Footnotes

1. Psalm 33:1 sn Psalm 33. In this hymn the psalmist praises the Lord as the sovereign creator and just ruler of the world who protects and vindicates those who fear him.
2. Psalm 33:3 sn A new song is appropriate because the Lord is constantly intervening in the lives of his people in fresh and exciting ways.
3. Psalm 33:3 tn Heb “play skillfully with a loud shout.”
4. Psalm 33:4 tn Heb “word.” In this context, which depicts the Lord as the sovereign creator and ruler of the world, the Lord’s “word” refers to the decrees whereby he governs his dominion.
5. Psalm 33:4 tn Or “upright.”
6. Psalm 33:4 tn Heb “and all his work [is done] with faithfulness.”
7. Psalm 33:5 tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of equity and justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world.
8. Psalm 33:5 tn Heb “fills the earth.”
9. Psalm 33:6 tn Heb “word.”
10. Psalm 33:6 tn The word רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit, wind, breath”) is used in the creation account in Gen 1:2 “the Spirit of God was moving.” Here parallel to “decree/word,” it recalls the account of God speaking in order to create (cf. Gen 1:14).
11. Psalm 33:7 tn Heb “[he] gathers like a pile the waters of the sea.” Some prefer to emend נֵד (ned, “heap, pile”; cf. NASB) to נֹד (nod, “bottle”; cf. NRSV; NIV “into jars”), but “pile” is used elsewhere to describe water that the Lord confines to one place (Exod 15:8; Josh 3:13, 16; Ps 78:13). This verse appears to refer to Gen 1:9, where God decrees that the watery deep be gathered to one place so that dry land might appear. If so, the participles in this and the following line depict this action with special vividness, as if the reader were present on the occasion. Another option is that the participles picture the confinement of the sea to one place as an ongoing divine activity.
12. Psalm 33:7 tn Or “watery depths.” The form תְּהוֹמוֹת (t^ehomot, “watery depths”) is the plural form of תְּהוֹם (t^ehom, “great deep”; see Gen 1:2).
13. Psalm 33:8 tn In this context “fear” probably means “to demonstrate respect for the Lord’s power and authority by worshiping him and obeying his commandments.”
14. Psalm 33:9 tn That is, “all the earth” in the first line of v. 8. The apparent antecedent of the masculine subject of the verbs in v. 9 (note וַיֶּהִי [vayyehiy] and וַיַּעֲמֹד [vayyaʿamod]) is “earth” or “world,” both of which are feminine nouns. However, כָּל (kol, “all”) may be the antecedent, or the apparent lack of agreement may be explained by the collective nature of the nouns involved here (see GKC 463 §145.e).
15. Psalm 33:9 tn Heb “he commanded.”
16. Psalm 33:10 tn Heb “breaks” or “destroys.” The Hebrew perfect verbal forms here and in the next line generalize about the Lord’s activity.
17. Psalm 33:10 tn Heb “thoughts.”
18. Psalm 33:11 tn Heb “the thoughts of his heart for generation to generation.” The verb “abides” is supplied in the translation. The Lord’s “decisions” and “plans” here refer to his decrees and purposes.
19. Psalm 33:12 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
20. Psalm 33:12 tn Heb “inheritance.”
21. Psalm 33:13 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal forms in v. 13 state general facts.
22. Psalm 33:13 tn Heb “all the sons of men.”
23. Psalm 33:15 tn Heb “the one who forms together their heart[s].” “Heart” here refers to human nature, composed of intellect, emotions and will. The precise force of יָחַד (yakhad, “together”) is unclear here. The point seems to be that the Lord is the creator of every human being.
24. Psalm 33:17 tn Heb “a lie [is] the horse for victory.”
25. Psalm 33:18 tn Heb “look, the eye of the Lord [is] toward the ones who fear him.” The expression “the eye…[is] toward” here indicates recognition and the bestowing of favor. See Ps 34:15. The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.
26. Psalm 33:18 tn Heb “for the ones who wait for his faithfulness.”
27. Psalm 33:19 tn Heb “to save from death their live[s].”
28. Psalm 33:19 tn Heb “and to keep them alive in famine.”
29. Psalm 33:20 tn Or “our lives.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being, life”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
30. Psalm 33:20 tn Or “[source of] help.”
31. Psalm 33:20 tn Or “protector.”
32. Psalm 33:22 tn Heb “let your faithfulness, O Lord, be on us.”
33. Psalm 33:22 tn Or “just as.”