64:3 They 1 sharpen their tongues like a sword;
they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, 2
64:7 But God will shoot 3 at them;
suddenly they will be 4 wounded by an arrow. 5
91:5 You need not fear the terrors of the night, 6
the arrow that flies by day,
1 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “a bitter word.”
3 tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive is normally used in narrative contexts to describe completed past actions. It is possible that the conclusion to the psalm (vv. 7-10) was added to the lament after God’s judgment of the wicked in response to the psalmist’s lament (vv. 1-6). The translation assumes that these verses are anticipatory and express the psalmist’s confidence that God would eventually judge the wicked. The psalmist uses a narrative style as a rhetorical device to emphasize his certitude. See GKC 329-30 §111.w.
4 tn The perfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s certitude about the coming demise of the wicked.
5 tn The translation follows the traditional accentuation of the MT. Another option is to translate, “But God will shoot them down with an arrow, suddenly they will be wounded” (cf. NIV, NRSV).
6 tn This probably alludes to a sneak attack by enemies in the darkness of night (see Song 3:8).