translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PSA

label: NET translator note

text: The word נְאֻם ( nÿ ’ um ) is used frequently in the OT of a formal divine announcement through a prophet.


text: To sit at the “right hand” of the king was an honor (see 1 Kgs 2:19 ). In Ugaritic myth ( CTA 4 v. 108-10) the artisan god Kothar-and Khasis is described as sitting at the right hand of the storm god Baal. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends , 61-62. sn The Lord’s invitation to the Davidic king to sit down at his right hand reflects the king’s position as the Lord’s vice-regent.


text: Since the Lord is mentioned in the third person (note the use of the first person in v. 1 ), it is likely that these are the psalmist’s words to the king, not a continuation of the oracle per se.


text: The prefixed verbal form is understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing, though it could be taken as future.


text: Heb “your strong scepter,” symbolic of the king’s royal authority and dominion.


text: Heb “your people, free will offerings.” Perhaps the people, in their willingness to volunteer, are compared metaphorically to freewill offerings. Following the LXX, some revocalize the text and read “with you is nobility.”


text: Heb “in the day of your power.”


label: NET textual note

text: Heb “in splendor of holiness.” The plural construct form הַדְרֵי ( hadrey , from הָדַר , hadar , “splendor”) occurs only here; it may indicate degree or perhaps refer by metonymy to garments (see Pss 29:2 and 96:9 , where the phrase הַדְרַת קֹדֶשׁ [ hadrat qodesh ] refers to “holy attire”). If one retains the reading of the MT, this phrase should probably be taken with the preceding line. However, because of the subsequent references to “dawn” and to “dew,” it is better to emend the text to הַרְרֵי קֹדֶשׁ ( harrey qodesh , “mountains of holiness”), a reading found in many medieval Hebrew mss and in some other ancient witnesses (see Joel 2:2 ; Ps 133:3 , as well as L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 80). The “mountains of holiness” are probably the hills surrounding Zion (see Ps 87:1; 125:2; 133:3 ).


text: Heb “from the womb of dawn.” The Hebrew noun רֶחֶם ( rekhem , “womb”) is probably used here metonymically for “birth.” The form מִשְׁחָר ( mishkhar ) occurs only here and should be emended to שַׁחַר ( shakhar , “dawn”) with the mem ( מ ) being understood as dittographic (note the final mem [ ם ] on the preceding word). The phrase “womb [i.e., “birth”] of dawn” refers to sunrise.


text: Heb “to you [is].”


text: Or “swears, vows.”


text: Or “will not change his mind.” The negated Niphal imperfect of נָחַם ( nakham ) is a way of marking an announcement as an irrevocable decree. See 1 Sam 15:29 ; Ezek 24:14 , as well as R. B. Chisholm, “Does God ‘Change His Mind’?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.


text: The phrase עַל־דִּבְרָתִי (’ al-divratiy ) is a variant of עַל־דִּבְרָת (’ al-divrat ; the final yod [ י ] being an archaic genitival ending), which in turn is a variant of עַל דָּבַר (’ al davar ). Both phrases can mean “concerning” or “because of,” but neither of these nuances fits the use of עַל־דִּבְרָתִי in Ps 110:4 . Here the phrase probably carries the sense “according to the manner of.” See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 81.


text: As pointed in the Hebrew text, this title refers to God (many medieval Hebrew mss read יְהוָה , yehveh , “ Lord ” here). The present translation assumes that the psalmist here addresses the Lord as he celebrates what the king is able to accomplish while positioned at God’s “right hand.” According to this view the king is the subject of the third person verb forms in vv. 5 b-7. (2) Another option is to understand the king as the addressee (as in vv. 2-3 ). In this case “the Lord ” is the subject of the third person verbs throughout vv. 5-7 and is depicted as a warrior in a very anthropomorphic manner. In this case the Lord is pictured as being at the psalmist’s right hand (just the opposite of v. 1 ). See Pss 16:8; 121:5 . (3) A third option is to revocalize אֲדֹנָי (’ adonay , “ Lord ”) as אֲדֹנִי (’ adoniy , “my lord”; see v. 1 ). In this case one may translate, “My lord, at his [God’s] right hand, strikes down.” In this case the king is the subject of the third person verbs in vv. 5 b-7.


text: The perfect verbal forms in vv. 5-6 are understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing. Another option is to take them as rhetorical. In this case the psalmist describes anticipated events as if they had already taken place.


text: Heb “in the day of his anger.”


text: The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 6-7 are understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing, though they could be taken as future.


text: Or “among.”


text: Heb “he fills [with] corpses,” but one expects a double accusative here. The translation assumes an emendation to גְוִיּוֹת גֵאָיוֹת ( בִּ ) מִלֵּא or מִלֵּא גֵאָיוֹת גְּוִיוֹת (for a similar construction see Ezek 32:5 ). In the former case גֵאָיוֹת ( ge ’ ayot ) has accidentally dropped from the text due to homoioteleuton; in the latter case it has dropped out due to homoioarcton.


text: Heb “he strikes [the verb is מָחַץ ( makhats ), translated “strikes down” in v. 5 ] head[s] over a great land.” The Hebrew term רַבָּה ( rabbah , “great”) is here used of distance or spatial measurement (see 1 Sam 26:13 ).


text: Here the expression “lifts up the head” refers to the renewed physical strength and emotional vigor (see Ps 3:3 ) provided by the refreshing water. For another example of a victorious warrior being energized by water in the aftermath of battle, see Judg 15:18-19 (see also 1 Sam 30:11-12 , where the setting is different, however).