9; 26:2). A number of translations, recognizing that “kidneys” does not communicate this idea to the modern reader, have generalized the concept: “inmost being” (NAB, NIV); “inward parts” (NASB, NRSV); “the delicate, inner parts of my body” (NLT). In the last instance, the focus is almost entirely on the physical body rather than the emotions or moral character. The present translation, by using a hendiadys (one concept expressed through two terms), links the concepts of emotion (heart) and moral character (mind).
36. Psalm 139:13 tn The Hebrew verb סָכַךְ (sakhakh, “to weave together”) is an alternate form of שָׂכַךְ (sakhakh, “to weave”) used in Job 10:11.
37. Psalm 139:14 tc Heb “because awesome things, I am distinct, amazing [are] your works.” The text as it stands is syntactically problematic and makes little, if any, sense. The Niphal of פָּלָה (palah) occurs elsewhere only in Exod 33:16. Many take the form from פָלָא (palaʾ; see GKC 216 §75.qq), which in the Niphal perfect means “to be amazing” (see 2 Sam 1:26; Ps 118:23; Prov 30:18). Some, following the LXX and some other ancient witnesses, also prefer to emend the verb from first to second person, “you are amazing” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 249, 251). The present translation assumes the text conflates two variants: נִפְלָאִים (niflaʾim), the otherwise unattested masculine plural participle of פָלָא, and נִפְלָאוֹת (niflaʾot), the usual (feminine) plural form of the Niphal participle. The latter has been changed to a verb by later scribes in an attempt to accommodate it syntactically. The original text likely read, נוראות נפלאותים מעשׂיך (“your works [are] awesome [and] amazing”).
38. Psalm 139:14 tc Heb “and my being knows very much.” Better parallelism is achieved (see v. 15a) if one emends יֹדַעַת (yodaʿat), a Qal active participle, feminine singular form, to יָדַעְתָּ (yadaʿta), a Qal perfect second masculine singular perfect. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 252.
39. Psalm 139:15 tc The Hebrew term אֲשֶׁר (ʾasher, “which”) should probably be emended to כֲּאַשֶׁר (kaʾasher, “when”). The כ (kaf) may have been lost by haplography (note the kaf at the end of the preceding form).
40. Psalm 139:15 sn The phrase depths of the earth may be metaphorical (euphemistic) or it may reflect a prescientific belief about the origins of the embryo deep beneath the earth’s surface (see H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 96-97). Job 1:21 also closely associates the mother’s womb with the earth.
41. Psalm 139:16 tn Heb “Your eyes saw my shapeless form.” The Hebrew noun גֹּלֶם (golem) occurs only here in the OT. In later Hebrew the word refers to “a lump, a shapeless or lifeless substance,” and to “unfinished matter, a vessel wanting finishing” (Jastrow 222 s.v. גּוֹלֶם). The translation employs the dynamic rendering “when I was inside the womb” to clarify that the speaker was still in his mother’s womb at the time he was “seen” by God.
42. Psalm 139:16 tn Heb “and on your scroll all of them were written, [the] days [which] were formed, and [there was] not one among them.” This “scroll” may be the “scroll of life” mentioned in Ps 69:28 (see the note on the word “living” there).
43. Psalm 139:17 tn Heb “and to me how precious are your thoughts, O God.” The Hebrew verb יָקַר (yaqar) probably has the sense of “difficult [to comprehend]” here (see HALOT 432 s.v. יקר qal.1 and note the use of Aramaic יַקִּר in Dan 2:11). Elsewhere in the immediate context the psalmist expresses his amazement at the extent of God’s knowledge about him (see vv. 1-6, 17b-18).
44. Psalm 139:17 tn Heb “how vast are their heads.” Here the Hebrew word “head” is used of the “sum total” of God’s knowledge of the psalmist.
45. Psalm 139:18 tc Heb “I awake and I [am] still with you.” A reference to the psalmist awaking from sleep makes little, if any, sense contextually. For this reason some propose an emendation to הֲקִצּוֹתִי (haqitsoti), a Hiphil perfect form from an otherwise unattested verb קָצַץ (qatsats) understood as a denominative of קֵץ (qets, “end”). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 252-53.
46. Psalm 139:19 tn The Hebrew particle אִם (ʾim, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (see Pss 81:8; 95:7, as well as GKC 321 §109.b).
47. Psalm 139:19 tn Heb “men of bloodshed.”
48. Psalm 139:20 tn Heb “who.”
49. Psalm 139:20 tc Heb “they speak [of] you.” The suffixed form of the verb אָמַר (ʾamar, “to speak”) is peculiar. The translation assumes an emendation to יַמְרֻךָ (yamrukha), a Hiphil form from מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”; see Ps 78:40).
50. Psalm 139:20 tn Heb “by deceit.”
51. Psalm 139:20 tc Heb “lifted up for emptiness, your cities.” The form נָשֻׂא (nasuʾ; a Qal passive participle) should be emended to נָשְׂאוּ (nas^eʾu; a Qal perfect, third common plural, “[they] lift up”). Many emend עָרֶיךָ (ʿarekha, “your cities”) to עָלֶיךָ (ʿalekha, “against you”), but it is preferable to understand the noun as an Aramaism and translate “your enemies” (see Dan 4:16 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 253).
52. Psalm 139:21 tc Heb “who raise themselves up against you.” The form וּבִתְקוֹמְמֶיךָ (uvitqom^emekha) should be emended to וּבְמִתְקוֹמְמֶיךָ (uv^emitqom^emekha), a Hitpolel participle (the prefixed מ [mem] of the participle is accidentally omitted in the MT, though a few medieval Hebrew mss have it).
53. Psalm 139:22 tn Heb “[with] completeness of hatred I hate them.”
54. Psalm 139:23 tn Heb “and know my heart.”
55. Psalm 139:23 tn The Hebrew noun שַׂרְעַפַּי (sarʿappay, “concerns”) is used of “worries” in Ps 94:19.
56. Psalm 139:24 tn Many understand the Hebrew term עֹצֶב (ʿotsev) as a noun meaning “pain,” and translate the phrase דֶּרֶךְ עֹצֶב (derekh ʿotsev) 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.
57. Psalm 139:24 tn Or “in the ancient path.” This phrase may refer to the moral path prescribed by the Lord at the beginning of Israel’s history. See Jer 6:16; 18:15, as well as L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.
58. Psalm 140:1 sn Psalm 140. The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his deadly enemies, calls judgment down upon them, and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.
59. Psalm 140:1 tn Heb “from a wicked man.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
60. Psalm 140:1 tn Heb “a man of violent acts.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
61. Psalm 140:2 tn Heb “they devise wicked [plans] in [their] mind.”
62. Psalm 140:2 tc Heb “they attack [for] war.” Some revocalize the verb (which is a Qal imperfect from גּוּר, gur, “to attack”) as יְגָרוּ (y^egaru), a Piel imperfect from גָרָה (garah, “stir up strife”). This is followed in the present translation.
63. Psalm 140:3 tn Heb “they sharpen their tongue like a serpent.” Ps 64:3 reads, “they sharpen their tongues like sword.” Perhaps Ps 140:3 uses a mixed metaphor, the point being that “they sharpen their tongues [like a sword],” as it were, so that when they speak, their words wound like a serpent’s bite. Another option is that the language refers to the pointed or forked nature of a serpent’s tongue, which is viewed metaphorically as “sharpened.”
64. Psalm 140:3 tn The Hebrew term is used only here in the OT.
65. Psalm 140:3 tn Heb “under.”
66. Psalm 140:4 tn Heb “hands.”
67. Psalm 140:4 tn Heb “to push down my steps.”
68. Psalm 140:5 tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khov^elim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).
69. Psalm 140:7 tn Heb “the strength of my deliverance.”
70. Psalm 140:7 tn Heb “cover.”
71. Psalm 140:8 tn Heb “do not grant the desires of the wicked.”
72. Psalm 140:8 tn Heb “his.” The singular is used in a representative sense (see v. 1).
73. Psalm 140:8 tn Heb “his plot do not promote, they rise up.” The translation understands the final verb as being an unmarked temporal clause. Another option is to revocalize the verb as a Hiphil and take the verb with the next verse, “those who surround me lift up [their] head,” which could refer to their proud attitude as they anticipate victory (see Ps 27:6).
74. Psalm 140:9 tn Heb “harm of their lips.” The genitive here indicates the source or agent of the harm.
75. Psalm 140:10 tn The verb form in the Kethib (consonantal Hebrew text) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוּט (mut, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in Ps 55:3, where it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). In Ps 140:10 the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read.
76. Psalm 140:10 tn Heb “into bottomless pits, they will not arise.” The translation assumes that the preposition ב (bet) has the nuance “from” here. Another option is to connect the line with what precedes, take the final clause as an asyndetic relative clause, and translate, “into bottomless pits [from which] they cannot arise.” The Hebrew noun מַהֲמֹרָה (mahamorah, “bottomless pit”) occurs only here in the OT.
77. Psalm 140:11 tn Heb “a man of a tongue.”
78. Psalm 140:11 tn Heb “be established in.”
79. Psalm 140:11 tn Heb “for blows.” The Hebrew noun מַדְחֵפֹה (madkhefoh, “blow”) occurs only here in the OT.
80. Psalm 140:12 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading a first person verb form here. The Kethib reads the second person.
81. Psalm 140:12 tn Heb “and the just cause of the poor.”
82. Psalm 141:1 sn Psalm 141. The psalmist asks God to protect him from sin and from sinful men.
83. Psalm 141:2 tn Heb “may my prayer be established [like] incense before you, the uplifting of my hands [like] an evening offering.”
84. Psalm 141:3 tn Heb “door.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
85. Psalm 141:3 sn My mouth…my lips. The psalmist asks God to protect him from speaking inappropriately or sinfully.
86. Psalm 141:4 tn Heb “do not turn my heart toward an evil thing.”
87. Psalm 141:4 tn Heb “to act sinfully in practices in wickedness with men, doers of evil.”
88. Psalm 141:4 sn Their delicacies. This probably refers to the enjoyment that a sinful lifestyle appears to offer.
89. Psalm 141:5 tn The form יָנִי (yani) appears to be derived from the verbal root נוּא (nuʾ). Another option is to emend the form to יְנָא (y^enaʾ), a Piel from נָאָה (naʾah), and translate “may choice oil not adorn my head” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 271). In this case, choice oil, like delicacies in v. 4, symbolize the pleasures of sin.
90. Psalm 141:5 sn May my head not refuse choice oil. The psalmist compares the constructive criticism of the godly (see the previous line) to having refreshing olive oil poured over one’s head.
91. Psalm 141:5 tc Heb “for still, and my prayer [is] against their evil deeds.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult; the sequence -כִּי־עוֹד וּ (ki ʿod u-, “for still and”) occurs only here. The translation assumes an emendation to כִּי עֵד תְּפִלָּתִי (ki ʿed t^efillati, “indeed a witness [is] my prayer”). The psalmist’s lament about the evil actions of sinful men (see v. 4) testifies against the wicked in the divine court.
92. Psalm 141:6 tn Heb “they are thrown down by the hands of a cliff, their judges.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult and the meaning uncertain. The perfect verbal form is understood as rhetorical; the psalmist describes the anticipated downfall of the wicked as if it had already occurred. “Their judges” could be taken as the subject of the verb, but this makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes the judges are the agents and that the wicked, mentioned earlier in the psalm, are the subjects of the verb.
93. Psalm 141:6 tn It is unclear how this statement relates to the preceding sentence. Perhaps the judges are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the verb “will listen,” and “my words” are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the phrase “are pleasant.” The psalmist may be affirming here his confidence that he will be vindicated when he presents his case before the judges, while the wicked will be punished.
94. Psalm 141:7 tn Heb “like splitting and breaking open in the earth.” The meaning of the statement and the point of the comparison are not entirely clear. Perhaps the psalmist is suggesting that he and other godly individuals are as good as dead; their bones are scattered about like dirt that is dug up and tossed aside.
95. Psalm 141:8 tn Heb “my eyes [are] toward you.”
96. Psalm 141:8 tn Heb “do not lay bare my life.” Only here is the Piel form of the verb collocated with the term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”). In Isa 53:12 the Lord’s servant “lays bare (the Hiphil form of the verb is used) his life to death.”
97. Psalm 141:9 tn Heb “and the traps of the doers of evil.”
98. Psalm 141:10 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate, “the wicked will fall.”
99. Psalm 141:10 tn Heb “his.”
100. Psalm 141:10 tn Heb “at the same [that] I, until I pass by.” Another option is to take יַחַד (yakhad) with the preceding line, “let the wicked fall together into their own nets.”
101. Psalm 142:1 sn Psalm 142. The psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.
102. Psalm 142:1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
103. Psalm 142:1 sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm while in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3. See the superscription of Ps 57.
104. Psalm 142:1 tn Heb “[with] my voice to the Lord I cry out.”
105. Psalm 142:1 tn Heb “[with] my voice to the Lord I plead for mercy.”
106. Psalm 142:2 tn Heb “my trouble before him I declare.”
107. Psalm 142:3 tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”
108. Psalm 142:3 tn Heb “you know my path.”
109. Psalm 142:4 tn Heb “there is no one who recognizes me.”
110. Psalm 142:4 tn Heb “ a place of refuge perishes from me.”
111. Psalm 142:4 tn Heb “there is no one who seeks for the sake of my life.”
112. Psalm 142:5 tn Heb “my portion.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel.
113. Psalm 142:6 tn Heb “for I am very low.”
114. Psalm 142:7 tn Heb “bring out my life.”
115. Psalm 142:7 tn Or “gather around.”
116. Psalm 142:7 tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ʿal) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.
117. Psalm 143:1 sn Psalm 143. As in the previous psalm, the psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.
118. Psalm 143:2 tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”
119. Psalm 143:2 tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”
120. Psalm 143:3 tn Or “for.”
121. Psalm 143:3 tn Heb “an enemy.” The singular is used in a representative sense to describe a typical member of the larger group of enemies (note the plural “enemies” in vv. 9, 12).
122. Psalm 143:3 tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”
123. Psalm 143:3 tn Or “sit.”
124. Psalm 143:3 sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).
125. Psalm 143:4 tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”
126. Psalm 143:4 tn Heb “in my midst my heart is shocked.” For a similar use of the Hitpolel of שָׁמֵם (shamem), see Isa 59:16; 63:5.
127. Psalm 143:5 tn Or “ancient times”; Heb “days from before.”
128. Psalm 143:5 tn Heb “the work of your hands.”
129. Psalm 143:6 tn The words “in prayer” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the psalmist is referring to a posture of prayer.
130. Psalm 143:6 tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” See Ps 63:1.
131. Psalm 143:6 tc Heb “my soul like a faint land for you.” A verb (perhaps “thirsts”) is implied (see Ps 63:1). The translation assumes an emendation of the preposition כ (kaf, “like”) to ב (bet, “in,” see Ps 63:1; cf. NEB “athirst for thee in a thirsty land”). If the MT is retained, one might translate, “my soul thirsts for you, as a parched land does for water/rain” (cf. NIV, NRSV).
132. Psalm 143:7 tn Heb “my spirit is failing.”
133. Psalm 143:7 tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” (1) can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) can carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).
134. Psalm 143:7 tn Heb “I will be equal with.”
135. Psalm 143:7 tn Heb “the pit.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit; cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See Ps 28:1.
136. Psalm 143:8 tn Heb “cause me to hear in the morning your loyal love.” Here “loyal love” probably stands metonymically for an oracle of assurance promising God’s intervention as an expression of his loyal love.sn The morning is sometimes viewed as the time of divine intervention (see Pss 30:5; 59:16; 90:14).
137. Psalm 143:8 sn The way probably refers here to God’s moral and ethical standards and requirements (see v. 10).
138. Psalm 143:8 tn Heb “for to you I lift up my life.” The Hebrew expression נָאָשׂ נֶפֶשׁ (naʾas nefesh, “to lift up [one’s] life”) means “to desire; to long for” (see Deut 24:15; Prov 19:18; Jer 22:27; 44:14; Hos 4:8, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 16).
139. Psalm 143:9 tn Heb “to you I cover,” which makes no sense. The translation assumes an emendation to נַסְתִּי (nasti, “I flee,” a Qal perfect, first singular form from נוּס, nos). Confusion of כ (kaf) and נ (nun) is attested elsewhere (see P. K. McCarter, Textual Criticism [GBS], 48). The collocation of נוּס (“flee”) with אֶל (ʾel, “to”) is well-attested.
140. Psalm 143:10 tn Or “your will.” See Ps 40:8.
141. Psalm 143:10 tn Heb “your good spirit.” God’s “spirit” may refer here to his presence (see the note on the word “presence” in Ps 139:7) or to his personal Spirit (see Ps 51:10).
142. Psalm 143:10 tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive. Taking the statement as a prayer fits well with the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.
143. Psalm 143:10 sn A level land (where one can walk free of obstacles) here symbolizes divine blessing and protection. See Pss 26:12 and 27:11 for similar imagery.
144. Psalm 143:11 tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
145. Psalm 143:11 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 11-12a are understood as expressing the psalmist’s desire. Note the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.
146. Psalm 143:11 tn Heb “by your justice bring out my life from trouble.”
147. Psalm 143:12 tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”
148. Psalm 143:12 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect.
149. Psalm 143:12 tn Heb “all the enemies of my life.”
150. Psalm 144:1 sn Psalm 144. The psalmist expresses his confidence in God, asks for a mighty display of divine intervention in an upcoming battle, and anticipates God’s rich blessings on the nation in the aftermath of military victory.
151. Psalm 144:1 tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.
152. Psalm 144:1 tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord, my rocky summit.”
153. Psalm 144:1 sn The one who trains my hands for battle. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement (see Ps 18:34). Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.
154. Psalm 144:2 tn Heb “my loyal love,” which is probably an abbreviated form of “the God of my loyal love” (see Ps 59:10, 17).
155. Psalm 144:2 tn Or “my elevated place.”
156. Psalm 144:2 tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”
157. Psalm 144:3 tn Heb “What is mankind?” The singular noun אֱנוֹשׁ (ʾenosh) is used here in a collective sense and refers to the human race. See Ps 8:5.
158. Psalm 144:3 tn Heb “and the son of man.” The phrase “son of man” is used here in a collective sense and refers to human beings. For other uses of the phrase in a collective or representative manner, see Num 23:19; Ps 146:3; Isa 51:12.
159. Psalm 144:3 tn Heb “take account of him.” The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 describe God’s characteristic activity.
160. Psalm 144:4 tn Heb “man,” or “mankind.”
161. Psalm 144:4 tn Heb “his days [are] like a shadow that passes away,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.
162. Psalm 144:5 tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “to [cause to] bend; to [cause to] bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the Lord causes the sky, pictured as a dome or vault, to sink down as he descends in the storm. See Ps 18:9.
163. Psalm 144:5 tn Heb “so you might come down.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The same type of construction is utilized in v. 6.
164. Psalm 144:5 tn Heb “so they might smolder.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative.
165. Psalm 144:6 sn Arrows and lightning bolts are associated in other texts (see Pss 18:14; 77:17-18; Zech 9:14), as well as in ancient Near Eastern art (see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” [Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983], 187).
166. Psalm 144:7 tn Heb “stretch out your hands.”
167. Psalm 144:7 tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful foreign enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see the next line and Ps 18:16-17).
168. Psalm 144:7 tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”
169. Psalm 144:8 tn Heb “who [with] their mouth speak falsehood, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” The reference to the “right hand” is probably a metonymy for an oath. When making an oath, one would raise the hand as a solemn gesture. See Exod 6:8; Num 14:30; Deut 32:40. The figure thus represents the making of false oaths (false promises).
170. Psalm 144:10 tn Heb “grants deliverance to.”
171. Psalm 144:10 tn Heb “harmful.”
172. Psalm 144:11 tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”
173. Psalm 144:11 tn Heb “who [with] their mouth speak falsehood, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” See v. 8 where the same expression occurs.
174. Psalm 144:12 tn Some consider אֲשֶׁר (ʾasher) problematic, but here it probably indicates the anticipated consequence of the preceding request. (For other examples of אֲשֶׁר indicating purpose/result, see BDB 83 s.v. and HALOT 99 s.v.) If the psalmist—who appears to be a Davidic king preparing to fight a battle (see vv. 10-11)—is victorious, the whole nation will be spared invasion and defeat (see v. 14) and can flourish. Some prefer to emend the form to אַשְׁרֵי (“how blessed [are our sons]”). A suffixed noun sometimes follows אַשְׁרֵי (ʾashre; see 1 Kgs 10:8; Prov 20:7), but the presence of a comparative element (see “like plants”) after the suffixed noun makes the proposed reading too awkward syntactically.
175. Psalm 144:12 tn Heb “grown up in their youth.” The translation assumes that “grown up” modifies “plants” (just as “carved” modifies “corner pillars” in the second half of the verse). Another option is to take “grown up” as a predicate in relation to “our sons,” in which case one might translate, “they will be strapping youths.”
176. Psalm 144:12 tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here and in Zech 9:15, where it refers to the corners of an altar.
177. Psalm 144:12 tn Heb “carved [in] the pattern of a palace.”
178. Psalm 144:13 tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here.
179. Psalm 144:13 tn Heb “from kind to kind.” Some prefer to emend the text to מָזוֹן עַל מָזוֹן (mazon ʿal mazon, “food upon food”).
180. Psalm 144:13 tn Heb “they are innumerable.”
181. Psalm 144:13 tn Heb “in outside places.” Here the term refers to pastures and fields (see Job 5:10; Prov 8:26).
182. Psalm 144:14 tn Heb “weighted down.” This probably refers (1) to the cattle having the produce from the harvest placed on their backs to be transported to the storehouses (see BDB 687 s.v. סָבַל). Other options are (2) to take this as reference to the cattle being pregnant (see HALOT 741 s.v. סבל pu) or (3) to their being well-fed or fattened (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 288).
183. Psalm 144:14 tn Heb “there [will be] no breach, and there [will be] no going out, and there [will be] no crying out in our broad places.”
184. Psalm 144:15 tn Heb “[O] the happiness of the people who [it is] such to them.”
185. Psalm 145:1 sn Psalm 145. The psalmist praises God because he is a just and merciful king who cares for his people.
186. Psalm 145:1 tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”
187. Psalm 145:2 tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”
188. Psalm 145:3 tn Heb “and concerning his greatness there is no searching.”
189. Psalm 145:4 tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 4 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may one generation praise…and tell about.”
190. Psalm 145:5 tn Heb “the splendor of the glory of your majesty, and the matters of your amazing deeds I will ponder.”
191. Psalm 145:6 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as an imperfect, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as a jussive, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may they proclaim.”
192. Psalm 145:7 tn Heb “the fame of the greatness of your goodness.”
193. Psalm 145:7 tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 7 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may they talk…and sing.”
194. Psalm 145:8 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).
195. Psalm 145:8 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).
196. Psalm 145:9 tn Heb “and his compassion is over all his works.”
197. Psalm 145:12 tn Heb “the sons of man.”
198. Psalm 145:13 tn Heb “a kingdom of all ages.”
199. Psalm 145:14 tc Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm, with each successive verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. However, in the traditional Hebrew (Masoretic) text of Psalm 145 there is no verse beginning with the letter nun. One would expect such a verse to appear as the fourteenth verse, between the (מ) (mem) and (ס) (samek) verses. Several ancient witnesses, including one medieval Hebrew manuscript, the Qumran scroll from cave 11, the LXX, and the Syriac, supply the missing (נ) (nun) verse, which reads as follows: “The Lord is reliable in all his words, and faithful in all his deeds.” One might paraphrase this as follows: “The Lord’s words are always reliable; his actions are always faithful.” Scholars are divided as to the originality of this verse. L. C. Allen argues for its inclusion on the basis of structural considerations (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 294-95), but there is no apparent explanation for why, if original, it would have been accidentally omitted. The psalm may be a partial acrostic, as in Pss 25 and 34 (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 3:335). The glaring omission of the nun line would have invited a later redactor to add such a line.
200. Psalm 145:14 tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).
201. Psalm 145:15 tn Heb “the eyes of all wait for you.”
202. Psalm 145:15 tn Heb “and you give to them their food in its season” (see Ps 104:27).
203. Psalm 145:16 tn Heb “[with what they] desire.”
204. Psalm 145:17 tn Heb “in all his ways.”
205. Psalm 145:17 tn Heb “and [is] loving in all his deeds.”
206. Psalm 145:18 tn Heb “in truth.”
207. Psalm 145:19 tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.
208. Psalm 145:19 tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”
209. Psalm 145:21 tn Heb “the praise of the Lord my mouth will speak.”
210. Psalm 145:21 tn Heb “all flesh.”