3:6 He has made me reside in deepest darkness 1
like those who died long ago.
3:45 You make us like filthy scum 2
in the estimation 3 of the nations.
צ (Tsade)
3:52 For no good reason 4 my enemies
hunted me down 5 like a bird.
1 tn The plural form of the noun מַחֲשַׁכִּים (makhashakkim, “darknesses”) is an example of the plural of intensity (see IBHS 122 §7.4.3a).
2 tn Heb “offscouring and refuse.” The two nouns סְחִי וּמָאוֹס (sÿkhi uma’os) probably form a nominal hendiadys, in which the first noun functions as an adjective and the second retains its full nominal sense: “filthy refuse,” i.e., “filthy scum.”
3 tn Heb “in the midst of.”
4 tn Heb “without cause.”
5 tn The construction צוֹד צָדוּנִי (tsod tsaduni, “they have hunted me down”) is emphatic: Qal infinitive absolute of the same root of Qal perfect 3rd person common plural + 1st person common singular suffix.