Psalm 25-27

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 25:1 sn Psalm 25. The psalmist asks for divine protection, guidance and forgiveness as he affirms his loyalty to and trust in the Lord. This psalm is an acrostic; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, except for v. 18, which, like v. 19, begins with ר (resh) instead of the expected ק (qof). The final verse, which begins with פ (pe), stands outside the acrostic scheme.
2. Psalm 25:1 tn Heb “to you, O Lord, my life I lift up.” To “lift up” one’s “life” to the Lord means to express one’s trust in him through prayer. See Pss 86:4; 143:8.
3. Psalm 25:3 tn Heb “those who deal in treachery in vain.” The adverb רֵיקָם (reqam, “in vain”) probably refers to the failure (or futility) of their efforts. Another option is to understand it as meaning “without cause” (cf. NIV “without excuse”; NRSV “wantonly treacherous”).
4. Psalm 25:4 sn Teach me your paths. In this context the Lord’s “ways” and “paths” refer to the moral principles which the Lord prescribes for his followers. See vv. 8-10.
5. Psalm 25:5 sn The Lord’s commandments are referred to as truth here because they are a trustworthy and accurate expression of the divine will.
6. Psalm 25:6 tn That is, “remember” with the intention of repeating.
7. Psalm 25:6 tn Heb “for from antiquity [are] they.”
8. Psalm 25:7 tn Heb “do not remember,” with the intention of punishing.
9. Psalm 25:7 sn That is, the sins characteristic of youths, who lack moral discretion and wisdom.
10. Psalm 25:7 tn Heb “according to your faithfulness, remember me, you, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.”
11. Psalm 25:8 tn Heb “good and just.”
12. Psalm 25:8 tn Heb “teaches sinners in the way.”
13. Psalm 25:9 tn The prefixed verbal form is jussive; the psalmist expresses his prayer.
14. Psalm 25:9 tn Heb “may he guide the humble into justice.” The Hebrew term עֲנָוִים (ʿanavim, “humble”) usually refers to the oppressed, but in this context, where the psalmist confesses his sin and asks for moral guidance, it apparently refers to sinners who humble themselves before God and seek deliverance from their sinful condition.
15. Psalm 25:9 tn The prefixed verbal form is interpreted as a jussive (it stands parallel to the jussive form, “may he guide”).
16. Psalm 25:10 tn Heb “all the paths of the Lord are faithful and trustworthy.” The Lord’s “paths” refer here to his characteristic actions.
17. Psalm 25:10 tn Heb “to the ones who keep his covenant and his testimonies.”
18. Psalm 25:11 tn Heb “name.” By forgiving the sinful psalmist, the Lord’s reputation as a merciful God will be enhanced.
19. Psalm 25:11 sn Forgive my sin, because it is great. The psalmist readily admits his desperate need for forgiveness.
20. Psalm 25:12 tn Heb “Who is this man, the one who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.” The singular (note “man”) is representative here (see v. 14, where the plural is used), and has thus been translated as a plural (“followers…they”).
21. Psalm 25:13 tn Heb “his life in goodness dwells.” The singular is representative (see v. 14).
22. Psalm 25:13 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
23. Psalm 25:13 tn Or “earth.”
24. Psalm 25:14 tn Heb “the advice of the Lord belongs to those who fear him.”
25. Psalm 25:14 tn Heb “and his covenant, to make them know.”
26. Psalm 25:15 tn Heb “my eyes continually [are] toward the Lord.”
27. Psalm 25:15 tn Heb “for he will bring out from a net my feet.” The hostility of the psalmist’s enemies is probably in view (see v. 19).
28. Psalm 25:16 tn That is, helpless and vulnerable.
29. Psalm 25:17 tc Heb “the distresses of my heart, they make wide.” The text makes little if any sense as it stands, unless this is an otherwise unattested intransitive use of the Hiphil of רָחַב (rakhav, “be wide”). It is preferable to emend the form הִרְחִיבוּ (hirkhivu; Hiphil perfect third plural “they make wide”) to הַרְחֵיב (harkhev; Hiphil imperative masculine singular “make wide”). (The final vav [ו] can be joined to the following word and taken as a conjunction.) In this case one can translate, “[in/from] the distresses of my heart, make wide [a place for me],” that is, “deliver me from the distress I am experiencing.” For the expression “make wide [a place for me],” see Ps 4:1.
30. Psalm 25:17 tn Heb “from my distresses lead me out.”
31. Psalm 25:18 tn Heb “lift up all my sins.”
32. Psalm 25:19 tn Heb “see my enemies for they are numerous, and [with] violent hatred they hate me.”
33. Psalm 25:20 tn Or “my life.”
34. Psalm 25:22 tn Or “redeem.”
35. Psalm 25:22 tn Heb “his distresses.”sn O God, rescue Israel from all their distress. It is possible that the psalmist speaks on behalf of the nation throughout this entire psalm. Another option is that v. 22 is a later addition to the psalm which applies an original individual lament to the covenant community. If so, it may reflect an exilic setting.
36. Psalm 26:1 sn Psalm 26. The author invites the Lord to test his integrity, asserts his innocence and declares his loyalty to God.
37. Psalm 26:1 tn Heb “for I in my integrity walk.”
38. Psalm 26:2 tn Heb “evaluate my kidneys and my heart.” The kidneys and heart were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.
39. Psalm 26:3 tn Heb “for your faithfulness [is] before my eyes.”
40. Psalm 26:3 tn Heb “and I walk about in your loyalty.”sn The psalmist’s awareness of the Lord’s faithfulness and…loyalty toward him motivates him to remain loyal to the Lord and to maintain his moral purity.
41. Psalm 26:4 tn Heb “sit.”
42. Psalm 26:4 tn Heb “go.” The psalmist uses the imperfect form of the verb to emphasize that he does not make a practice of associating with such people.
43. Psalm 26:4 tn Heb “[those who] conceal themselves.”
44. Psalm 26:5 tn Heb “assembly, company.”
45. Psalm 26:5 tn Heb “sit.” The psalmist uses the imperfect form of the verb to emphasize that he does not make a practice of associating with such people.
46. Psalm 26:6 tn Heb “I wash my hands in innocence.” The psalmist uses an image from cultic ritual to picture his moral lifestyle. The imperfect verbal emphasizes that this is his habit.
47. Psalm 26:6 tn Heb “so I can go around your altar” (probably in ritual procession). Following the imperfect of the preceding line, the cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose or result.
48. Psalm 26:7 tn Heb “to cause to be heard the sound of thanksgiving.”
49. Psalm 26:7 tn The two infinitival forms (both with prefixed preposition ל, lamed) give the purpose for his appearance at the altar.
50. Psalm 26:8 tn Heb “the dwelling of your house.”
51. Psalm 26:8 tn Heb “the place of the abode of your splendor.”
52. Psalm 26:9 tn Heb “do not gather up my life with.”
53. Psalm 26:9 tn Heb “or with men of bloodshed my life.” The verb is supplied; it is understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).
54. Psalm 26:10 tn Heb “who [have] in their hands evil.”
55. Psalm 26:10 tn Heb “and their right hand is full of a bribe.”
56. Psalm 26:11 tn Heb “and I in my integrity walk.” The psalmist uses the imperfect verbal form to emphasize this is his practice. The construction at the beginning of the verse (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist and the sinners mentioned in vv. 9-10.
57. Psalm 26:11 tn Or “redeem me.”
58. Psalm 26:12 tn Heb “my foot stands in a level place.”
59. Psalm 27:1 sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.
60. Psalm 27:1 sn “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Another option is that “light” refers here to divine guidance (see Ps 43:3).
61. Psalm 27:1 tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one.”
62. Psalm 27:1 tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
63. Psalm 27:2 tn Heb “draw near to me.”
64. Psalm 27:2 sn To devour my flesh. The psalmist compares his enemies to dangerous, hungry predators (see 2 Kgs 9:36; Ezek 39:17).
65. Psalm 27:2 tn Heb “my adversaries and my enemies against me.” The verb “draw near” (that is, “attack”) is understood by ellipsis; see the previous line.
66. Psalm 27:2 tn The Hebrew verbal forms are perfects. The translation assumes the psalmist is generalizing here, but another option is to take this as a report of past experience, “when evil men attacked me…they stumbled and fell.”
67. Psalm 27:3 tn Heb “my heart does not fear.”
68. Psalm 27:3 tn Heb “if war rises up against me.”
69. Psalm 27:3 tn Heb “in this [i.e., “during this situation”] I am trusting.”
70. Psalm 27:4 tn Heb “for me to live.”
71. Psalm 27:4 sn The Lord’s house. This probably refers to the tabernacle (if one accepts Davidic authorship) or the temple (see Judg 19:18; 1 Sam 1:7, 24; 2 Sam 12:20; 1 Kgs 7:12, 40, 45, 51).
72. Psalm 27:4 tn Or “beauty.”
73. Psalm 27:5 tn Or “for he will.” The translation assumes the כִּי (ki) is asseverative here, rather than causal.
74. Psalm 27:5 tn Heb “he will hide me in his hut.”
75. Psalm 27:5 tn Or “trouble.”
76. Psalm 27:5 tn Heb “tent.”
77. Psalm 27:5 tn The three imperfect verb forms in v. 5 anticipate a positive response to the prayer offered in vv. 7-12.
78. Psalm 27:5 tn Heb “on a rocky summit he lifts me up.” The Lord places the psalmist in an inaccessible place where his enemies cannot reach him. See Ps 18:2.
79. Psalm 27:6 tn Heb “and now my head will be lifted up over my enemies all around me.”sn In vv. 1-3 the psalmist generalizes, but here we discover that he is facing a crisis and is under attack from enemies (see vv. 11-12).
80. Psalm 27:6 tn Heb “I will sacrifice in his tent sacrifices of a shout for joy” (that is, “sacrifices accompanied by a joyful shout”).
81. Psalm 27:7 tn Heb “my voice.”
82. Psalm 27:8 tc Heb “concerning you my heart says, ‘Seek my face.’” The verb form “seek” is plural, but this makes no sense here, for the psalmist is addressed. The verb should be emended to a singular form. The first person pronominal suffix on “face” also makes little sense, unless it is the voice of the Lord he hears. His “heart” is viewed as speaking, however, so it is better to emend the form to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”).
83. Psalm 27:8 tn Heb “your face, O Lord, I seek.” To “seek the Lord’s face” means to seek his favor through prayer (see 2 Sam 21:1; Pss 24:6; 105:4).
84. Psalm 27:9 tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).
85. Psalm 27:9 tn Or “[source of] help.”
86. Psalm 27:10 tn Or “though my father and mother have abandoned me.”
87. Psalm 27:10 tn Heb “gather me in”; or “receive me.”
88. Psalm 27:11 tn Heb “teach me your way.” The Lord’s “way” refers here to the moral principles which he expects the psalmist to follow. See Ps 25:4.
89. Psalm 27:11 sn The level path refers to God’s moral principles (see the parallel line), which, if followed, will keep the psalmist blameless before his accusers (see v. 12).
90. Psalm 27:11 tn Heb “because of those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 54:5; 56:2.
91. Psalm 27:12 tn Heb “do not give me over to the desire of my enemies.”
92. Psalm 27:12 tn Heb “for they have risen up against me, lying witnesses and a testifier of violence.” The form יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) is traditionally understood as a verb meaning “snort, breathe out”: “for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty” (KJV; cf. BDB 422 s.v.). A better option is to take the form as a noun meaning “a witness” (or “testifier”). See Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3.
93. Psalm 27:13 tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is incomplete: “If I had not believed [I would] see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” The words “Where would I be” are supplied in the translation to clarify the intent of the statement.
94. Psalm 27:14 tn Or “wait.”
95. Psalm 27:14 tn Heb “be strong and let your heart be confident.”