translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PSA

label: NET translator note

text: Or “exult.”


text: Heb “they gush forth [words].”


text: The Hitpael of אָמַר (’ amar ) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6 ).


text: Or “your inheritance.”


text: The Hebrew noun יָתוֹם ( yatom ) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9 ). Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 10:14; 68:5; 82:3; 146:9 ; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21 ).


text: Heb “does not understand.”


text: Heb “understand.” The verb used in v. 7 is repeated here for rhetorical effect. The people referred to here claim God is ignorant of their actions, but the psalmist corrects their faulty viewpoint.


text: Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”


text: Heb “The one who plants an ear, does he not hear? The one who forms an eye, does he not see?”


text: Heb “the Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are emptiness.” The psalmist thinks specifically of the “thoughts” expressed in v. 7 .


text: Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in v. 2 .


text: Heb “to give him rest from the days of trouble.”


text: Heb “until a pit is dug for the wicked.”


text: Or “for.”


text: Or “his inheritance.”


text: Heb “for judgment will return to justice.”


text: Heb “all the pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 97:11 ).


text: Heb “and after it [are] the pure of heart.”


text: Heb “for me.”


text: Heb “If the Lord [were] not my help, quickly my life would have lain down in silence.” The psalmist, perhaps speaking as the nation’s representative, recalls God’s past intervention. For other examples of conditional sentences with the term לוּלֵי ( luley , “if not”) in the protasis and a perfect verbal form in the apodosis, see Pss 119:92 and 124:2-5 .


text: Heb “when my worries are many within me.”


text: Heb “your comforts cause my soul to delight.”


text: Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.


text: Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.


text: Or “attack.”


text: Heb “the life of the blameless.”


text: Heb “and the blood of the innocent they declare guilty.”


text: Heb “and the Lord has become my elevated place.” The prefixed verbal form with vav ( ו ) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.


text: Heb “and my God [has become] a rocky summit of my safety.”


text: The prefixed verbal form with vav ( ו ) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.


text: Or “in.”