2:2 The kings of the earth 1 form a united front; 2
the rulers collaborate 3
against the Lord and his anointed king. 4
27:3 Even when an army is deployed against me,
I do not fear. 5
Even when war is imminent, 6
I remain confident. 7
27:12 Do not turn me over to my enemies, 8
for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me. 9
35:3 Use your spear and lance 10 against 11 those who chase me!
Assure me with these words: 12 “I am your deliverer!”
41:4 As for me, I said: 13
“O Lord, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you!
41:9 Even my close friend 14 whom I trusted,
he who shared meals with me, has turned against me. 15
43:1 Vindicate me, O God!
Fight for me 17 against an ungodly nation!
Deliver me 18 from deceitful and evil men! 19
56:2 Those who anticipate my defeat 20 attack me all day long.
Indeed, 21 many are fighting against me, O Exalted One. 22
78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them, 23
He sent fury, rage, and trouble
as messengers who bring disaster. 24
107:11 because they had rebelled against God’s commands, 25
and rejected the instructions of the sovereign king. 26
110:6 He executes judgment 27 against 28 the nations;
he fills the valleys with corpses; 29
he shatters their heads over the vast battlefield. 30
135:9 He performed awesome deeds 31 and acts of judgment 32
in your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
1 sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.
2 tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.
3 tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).
4 tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).
5 tn Heb “my heart does not fear.”
6 tn Heb “if war rises up against me.”
7 tn Heb “in this [i.e., “during this situation”] I am trusting.”
8 tn Heb “do not give me over to the desire of my enemies.”
9 tn Heb “for they have risen up against me, lying witnesses and a testifier of violence.” The form יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) is traditionally understood as a verb meaning “snort, breathe out”: “for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty” (KJV; cf. BDB 422 s.v.). A better option is to take the form as a noun meaning “a witness” (or “testifier”). See Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3.
10 tn Or “javelin.” On the meaning of this word, which occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, see M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:210-11.
11 tn Heb “draw out spear and lance to meet.”
12 tn Heb “say to me,” or “say to my soul.”
13 sn In vv. 4-10 the psalmist recites the prayer of petition and lament he offered to the Lord.
14 tn Heb “man of my peace.” The phrase here refers to one’s trusted friend (see Jer 38:22; Obad 7).
15 tn Heb “has made a heel great against me.” The precise meaning of this phrase, which appears only here, is uncertain.
sn The language of this verse is applied to Judas Iscariot in John 13:18.
16 sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew
17 tn Or “argue my case.”
18 tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.
19 tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.
20 tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 59:10.
21 tn Or “for.”
22 tn Some take the Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “on high; above”) as an adverb modifying the preceding participle and translate, “proudly” (cf. NASB; NIV “in their pride”). The present translation assumes the term is a divine title here. The
23 tn Heb “he sent against them the rage of his anger.” The phrase “rage of his anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
24 tn Heb “fury and indignation and trouble, a sending of messengers of disaster.”
25 tn Heb “the words of God.”
26 tn Heb “the counsel of the Most High.”
27 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 6-7 are understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing, though they could be taken as future.
28 tn Or “among.”
29 tn Heb “he fills [with] corpses,” but one expects a double accusative here. The translation assumes an emendation to גְוִיּוֹת גֵאָיוֹת(בִּ) מִלֵּא or מִלֵּא גֵאָיוֹת גְּוִיוֹת (for a similar construction see Ezek 32:5). In the former case גֵאָיוֹת(ge’ayot) has accidentally dropped from the text due to homoioteleuton; in the latter case it has dropped out due to homoioarcton.
30 tn Heb “he strikes [the verb is מָחַץ (makhats), translated “strikes down” in v. 5] head[s] over a great land.” The Hebrew term רַבָּה (rabbah, “great”) is here used of distance or spatial measurement (see 1 Sam 26:13).
31 tn Or “signs” (see Ps 65:8).
32 tn Or “portents”; “omens” (see Ps 71:7). The Egyptian plagues are alluded to here.