38:19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous; 1
those who hate me without cause outnumber me. 2
68:9 O God, you cause abundant showers to fall 3 on your chosen people. 4
When they 5 are tired, you sustain them, 6
88:18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance; 7
those who know me leave me alone in the darkness. 8
1 tn Heb “and my enemies, life, are many.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “life”) fits very awkwardly here. The translation assumes an emendation to חִנָּם (khinam, “without reason”; note the parallelism with שֶׁקֶר [sheqer, “falsely”] and see Pss 35:19; 69:4; Lam 3:52). The verb עָצַם (’atsam) can sometimes mean “are strong,” but here it probably focuses on numerical superiority (note the parallel verb רָבַב, ravav, “be many”).
2 tn Heb “are many.”
3 tn The verb נוּף (nuf, “cause rain to fall”) is a homonym of the more common נוּף (“brandish”).
4 tn Heb “[on] your inheritance.” This refers to Israel as God’s specially chosen people (see Pss 28:9; 33:12; 74:2; 78:62, 71; 79:1; 94:5, 14; 106:40). Some take “your inheritance” with what follows, but the vav (ו) prefixed to the following word (note וְנִלְאָה, vÿnil’ah) makes this syntactically unlikely.
5 tn Heb “it [is],” referring to God’s “inheritance.”
6 tn Heb “it,” referring to God’s “inheritance.”
7 tn Heb “you cause to be far from me friend and neighbor.”
8 tn Heb “those known by me, darkness.”