Monday, August 21, 2023

Psalm 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 annotated

This translation is from the New American Bible. Other translations are available here.  Information about the original Hebrew meaning of what seems to be the key words is provided in blue immediately below the scriptural text. Collections of scriptures addressing similar principles are hyperlinked at the end of this post.

 

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R.(cf. 2)  Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
I lift up my eyes toward the mountains; whence shall help come to me?
My help is from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.


R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
May he not suffer your foot to slip; may he slumber not who guards you:
indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps, the guardian of Israel.


R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade; he is beside you at your right hand.
The sun shall not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.


R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD will guard you from all evil; he will guard your life.
The LORD will guard your coming and your going, both now and forever.
R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

 

help = עֵזֶר = `ezer  Blue Letter Bible  succor; aid; one who helps

 

made = עָשָׂה = ʿāśâ  Blue Letter Bible  to do, fashion, accomplish, make; work, make, produce; to deal (with); to act, act with effect, effect; to attend to, put in order; to observe, celebrate; accomplish, advance; follow, fulfill; be industrious, labor; yield; produce by labor

 

lifts up = נָשָׂא = nāśā' Blue Letter Bible  to lift, bear up, carry, take;  to bear, carry, support, sustain, endure; bear continuously; take, receive, take hold of; accept

 

eyes = עַיִן = ʿayin  Blue Letter Bible  eye; before my eyes; set one eyes on; spring, fountain

 

help—see above

 

suffer = נָתַן = nāṯan  Blue Letter Bible  permit; cause; to give, bestow, grant; consecrate, devote, dedicate; entrust, give over, deliver up; yield, produce; be (healed); pour; print; teach; to apply the heart to; to constitute, to make a thing like or similar to

 

slip = מוֹט = môṭ  Blue Letter Bible  a shaking, wavering, fall; pole, staff, bar of yoke 

 

slumber = נוּם = nûm  Blue Letter Bible  to be drowsy, slumber, sleep through indolence or sloth; figurative of inactivity, indolence

 

guards = שָׁמַר = šāmar  Blue Letter Bible  to keep, guard, observe, give heed; retain, treasure up (in memory); preserve; attend to

 

slumber—see above

 

sleeps = יָשַׁן = yāšan  Blue Letter Bible   to sleep, be asleep; to be slack or languid; to grow old, stale or inveterate; become inactive or stationary; flaccid, dried

 

guardian—see “guards” above

 

shade = צֵל = ṣēl  Blue Letter Bible  shade, protection

 

beside = עַל = ʿal  Blue Letter Bible  in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over; (of elevation or pre-eminence); surpassing, going beyond

 

right = יָמִין = yāmîn  Blue Letter Bible the stronger and more dexterous; prosperous; the right or south side  

 

hand = יָד = yāḏ  Blue Letter Bible  hand; strength, power (fig.); means, direction; force; ministry 

 

harm = נָכָה = nāḵâ  Blue Letter Bible  strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill, slaughter, murder; beat, scourge; give a thrust; attack; destroy, conquer, subjugate, ravage; chastise, punish; send judgment upon; give stripes; be defeated

 

guard—see “guards” above

 

life = נֶפֶשׁ = nep̄eš  Blue Letter Bible  soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion; the inner being of man; seat of the appetites; seat of emotions and passions; the mode of feeling/acting, understanding and the faculty of thinking

 

guard—see “guards” above

 

coming = בּוֹא = bô' Blue Letter Bible to go in, enter, come, go, come in; to bring in, cause to come in, gather, cause to come, bring near, bring upon; carry; fetch; follow;entering into specific relations; walk, associate with

 

going = יָצָא = yāṣā'  Blue Letter Bible  to cause to go or come out, bring out, lead out; to go out, to carry, pluck, pull out; send with commandment, shoot forth; carry or bring out; take or draw out; come out, exit, go forth; to deliver; bring forth (out, up), carry out; go forth; to rise 

 

now = עַתָּה = ʿatâ  Blue Letter Bible  now; at this time; henceforth; straightway, this time; already; presently; the present time

 

forever = עַד = ʿaḏ  Blue Letter Bible  perpetuity, eternity; even to, until,  so long as, unto, till, during, end; as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as;  to the point that, so that even; as far (or long, or much) as

 

Scriptures addressing similar principles are collected at:

 

Wisdom Principles—God is a Refuge for Those Who Love Him 

 

Wisdom principles--Fortitude

 

Wisdom Principles—Rely on God, not Material Power or Wealth   

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