Psalm 143-145

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 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.
2. Psalm 143:2 tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”
3. Psalm 143:2 tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”
4. Psalm 143:3 tn Or “for.”
5. 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).
6. Psalm 143:3 tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”
7. Psalm 143:3 tn Or “sit.”
8. 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).
9. Psalm 143:4 tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”
10. 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.
11. Psalm 143:5 tn Or “ancient times”; Heb “days from before.”
12. Psalm 143:5 tn Heb “the work of your hands.”
13. 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.
14. Psalm 143:6 tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” See Ps 63:1.
15. 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).
16. Psalm 143:7 tn Heb “my spirit is failing.”
17. 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).
18. Psalm 143:7 tn Heb “I will be equal with.”
19. 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.
20. 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).
21. Psalm 143:8 sn The way probably refers here to God’s moral and ethical standards and requirements (see v. 10).
22. 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).
23. 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.
24. Psalm 143:10 tn Or “your will.” See Ps 40:8.
25. 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).
26. 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.
27. 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.
28. Psalm 143:11 tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
29. 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.
30. Psalm 143:11 tn Heb “by your justice bring out my life from trouble.”
31. Psalm 143:12 tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”
32. Psalm 143:12 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect.
33. Psalm 143:12 tn Heb “all the enemies of my life.”
34. 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.
35. 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.
36. Psalm 144:1 tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord, my rocky summit.”
37. 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.
38. 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).
39. Psalm 144:2 tn Or “my elevated place.”
40. Psalm 144:2 tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”
41. 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.
42. 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.
43. Psalm 144:3 tn Heb “take account of him.” The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 describe God’s characteristic activity.
44. Psalm 144:4 tn Heb “man,” or “mankind.”
45. 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.
46. 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.
47. 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.
48. Psalm 144:5 tn Heb “so they might smolder.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative.
49. 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).
50. Psalm 144:7 tn Heb “stretch out your hands.”
51. 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).
52. Psalm 144:7 tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”
53. 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).
54. Psalm 144:10 tn Heb “grants deliverance to.”
55. Psalm 144:10 tn Heb “harmful.”
56. Psalm 144:11 tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”
57. 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.
58. 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.
59. 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.”
60. Psalm 144:12 tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here and in Zech 9:15, where it refers to the corners of an altar.
61. Psalm 144:12 tn Heb “carved [in] the pattern of a palace.”
62. Psalm 144:13 tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here.
63. 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”).
64. Psalm 144:13 tn Heb “they are innumerable.”
65. Psalm 144:13 tn Heb “in outside places.” Here the term refers to pastures and fields (see Job 5:10; Prov 8:26).
66. 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).
67. 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.”
68. Psalm 144:15 tn Heb “[O] the happiness of the people who [it is] such to them.”
69. Psalm 145:1 sn Psalm 145. The psalmist praises God because he is a just and merciful king who cares for his people.
70. Psalm 145:1 tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”
71. Psalm 145:2 tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”
72. Psalm 145:3 tn Heb “and concerning his greatness there is no searching.”
73. 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.”
74. Psalm 145:5 tn Heb “the splendor of the glory of your majesty, and the matters of your amazing deeds I will ponder.”
75. 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.”
76. Psalm 145:7 tn Heb “the fame of the greatness of your goodness.”
77. 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.”
78. Psalm 145:8 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).
79. Psalm 145:8 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).
80. Psalm 145:9 tn Heb “and his compassion is over all his works.”
81. Psalm 145:12 tn Heb “the sons of man.”
82. Psalm 145:13 tn Heb “a kingdom of all ages.”
83. 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.
84. Psalm 145:14 tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).
85. Psalm 145:15 tn Heb “the eyes of all wait for you.”
86. Psalm 145:15 tn Heb “and you give to them their food in its season” (see Ps 104:27).
87. Psalm 145:16 tn Heb “[with what they] desire.”
88. Psalm 145:17 tn Heb “in all his ways.”
89. Psalm 145:17 tn Heb “and [is] loving in all his deeds.”
90. Psalm 145:18 tn Heb “in truth.”
91. Psalm 145:19 tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.
92. Psalm 145:19 tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”
93. Psalm 145:21 tn Heb “the praise of the Lord my mouth will speak.”
94. Psalm 145:21 tn Heb “all flesh.”