9:13 when they prayed: 1
“Have mercy on me, 2 Lord!
See how I am oppressed by those who hate me, 3
O one who can snatch me away 4 from the gates of death!
12:5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed, 5
because of the painful cries 6 of the needy,
I will spring into action,” 7 says the Lord.
“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” 8
The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord.
102:1 O Lord, hear my prayer!
Pay attention to my cry for help! 10
1 tn The words “when they prayed,” though not represented in the Hebrew text, are supplied in the translation for clarification. The petition in vv. 13-14 is best understood as the cry for help which the oppressed offered to God when the nations threatened. The
2 tn Or “show me favor.”
3 tn Heb “see my misery from the ones who hate me.”
4 tn Heb “one who lifts me up.”
5 tn The term translated “oppressed” is an objective genitive; the oppressed are the recipients/victims of violence.
6 tn Elsewhere in the psalms this noun is used of the painful groans of prisoners awaiting death (79:11; 102:20). The related verb is used of the painful groaning of those wounded in combat (Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15) and of the mournful sighing of those in grief (Ezek 9:4; 24:17).
7 tn Heb “I will rise up.”
8 tn Heb “I will place in deliverance, he pants for it.” The final two words in Hebrew (יָפִיחַ לוֹ, yafiakh lo) comprise an asyndetic relative clause, “the one who pants for it.” “The one who pants” is the object of the verb “place” and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix (in the phrase “for it”) is “deliverance.” Another option is to translate, “I will place in deliverance the witness for him,” repointing יָפִיחַ (a Hiphil imperfect from פּוּחַ, puakh, “pant”) as יָפֵחַ (yafeakh), a noun meaning “witness.” In this case the
9 sn Psalm 102. The psalmist laments his oppressed state, but longs for a day when the Lord will restore Jerusalem and vindicate his suffering people.
10 tn Heb “and may my cry for help come to you.”