Psalm 19:1-4

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 19:1 sn Psalm 19. The psalmist praises God for his self-revelation in the heavens and in the Mosaic law. The psalmist concludes with a prayer, asking the Lord to keep him from sinning and to approve of his thoughts and words.
2. Psalm 19:1 sn God’s glory refers here to his royal majesty and power.
3. Psalm 19:1 tn Heb “and the work of his hands the sky declares.” The participles emphasize the ongoing testimony of the heavens/sky.
4. Psalm 19:2 tn Heb “it gushes forth a word.” The “sky” (see v. 1b) is the subject of the verb. Though not literally speaking (see v. 3), it clearly reveals God’s royal majesty. The sun’s splendor and its movement across the sky is in view (see vv. 4-6).
5. Psalm 19:2 tn Heb “it [i.e., the sky] declares knowledge,” i.e., knowledge about God’s royal majesty and power (see v. 1). This apparently refers to the splendor and movements of the stars. The imperfect verbal forms in v. 2, like the participles in the preceding verse, combine with the temporal phrases (“day after day” and “night after night”) to emphasize the ongoing testimony of the sky.
6. Psalm 19:3 tn Heb “their.” The antecedent of the plural pronoun is “heavens” (v. 1).
7. Psalm 19:4 tc The MT reads, “their measuring line” (קוּם, qum). The noun קַו (qav, “measuring line”) makes no sense in this context. The reading קוֹלָם (qolam, “their voice”) which is supported by the LXX, is preferable.
8. Psalm 19:4 tn Heb “goes out,” or “proceeds forth.”
9. Psalm 19:4 tn Heb “their” (see the note on the word “its” in v. 3).
10. Psalm 19:4 tn The verb is supplied in the translation. The Hebrew text has no verb; יָצָא (yatsaʾ, “goes out”) is understood by ellipsis.
11. Psalm 19:4 tn Heb “to the end of the world.”
12. Psalm 19:4 tn Heb “in them” (i.e., the heavens).
13. Psalm 19:4 sn He has pitched a tent for the sun. The personified sun emerges from this “tent” in order to make its daytime journey across the sky. So the “tent” must refer metaphorically to the place where the sun goes to rest during the night.