10:8 He waits in ambush near the villages; 1
in hidden places he kills the innocent.
His eyes look for some unfortunate victim. 2
17:12 He 3 is like a lion 4 that wants to tear its prey to bits, 5
like a young lion crouching 6 in hidden places.
74:8 They say to themselves, 7
“We will oppress all of them.” 8
They burn down all the places where people worship God in the land. 9
1 tn Heb “he sits in the ambush of the villages.”
2 tn Heb “his eyes for an unfortunate person lie hidden.” The language may picture a lion (see v. 9) peering out from its hiding place in anticipation that an unsuspecting victim will soon come strolling along.
3 tn Here the psalmist switches to the singular pronoun; he views his enemies collectively, or singles out a representative of the group, perhaps its leader.
4 tn Heb “his likeness [is] like a lion.”
5 tn Heb “[that] longs to tear.”
6 tn Heb “sitting.”
7 tn Heb “in their heart.”
8 tc Heb “[?] altogether.” The Hebrew form נִינָם (ninam) is problematic. It could be understood as the noun נִין (nin, “offspring”) but the statement “their offspring altogether” would make no sense here. C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:159) emends יָחַד (yakhad, “altogether”) to יָחִיד (yakhid, “alone”) and translate “let their offspring be solitary” (i.e., exiled). Another option is to understand the form as a Qal imperfect first common plural from יָנָה (yanah, “to oppress”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix, “we will oppress them.” However, this verb, when used in the finite form, always appears in the Hiphil. Therefore, it is preferable to emend the form to the Hiphil נוֹנֵם (nonem, “we will oppress them”).
9 tn Heb “they burn down all the meeting places of God in the land.”