69:26 For they harass 1 the one whom you discipline; 2
they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. 3
105:39 He spread out a cloud for a cover, 4
and provided a fire to light up the night.
143:6 I spread my hands out to you in prayer; 5
my soul thirsts for you in a parched 6 land. 7
1 tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”
2 tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”
3 tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).
sn The psalmist is innocent of the false charges made by his enemies (v. 4), but he is also aware of his sinfulness (v. 5) and admits that he experiences divine discipline (v. 26) despite his devotion to God (v. 9). Here he laments that his enemies take advantage of such divine discipline by harassing and slandering him. They “kick him while he’s down,” as the expression goes.
4 tn Or “curtain.”
5 tn The words “in prayer” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the psalmist is referring to a posture of prayer.
6 tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” See Ps 63:1.
7 tc Heb “my soul like a faint land for you.” A verb (perhaps “thirsts”) is implied (see Ps 63:1). The translation assumes an emendation of the preposition -כְּ (kÿ, “like”) to -בְּ (bÿ, “in,” see Ps 63:1; cf. NEB “athirst for thee in a thirsty land”). If the MT is retained, one might translate, “my soul thirsts for you, as a parched land does for water/rain” (cf. NIV, NRSV).