Psalms 86:12
1016
Make me wholeheartedly committed to
you!
86:12 O Lord, my God, I will give you
thanks with my whole heart!
I will honor your name continually!
86:13 For you will extend your great loyal
love to me,
and will deliver my life from the depths
of Sheol.
86:14 O God, arrogant men attack me;
a gang of ruthless men, who do not re-
spect you, seek my life.
86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassion-
ate and merciful God.
You are patient and demonstrate great
loyal love and faithfulness.10
86:16 Turn toward me and have mercy on
me!
Give your servant your strength!
Deliver your slave!11
86:17 Show me evidence of your favor!12
Then those who hate me will see it and
be ashamed,13
for you, O Lord, will help me and com-
fort me.14
 tn Heb “Bind my heart to the fearing of your name.” The
verb translated “bind” occurs only here in the Piel stem. It
appears twice in the Qal, meaning “be joined” in both cases
(Gen 49:6; Isa 14:20). To “fear” God’s name means to have
a healthy respect for him which in turn motivates one to obey
his commands (see Pss 61:5; 102:15).
 tn Or “forever.”
 tn Heb “for your loyal love [is] great over me.”
 tn Or “for he will have delivered my life.” The verb form
indicates a future perfect here.
 tn Or “lower Sheol.”
 tn Heb “rise up against me.”
 tn Or “assembly.”
 tn Heb “seek my life and do not set you before them.” See
Ps 54:3.
 tn Heb “slow to anger.”
10 tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”
sn The psalmist’s confession of faith in this verse echoes
Exod 34:6.
11 tn Heb “the son of your female servant.” The phrase
“son of a female servant” (see also Ps 116:16) is used of a
son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In
some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see
Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here
certainly does not imply that the Lord has such a secondary
wife or concubine! It is used metaphorically and idiomatically
to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his
status as the Lord’s servant.
12 tn Heb “Work with me a sign for good.” The expression
“work a sign” also occurs in Judg 6:17.
13 tn After the imperative in the preceding line (“work”), the
prefixed verb forms with prefixed vav (‫ )ו‬conjunctive indicate
purpose or result.
14 tn The perfect verbal forms are understood here as dra-
matic/rhetorical, expressing the psalmist’s certitude that
such a sign from the Lord will be followed by his intervention.
Another option is to understand the forms as future perfects
(“for you, O Lord, will have helped me and comforted me”).
Psalm 8715
Written by the Korahites; a psalm, a song.
87:1 The Lord’s city is in the holy hills.16
87:2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Ja-
cob.
87:3 People say wonderful things about
you,17
O city of God. (Selah)
87:4 I mention Rahab18 and Babylon to
my followers.19
Here are20 Philistia and Tyre,21 along with
Ethiopia.22
It is said of them, “This one was born
there.”23
87:5 But it is said of Zion’s residents,24
“Each one of these25 was born in her,
and the sovereign One26 makes her
secure.”27
15 sn Psalm 87. The psalmist celebrates the Lord’s pres-
ence in Zion and the special status of its citizens.
16 tn Heb “his foundation [is] in the hills of holiness.” The
expression “his foundation” refers here by metonymy to the
Lord’s dwelling place in Zion. The “hills” are the ones sur-
rounding Zion (see Pss 125:2; 133:3).
17 tn Heb “glorious things are spoken about you.” The trans-
lation assumes this is a general reference to compliments
paid to Zion by those who live within her walls and by those
who live in the surrounding areas and lands. Another option is
that this refers to a prophetic oracle about the city’s glorious
future. In this case one could translate, “wonderful things are
announced concerning you.”
18 sn “Rahab,” which means “proud one,” is used here as a
title for Egypt (see Isa 30:7).
19 tn Heb “to those who know me” (see Ps 36:10). Appar-
ently the Lord speaks here. The verbal construction (the Hi-
phil of ‫זָכַ ר‬, zakhar, “remember” followed by the preposition -‫ְל‬
[le] with a substantive) is rare, but the prepositional phrase is
best understood as indicating the recipient of the announce-
ment (see Jer 4:16). Some take the preposition in the sense
of “among” and translate, “among those who know me” (cf.
NEB, NIV, NRSV). In this case these foreigners are viewed as
the Lord’s people and the psalm is interpreted as anticipating
a time when all nations will worship the Lord (see Ps 86:9)
and be considered citizens of Zion.
20 tn Heb “Look.”
21 map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1;
JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
22 tn Heb “Cush.”
23 tn Heb “and this one was born there.” The words “It is
said of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for
clarification and stylistic purposes (see v. 5). Those advocat-
ing the universalistic interpretation understand “there” as re-
ferring to Zion, but it seems more likely that the adverb refers
to the nations just mentioned. The foreigners are identified by
their native lands.
24 tn Heb “and of Zion it is said.” Another option is to trans-
late, “and to Zion it is said.” In collocation with the Niphal of
‫’( ָא ַמר‬amar), the preposition lamed (-‫ ) ְל‬can introduce the re-
cipient of the statement (see Josh 2:2; Jer 4:11; Hos 1:10;
Zeph 3:16), carry the nuance “concerning, of” (see Num
23:23), or mean “be named” (see Isa 4:3; 62:4).
25 tn Heb “a man and a man.” The idiom also appears in
Esth 1:8. The translation assumes that the phrase refers to
each of Zion’s residents, in contrast to the foreigners men-
tioned in v. 4. Those advocating the universalistic interpreta-
tion understand this as a reference to each of the nations,
including those mentioned in v. 4.
26 tn Traditionally “Most High.”
27 tn Heb “and he makes her secure, the Most High.”