Psalm 85:8-10

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 85:8 sn I will listen. Having asked for the Lord’s favor, the psalmist (who here represents the nation) anticipates a divine word of assurance.
2. Psalm 85:8 tn Heb “speak.” The idiom “speak peace” refers to establishing or maintaining peaceful relations with someone (see Gen 37:4; Zech 9:10; cf. Ps 122:8).
3. Psalm 85:8 tn Heb “to his people and to his faithful followers.” The translation assumes that “his people” and “his faithful followers” are viewed as identical here.
4. Psalm 85:8 tn Or “yet let them not.” After the negative particle אֵל (ʾel), the prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating the speaker’s desire or wish.
5. Psalm 85:9 tn Heb “certainly his deliverance [is] near to those who fear him.”
6. Psalm 85:9 tn Heb “to dwell, glory, in our land.” “Glory” is the subject of the infinitive. The infinitive with ל (lamed), “to dwell,” probably indicates result here (“then”). When God delivers his people and renews his relationship with them, he will once more reveal his royal splendor in the land.
7. Psalm 85:10 tn The psalmist probably uses the perfect verbal forms in v. 10 in a dramatic or rhetorical manner, describing what he anticipates as if it were already occurring or had already occurred.
8. Psalm 85:10 sn Deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. The psalmist personifies these abstract qualities to emphasize that God’s loyal love and faithfulness will yield deliverance and peace for his people.