Psalms 118

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The opening formula hodu la-YHWH ki tov ki le'olam chasdo ('give thanks to the LORD for He is good, for His faithful love is forever') is shared with Psalms 106:1, 107:1, and 136:1. It functions as a liturgical refrain that frames the entire psalm (repeated in v. 29). The word chesed is rendered 'faithful love' — the covenant loyalty that does not expire.

Translator Notes

1. The threefold call (Israel, house of Aaron, those who fear the LORD) mirrors Psalm 115:9-11. Each group is invited to affirm the refrain. Israel speaks first as the covenant nation.

Translator Notes

1. The priests add their voice to the refrain. As those who minister closest to God's presence, their testimony carries liturgical authority.

Translator Notes

1. The third group — yir'ei YHWH ('those who fear the LORD') — completes the threefold pattern. This phrase may include God-fearing non-Israelites, extending the scope of praise beyond ethnic boundaries.

Translator Notes

1. The word metzar comes from the root tzarar ('to be narrow, to press, to bind'). It is related to mitzrayim ('Egypt'), and some scholars hear an etymological echo here: Egypt was the original 'narrow place' from which Israel cried out to God. The merchav ('broad place') is the space of freedom, movement, and possibility.

Translator Notes

1. YHWH li ('the LORD is for me / the LORD is mine') is a statement of radical allegiance and confidence. The rhetorical question mah ya'aseh li adam ('what can a human do to me?') is quoted in Hebrews 13:6. The logic is not that humans are powerless but that their power is nothing compared to having the LORD on one's side.

Translator Notes

1. YHWH li be-ozrai ('the LORD is for me among those who help me') — God is not merely one helper among many but the decisive helper whose presence changes everything. The phrase er'eh vesone'ai ('I will look upon those who hate me') implies seeing their defeat, though the word 'defeat' is not stated — the looking itself is an act of vindication.

Translator Notes

1. The word lachsot ('to take refuge, to seek shelter') describes the act of running to God for protection. The contrast with bittoach ba-adam ('trusting in humans') is not cynicism about people but clarity about where ultimate security lies.

Translator Notes

1. The parallel intensifies: if trusting humans generally is inferior to trusting God, trusting nedivim ('princes, nobles, powerful leaders') is equally inferior. Even the most powerful human allies cannot provide what the LORD provides.

Translator Notes

1. Kol goyim sevavuni ('all nations encircled me') — the military imagery describes being completely surrounded. The response is beshem YHWH ki amilam ('in the name of the LORD, surely I cut them off'). The verb mul (Hiphil: amil) means 'to cut off, to circumcise, to remove.' The power to break the siege comes not from military strength but from the name — the authority and presence — of the LORD.

Translator Notes

1. The doubled savvuni gam sevavuni ('they encircled me, they even encircled me') intensifies the sense of siege. The refrain beshem YHWH ki amilam remains unchanged — the response does not escalate with the threat because the LORD's name is already sufficient.

Translator Notes

1. Two similes describe the enemies: kidevorim ('like bees') — swarming, stinging, relentless — and ke-esh qotzim ('like fire of thorns') — fierce and fast but quickly extinguished. Thorn fires burn hot but burn out almost immediately. The enemies are dangerous but unsustainable. The refrain closes the third cycle: in the name of the LORD, they are cut off.

Translator Notes

1. Dachoh dechitani linpol ('pushing you pushed me to fall') — the emphatic infinitive absolute (dachoh) intensifies the verb: the push was severe, determined, intended to destroy. The subject 'you' addresses the enemy directly. The counter-statement is simple: va-YHWH azarani ('but the LORD helped me'). The contrast between the elaborate description of the attack and the brief statement of rescue dramatizes the sufficiency of divine help.

Translator Notes

1. The phrase ozzi ve-zimrat Yah is identical to Exodus 15:2a and Isaiah 12:2. The intertextual connection is deliberate — every subsequent rescue by the LORD is a re-enactment of the Exodus. The word zimrat can mean 'song' or 'strength/protection' (from a separate root zamar meaning 'to be strong'), and the ambiguity may be intentional.

Translator Notes

1. Qol rinnah vishu'ah ('the sound of joyful shouting and salvation') fills be-oholei tzaddiqim ('the tents of the righteous'). The 'tents' may refer to actual dwellings, to festival booths, or to the encampment metaphor for God's people. The quotation within the psalm — yemin YHWH osah chayil ('the right hand of the LORD does valiantly') — is what the righteous are shouting. The yemin ('right hand') is the hand of power, of oath-taking, of action.

Translator Notes

1. The triple mention of yemin YHWH ('the right hand of the LORD') across verses 15-16 creates a drumbeat of celebration. The verb romemah ('is raised high, is exalted') pictures God's hand lifted in victory — the image of a warrior who has won the fight and raises his weapon-hand in triumph.

Translator Notes

1. The phrase lo amut ki echyeh has become one of the most quoted lines in the Psalms. The ki ('but, rather') is adversative, creating a sharp contrast: not death but life. The verb sapper ('to recount, to tell, to declare') is the verb of testimony — the survivor becomes a witness.

Translator Notes

1. Yassor yisserani Yah ('disciplining the LORD disciplined me') — the emphatic infinitive absolute acknowledges that the suffering was real and severe, and that it came from the LORD. This is not enemy action alone but divine discipline. Yet ve-la-mavet lo netanani ('but to death He did not give me') — the discipline had a limit. God chastened but did not destroy. The distinction between discipline and destruction is crucial: discipline serves a purpose; destruction ends all purpose.

Translator Notes

1. The scene shifts to the Temple: pitchu li sha'arei tzedeq ('open for me the gates of righteousness'). The sha'arei tzedeq ('gates of righteousness') are the Temple gates through which the righteous enter to worship. The psalmist, having survived the crisis, now approaches the place of thanksgiving. The verb odeh ('I will give thanks') indicates that the purpose of entering is public testimony.

Translator Notes

1. A voice (perhaps a gatekeeper or Levite) responds: zeh ha-sha'ar la-YHWH ('this is the gate belonging to the LORD') — the gate is identified as divine property. The condition of entry: tzaddiqim yavo'u vo ('the righteous will enter through it'). The exchange suggests a liturgical dialogue between the one approaching and those guarding the entrance.

Translator Notes

1. Now inside the gates, the psalmist addresses God directly: odekha ki anitani ('I thank You for You answered me'). The verb anah ('to answer') confirms that the prayer of distress (v. 5) was heard and responded to. The phrase vattehi li lishu'ah ('and You became my salvation') repeats verse 14b, creating a structural echo.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The rosh pinnah ('head of the corner') is the most important stone in a building — it sets the angle, determines the alignment, and bears the weight of two walls. Some scholars identify it as the capstone rather than the foundation stone, but in either case it is the stone that holds the structure together. Jesus applies this verse to Himself in Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, and Luke 20:17. Peter uses it in Acts 4:11 and 1 Peter 2:7.

Translator Notes

1. Me-et YHWH hayetah zot ('from the LORD this has come about') — the reversal was not human cleverness but divine action. The word nifla't ('wonderful, marvelous') comes from the root pala ('to be extraordinary, beyond human capacity'). The reversal exceeds what anyone could have planned or expected — it can only be explained as God's work.

Translator Notes

1. Zeh ha-yom asah YHWH ('this is the day the LORD has made') — the 'day' is not a generic day but this specific day of reversal and vindication. The LORD 'made' it in the sense that He brought it about, orchestrated it, caused it to happen. The response is nagilah venismechah vo ('let us exult and rejoice in it') — corporate celebration of what God has done.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The double anna YHWH ('please, LORD') is urgent entreaty. The verbs hoshi'ah na ('save, please!') and hatzlichah na ('grant success, please!') form the Hebrew phrase from which 'Hosanna' derives. Hoshi'ah na became Hosanna in Greek transliteration — the crowd's cry at Jesus' triumphal entry (Matthew 21:9) is a direct quotation of this verse.

Translator Notes

1. In the original liturgical setting, this may have been spoken by the priests to a king or pilgrim arriving at the Temple. In its New Testament application, the phrase takes on messianic significance — Jesus is identified as 'the one who comes' in God's name, and His entry into Jerusalem is framed as a fulfillment of this psalm.

Translator Notes

1. El YHWH vayyaer lanu ('the LORD is God, and He has shone upon us') — the verb he'ir ('to give light, to shine') may refer to the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:25 ('the LORD make His face shine upon you'). The second instruction — isru chag ba-avotim ad qarnot ha-mizbeach ('bind the festival offering with cords/branches up to the horns of the altar') — describes the preparation of the sacrifice. The avotim can mean 'cords' or 'thick branches.' The qarnot ha-mizbeach ('horns of the altar') were the projecting corners of the sacrificial altar.

Translator Notes

1. Eli attah ve-odekka ('You are my God and I will thank You') — the personal declaration. The shift from communal praise to individual address is intimate: attah ('You') is direct, face-to-face language. The psalmist claims God personally — not merely 'our God' but 'my God' — and pledges both thanksgiving (odekka) and exaltation (aromemekka).

Translator Notes

1. The psalm closes with the same refrain that opened it (v. 1): hodu la-YHWH ki tov ki le'olam chasdo. The frame is complete. Everything between the two refrains — the distress, the siege, the rescue, the rejected stone, the opened gates, the festival procession — is contained within and explained by the steadfast faithful love of the LORD.