Psalm 101-105

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 101:1 sn Psalm 101. The psalmist, who appears to be a king, promises to promote justice in his land and vows to rid his royal court of evildoers.
2. Psalm 101:2 tn Heb “take notice of.”
3. Psalm 101:2 tn Heb “I will walk about in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.”
4. Psalm 101:3 tn Heb “I will not set before my eyes a thing of worthlessness.”
5. Psalm 101:3 tn Heb “the doing of swerving [deeds] I hate.” The Hebrew term סֵטִים (setim) is probably an alternate spelling of שֵׂטִים (setim), which appears in many medieval Hebrew mss. The form appears to be derived from a verbal root שׂוּט (sut, “to fall away; to swerve”; see Ps 40:4).
6. Psalm 101:3 tn Heb “it [i.e., the doing of evil deeds] does not cling to me.”
7. Psalm 101:4 tn Heb “a perverse heart will turn aside from me.” The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (ʿiqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse (see Ps 18:26). It appears frequently in the Book of Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20), and life styles (2:15; 28:6).
8. Psalm 101:4 tn Heb “know.” The king will not willingly allow perverse individuals to remain in his royal court.
9. Psalm 101:5 tn Heb “[one who has] pride of eyes and wideness [i.e., arrogance] of heart, him I will not endure.”
10. Psalm 101:6 tn Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.”
11. Psalm 101:6 tn The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.”
12. Psalm 101:6 tn Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.”
13. Psalm 101:7 tn Heb “he will not live in the midst of my house, one who does deceit.”
14. Psalm 101:7 tn Heb “one who speaks lies will not be established before my eyes.”
15. Psalm 102:1 sn Psalm 102. The psalmist laments his oppressed state, but longs for a day when the Lord will restore Jerusalem and vindicate his suffering people.
16. Psalm 102:1 tn Heb “and may my cry for help come to you.”
17. Psalm 102:2 tn Heb “do not hide your face from me in the day of my trouble.” The idiom “to hide the face” can mean “to ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “to reject” (see Pss 29:7; 30:7; 88:14).
18. Psalm 102:2 tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”
19. Psalm 102:3 tn Heb “for my days come to an end in smoke.”
20. Psalm 102:3 tn The Hebrew noun קֵד (qed, “fireplace”) occurs only here, in Isa 33:14 (where it refers to the fire itself), and perhaps in Lev 6:2.
21. Psalm 102:4 tn Heb “struck, attacked.”
22. Psalm 102:4 tn Heb “I forget.”
23. Psalm 102:4 sn I am unable to eat food. During his time of mourning, the psalmist refrained from eating. In the following verse he describes metaphorically the physical effects of fasting.
24. Psalm 102:5 tn Heb “from the sound of my groaning my bone[s] stick to my flesh.” The preposition at the beginning of the verse is causal; the phrase “sound of my groaning” is metonymic for the anxiety that causes the groaning. The point seems to be this: Anxiety (which causes the psalmist to groan) keeps him from eating (v. 4). This physical deprivation in turn makes him emaciated—he is turned to “skin and bones,” so to speak.
25. Psalm 102:6 tn The Hebrew term קָאַת (qaʾat) refers to some type of bird (see Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (see Zeph 2:14). Modern translations have frequently rendered this as some type of owl (NIV, REB “desert owl”; NRSV “owl”).
26. Psalm 102:6 tn The Hebrew term כוֹס (khos) refers to a bird (see Lev 11:17; Deut 14:16), probably a type of owl (cf. NIV, REB “owl”; NRSV “little owl”).
27. Psalm 102:6 sn By comparing himself to a screech owl among the ruins, the psalmist may be highlighting his loneliness (see v. 7), though he may also be comparing his cries for help to the owl’s screech.
28. Psalm 102:7 tn This probably refers to the psalmist’s inability to sleep. Another option is to translate, “I keep watch,” in which case it might refer to watching for a response from the Lord (see vv. 1-2).
29. Psalm 102:8 tn Heb “by me they swear.” When the psalmist’s enemies call judgment down on others, they hold the psalmist up as a prime example of what they desire their enemies to become.
30. Psalm 102:9 sn Mourners would sometimes put ashes on their head or roll in ashes as a sign of mourning (see 2 Sam 13:19; Job 2:8; Isa 58:5).
31. Psalm 102:9 tn Heb “weeping.”
32. Psalm 102:10 tn Or “for.”
33. Psalm 102:11 tn Heb “my days [are] like an extended [or “lengthening”] shadow,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness.
34. Psalm 102:12 tn Heb “sit” (i.e., sit enthroned, see Ps 9:7). The imperfect verbal form highlights the generalization.
35. Psalm 102:12 tn Heb “and your remembrance [is] for a generation and a generation.”
36. Psalm 102:13 tn The imperfect verbal forms are understood as expressing the psalmist’s confidence in God’s intervention. Another option is to take them as expressing the psalmist’s request or wish, “You, rise up and have compassion!”
37. Psalm 102:14 tn Or “for.”
38. Psalm 102:14 tn The Poel of חָנַן (khanan) occurs only here and in Prov 14:21, where it refers to having compassion on the poor.
39. Psalm 102:14 tn Heb “her dust,” probably referring to the dust of the city’s rubble.
40. Psalm 102:15 tn Heb “will fear the name of the Lord.” To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for his revealed reputation which in turn motivates one to obey God’s commands (see Ps 86:11).
41. Psalm 102:15 tn The verb “will fear” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).
42. Psalm 102:17 tn The Hebrew adjective עַרְעָר (ʿarar, “destitute”) occurs only here in the OT. It is derived from the verbal root ערר (“to strip oneself”).
43. Psalm 102:17 tn Heb “despise.”
44. Psalm 102:17 tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 16-17 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 15.
45. Psalm 102:18 tn The Hebrew text has simply “this,” referring to the anticipated divine intervention on behalf of Zion (vv. 13, 16-17). The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
46. Psalm 102:18 tn Or “created.”
47. Psalm 102:19 tn Heb “from the height of his sanctuary.”
48. Psalm 102:19 tn The perfect verbal forms in v. 19 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 18.
49. Psalm 102:20 tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
50. Psalm 102:21 tn Heb “his praise.”
51. Psalm 102:22 tn “and the kingdoms to serve the Lord.”
52. Psalm 102:23 tn Heb “he has afflicted my strength in the way.” The term “way” refers here to the course of the psalmist’s life, which appears to be ending prematurely (vv. 23b-24).
53. Psalm 102:24 tn Heb “do not lift me up in the middle of my days.”
54. Psalm 102:24 tn Heb “in a generation of generations [are] your years.”
55. Psalm 102:26 tn Heb “stand.”
56. Psalm 102:26 tn The Hebrew verb חָלַף (khalaf) occurs twice in this line, once in the Hiphil (“you will remove them”) and once in the Qal (“they will disappear”). The repetition draws attention to the statement.
57. Psalm 102:27 tn Heb “you [are] he,” or “you [are] the one.” The statement may echo the Lord’s affirmation “I am he” in Isa 41:4; 43:10, 13; 46:10; 48:12. In each of these passages the affirmation emphasizes the fact that the Lord transcends time limitations, the very point being made in Ps 102:27.
58. Psalm 102:28 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
59. Psalm 102:28 tn Heb “before you will be established.”
60. Psalm 103:1 sn Psalm 103. The psalmist praises God for his mercy and willingness to forgive his people.
61. Psalm 103:1 tn The verb “praise” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).
62. Psalm 103:2 tn Or “his benefits” (see 2 Chr 32:25, where the noun is also used of kind deeds performed by the Lord).
63. Psalm 103:3 tn This relatively rare noun refers to deadly diseases (see Deut 29:22; Jer 14:18; 16:4; 2 Chr 21:19).
64. Psalm 103:4 tn Or “redeems.”
65. Psalm 103:4 tn The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 55:24 HT [55:23 ET]).
66. Psalm 103:5 tc Heb “who satisfies with the good of your ornaments.” The text as it stands makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes an emendation of עֶדְיֵךְ (ʿedyekh, “your ornaments”) to עֹדֵכִי (ʿodekhi, “your duration; your continuance”), that is, “your life” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 18).
67. Psalm 103:5 sn The expression your youth is renewed like an eagle’s may allude to the phenomenon of molting, whereby the eagle grows new feathers.
68. Psalm 103:6 tn Heb “the Lord does fairness, and [acts of] justice for all the oppressed.”
69. Psalm 103:7 tn Heb “made known his ways.” God’s “ways” in this context are his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 18:30; 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 138:5; 145:17).
70. Psalm 103:8 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).
71. Psalm 103:8 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).
72. Psalm 103:9 tn The Hebrew verb נָטַר (natar) is usually taken to mean “to keep; to guard,” with “anger” being understood by ellipsis. The idiom “to guard anger” is then understood to mean “to remain angry” (see Lev 19:18; Jer 3:5, 12; Nah 1:2). However, it is possible that this is a homonymic root meaning “to be angry” (see HALOT 695 s.v. נטר).
73. Psalm 103:10 tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”
74. Psalm 103:10 tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”
75. Psalm 103:11 tn For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.
76. Psalm 103:11 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
77. Psalm 103:12 tn Heb “sunrise.”
78. Psalm 103:12 tn Or “sunset.”
79. Psalm 103:12 tn The Hebrew term פֶּשַׁע (peshaʿ, rebellious act”) is here used metonymically for the guilt such actions produce.
80. Psalm 103:13 tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.
81. Psalm 103:13 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
82. Psalm 103:14 tn Heb “our form.”
83. Psalm 103:14 tn Heb “remembers.”
84. Psalm 103:14 tn Heb “we [are] clay.”
85. Psalm 103:15 tn Heb “[as for] mankind, like grass [are] his days.” The Hebrew noun אֱנוֹשׁ (ʾenosh) is used here generically of human beings. What is said is true of all mankind.
86. Psalm 103:16 tn Heb “[the] wind.” The word “hot” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
87. Psalm 103:17 tn Heb “but the loyal love of the Lord [is] from everlasting to everlasting over those who fear him.”
88. Psalm 103:17 tn Heb “and his righteousness to sons of sons.”
89. Psalm 103:18 tn Heb “to those who remember his precepts to do them.”
90. Psalm 103:19 tn Heb “his kingdom rules over all.”
91. Psalm 103:20 tn Heb “[you] mighty ones of strength, doers of his word, by listening to the voice of his word.”
92. Psalm 103:21 tn Heb “all his hosts.”
93. Psalm 103:21 tn Heb “his attendants, doers of his desire.”
94. Psalm 103:22 tn Heb “all his works,” which includes mankind.
95. Psalm 103:22 tn Heb “places.”
96. Psalm 104:1 sn Psalm 104. The psalmist praises God as the ruler of the world who sustains all life.
97. Psalm 104:1 tn Heb “very great.”
98. Psalm 104:3 tn Heb “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44-45.
99. Psalm 104:3 sn Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.
100. Psalm 104:4 tc Heb “and his attendants a flaming fire.” The lack of agreement between the singular “fire” and plural “attendants” has prompted various emendations. Some read “fire and flame.” The present translation assumes an emendation from מְשָׁרְתָיו (m^eshar^etayv, “his attendants”) to מְשָׁרְתוֹ (m^eshar^eto, “his attendant”), a reading supported by one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 4Q⁹³.sn In Ugaritic mythology Yam’s messengers appear as flaming fire before the assembly of the gods. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 42.
101. Psalm 104:6 tc Heb “you covered it.” The masculine suffix is problematic if the grammatically feminine noun “earth” is the antecedent. For this reason some emend the form from כִּסִּיתוֹ (kissito) to a feminine verb with feminine suffix, כִּסַּתָּה (kissattah, “[the watery deep] covered it [i.e., the earth]”), a reading assumed by the present translation.
102. Psalm 104:6 tn Heb “stood.”
103. Psalm 104:6 sn Verse 6 refers to the condition described in Gen 1:2 (note the use of the Hebrew term תְּהוֹם [t^ehom, “watery deep”] in both texts).
104. Psalm 104:8 tn Heb “from your shout they fled, from the sound of your thunder they hurried off.”sn Verses 7-8 poetically depict Gen 1:9-10.
105. Psalm 104:9 tn Heb “a boundary you set up, they will not cross, they will not return to cover the earth.”
106. Psalm 104:10 tn Heb “[the] one who sends springs into streams.” Another option is to translate, “he sends streams [i.e., streams that originate from springs] into the valleys” (cf. NIV).
107. Psalm 104:12 tn Heb “among the thick foliage they give a sound.”
108. Psalm 104:13 tn Heb “from his upper rooms.”
109. Psalm 104:13 tn Heb “from the fruit of your works the earth is full.” The translation assumes that “fruit” is literal here. If “fruit” is understood more abstractly as “product; result,” then one could translate, “the earth flourishes as a result of your deeds” (cf. NIV, NRSV, REB).
110. Psalm 104:14 tn Heb “causes the grass to sprout up.”
111. Psalm 104:14 tn Heb “for the service of man” (see Gen 2:5).
112. Psalm 104:14 tn Heb “to cause food to come out from the earth.”
113. Psalm 104:15 tn Heb “and wine [that] makes the heart of man happy.”
114. Psalm 104:15 tn Heb “to make [the] face shine from oil.” The Hebrew verb צָהַל (tsahal, “to shine”) occurs only here in the OT. It appears to be an alternate form of צָהַר (tsahar), a derivative from צָהָרִים (tsaharim, “noon”).
115. Psalm 104:15 tn Heb “and food [that] sustains the heart of man.”
116. Psalm 104:16 sn The trees of the Lord are the cedars of Lebanon (see the next line), which are viewed as special because of their great size and grandeur. The Lebanon forest was viewed elsewhere in the OT as the “garden of God” (see Ezek 31:8).
117. Psalm 104:16 tn Heb “are satisfied,” which means here that they receive abundant rain (see v. 13).
118. Psalm 104:17 tn Heb “[the] heron [in the] evergreens [is] its home.”sn The cedars and evergreens of the Lebanon forest are frequently associated (see, for example, 2 Chr 2:8; Isa 14:8; 37:24; Ezek 31:8).
119. Psalm 104:18 tn Heb “the high mountains [are] for the goats.”
120. Psalm 104:19 tn Heb “he made [the] moon for appointed times.” The phrase “appointed times” probably refers to the months of the Hebrew lunar calendar.
121. Psalm 104:19 tn Heb more metaphorically, “knows its setting.”
122. Psalm 104:20 tn Heb “you make darkness, so that it might be night.”
123. Psalm 104:21 sn The lions’ roaring is viewed as a request for food from God.
124. Psalm 104:22 tn Heb “lie down.”
125. Psalm 104:23 tn Heb “man goes out to his work, and to his labor until evening.”
126. Psalm 104:24 tn Heb “How many [are] your works, O Lord.” In this case the Lord’s “works” are the creatures he has made, as the preceding and following contexts make clear.
127. Psalm 104:24 tn Heb “all of them with wisdom you have made.”
128. Psalm 104:25 tn Heb “this [is] the sea, great and broad of hands [i.e., “sides” or “shores”].”
129. Psalm 104:25 tn Heb “where [there are] swimming things, and without number.”
130. Psalm 104:26 tn Heb “[and] this Leviathan, [which] you formed to play in it.” Elsewhere Leviathan is a multiheaded sea monster that symbolizes forces hostile to God (see Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1), but here it appears to be an actual marine creature created by God, probably some type of whale.
131. Psalm 104:27 tn Heb “All of them.” The pronoun “them” refers not just to the sea creatures mentioned in vv. 25-26, but to all living things (see v. 24). This has been specified in the translation as “all of your creatures” for clarity.
132. Psalm 104:27 tn Heb “to give their food in its time.”
133. Psalm 104:28 tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] good.”
134. Psalm 104:29 tn Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”
135. Psalm 104:31 tn Heb “be forever.”
136. Psalm 104:31 tn Or “rejoice in his works.”
137. Psalm 104:33 tn Heb “in my duration.”
138. Psalm 104:34 tn That is, the psalmist’s thoughts as expressed in his songs of praise.
139. Psalm 104:35 tn Or “be destroyed.”
140. Psalm 105:1 sn Psalm 105. The psalmist summons Israel to praise God because he delivered his people from Egypt in fulfillment of his covenantal promises to Abraham. A parallel version of vv. 1-15 appears in 1 Chr 16:8-22.
141. Psalm 105:5 tn Heb “and the judgments of his mouth.”
142. Psalm 105:6 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
143. Psalm 105:6 tc Some mss have “Israel,” which appears in the parallel version of this psalm in 1 Chr 16:13.
144. Psalm 105:6 tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
145. Psalm 105:6 tn Heb “sons.”
146. Psalm 105:6 tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
147. Psalm 105:7 tn Heb “in all the earth [are] his judgments.”
148. Psalm 105:8 tn Heb “[the] word he commanded.” The text refers here to God’s unconditional covenantal promise to Abraham and the patriarchs, as vv. 10-12 make clear.
149. Psalm 105:9 tn Heb “which.”
150. Psalm 105:10 tn Or “eternal covenant.”
151. Psalm 105:13 tn Heb “and from a kingdom to another nation.”
152. Psalm 105:15 tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
153. Psalm 105:15 tn Heb “anointed.”
154. Psalm 105:16 tn Heb “and every staff of food he broke.” The psalmist refers to the famine that occurred in Joseph’s time (see v. 17 and Gen 41:53-57).
155. Psalm 105:17 tn After the reference to the famine in v. 16, v. 17 flashes back to events that preceded the famine (see Gen 37).
156. Psalm 105:18 tn Heb “they afflicted his feet with shackles.”
157. Psalm 105:18 tn Heb “his neck came [into] iron.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with the suffix could mean simply “he” or “his life.” But the nuance “neck” makes good sense here (note the reference to his “feet” in the preceding line). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 38.
158. Psalm 105:19 tn Heb “word,” probably referring to Joseph’s prediction about the fate of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker (see Gen 41:9-14).
159. Psalm 105:19 tn This line may refer to Joseph’s prediction of the famine in response to Pharaoh’s dream. Joseph emphasized to Pharaoh that the interpretation of the dream came from God (see Gen 41:16, 25, 28, 32, 39).
160. Psalm 105:19 tn Heb “refined him.”
161. Psalm 105:20 tn Heb “[the] king sent and set him free.”
162. Psalm 105:21 tn Heb “he made him master of his house.”
163. Psalm 105:22 tn Heb “to bind his officials by his will.”
164. Psalm 105:22 tn Heb “and his elders he taught wisdom.”
165. Psalm 105:23 tn Heb “entered.”
166. Psalm 105:23 tn Heb “lived as a resident foreigner.”
167. Psalm 105:24 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
168. Psalm 105:24 tn Heb “him,” referring to “his people.”
169. Psalm 105:24 tn Heb “his,” referring to “his people.”
170. Psalm 105:25 tn Heb “their heart.”
171. Psalm 105:25 tn Or “to deal deceptively.” The Hitpael of נָכַל (nakhal) occurs only here and in Gen 37:18, where it is used of Joseph’s brothers “plotting” to kill him.
172. Psalm 105:27 tn Apparently the pronoun refers to “his servants” (i.e., the Israelites, see v. 25).
173. Psalm 105:28 tn Heb “he sent darkness and made it dark.”sn He made it dark. The psalmist begins with the ninth plague (see Exod 10:21-29).
174. Psalm 105:28 tn Heb “they did not rebel against his words.” Apparently this refers to Moses and Aaron, who obediently carried out God’s orders.
175. Psalm 105:31 tn Heb “he spoke and flies came.”
176. Psalm 105:32 tn Heb “he gave their rains hail.”
177. Psalm 105:32 tn Heb “fire of flames [was] in their land.”
178. Psalm 105:34 tn Heb “he spoke and locusts came.”
179. Psalm 105:35 tn Heb “the fruit of their ground.”
180. Psalm 105:36 tn Heb “the beginning of all their strength,” that is, reproductive power (see Ps 78:51).sn Verses 28-36 recall the plagues in a different order than the one presented in Exodus: v. 28 (plague 9), v. 29 (plague 1), v. 30 (plague 2), v. 31a (plague 4), v. 31b (plague 3), vv. 32-33 (plague 7), vv. 34-35 (plague 8), v. 36 (plague 10). No reference is made in Ps 105 to plagues 5 and 6.
181. Psalm 105:37 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Lord’s people) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
182. Psalm 105:37 tn The word “enriched” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
183. Psalm 105:38 tn Heb “for fear of them had fallen upon them.”
184. Psalm 105:39 tn Or “curtain.”
185. Psalm 105:40 tn Heb “he [i.e., his people] asked.” The singular form should probably be emended to a plural שָׁאֲלוּ (shaʾalu, “they asked”), the ו (vav) having fallen off by haplography (note the vav at the beginning of the following form).
186. Psalm 105:40 tn Or “bread of heaven.” The reference is to manna (see Exod 16:4, 13-15).
187. Psalm 105:42 tn Or “for.”
188. Psalm 105:42 tn Heb “his holy word.”
189. Psalm 105:43 tn Heb “and he led his people out with joy, with a ringing cry, his chosen ones.”
190. Psalm 105:44 tn Heb “and the [product of the] work of peoples they possessed.”
191. Psalm 105:45 tn Heb “guard.”