9:15 The nations fell 1 into the pit they had made;
their feet were caught in the net they had hidden. 2
9:16 The Lord revealed himself;
he accomplished justice;
the wicked were ensnared by their own actions. 3 (Higgaion. 4 Selah)
10:17 Lord, you have heard 5 the request 6 of the oppressed;
you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer. 7
17:7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds, 8
you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies. 9
37:21 Evil men borrow, but do not repay their debt,
but the godly show compassion and are generous. 10
38:11 Because of my condition, 11 even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; 12
my neighbors stand far away. 13
49:8 (the ransom price for a human life 14 is too high,
and people go to their final destiny), 15
50:18 When you see a thief, you join him; 16
you associate with men who are unfaithful to their wives. 17
54:5 May those who wait to ambush me 18 be repaid for their evil! 19
As a demonstration of your faithfulness, 20 destroy them!
65:7 You calm the raging seas 21
and their roaring waves,
as well as the commotion made by the nations. 22
68:25 Singers walk in front;
musicians follow playing their stringed instruments, 23
in the midst of young women playing tambourines. 24
69:22 May their dining table become a trap before them!
May it be a snare for that group of friends! 25
78:12 He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors,
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. 26
78:51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power 27 in the tents of Ham.
78:57 They were unfaithful 28 and acted as treacherously as 29 their ancestors;
they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. 30
79:3 They have made their blood flow like water
all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them. 31
88:18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance; 32
those who know me leave me alone in the darkness. 33
91:12 They will lift you up in their hands,
so you will not slip and fall on a stone. 34
102:8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who mock me use my name in their curses. 35
102:28 The children of your servants will settle down here,
and their descendants 36 will live securely in your presence.” 37
103:17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers, 38
and is faithful to their descendants, 39
106:43 Many times he delivered 40 them,
but they had a rebellious attitude, 41
and degraded themselves 42 by their sin.
107:38 He blessed 43 them so that they became very numerous.
He would not allow their cattle to decrease in number. 44
107:39 As for their enemies, 45 they decreased in number and were beaten down,
because of painful distress 46 and suffering.
110:6 He executes judgment 47 against 48 the nations;
he fills the valleys with corpses; 49
he shatters their heads over the vast battlefield. 50
139:17 How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, O God! 51
How vast is their sum total! 52
140:9 As for the heads of those who surround me –
may the harm done by 53 their lips overwhelm them!
145:19 He satisfies the desire 54 of his loyal followers; 55
he hears their cry for help and delivers them.
1 tn Heb “sank down.”
2 sn The hostility of the nations against God’s people is their downfall, for it prompts God to intervene and destroy them. See also Ps 7:15-16.
3 tn Heb “by the work of his hands [the] wicked [one] was ensnared. The singular form רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) is collective or representative here (see vv. 15, 17). The form נוֹקֵשׁ (noqesh) appears to be an otherwise unattested Qal form (active participle) from נָקַשׁ (naqash), but the form should be emended to נוֹקַשׁ (noqash), a Niphal perfect from יָקַשׁ (yaqash).
4 tn This is probably a technical musical term.
5 sn You have heard. The psalmist is confident that God has responded positively to his earlier petitions for divine intervention. The psalmist apparently prayed the words of vv. 16-18 after the reception of an oracle of deliverance (given in response to the confident petition of vv. 12-15) or after the Lord actually delivered him from his enemies.
6 tn Heb “desire.”
7 tn Heb “you make firm their heart, you cause your ear to listen.”
8 tn Heb “Set apart faithful acts.”
9 tn Heb “[O] one who delivers those who seek shelter from the ones raising themselves up, by your right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver.
sn Those who look to you for protection from their enemies. “Seeking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).
10 tn Heb “an evil [man] borrows and does not repay; but a godly [man] is gracious and gives.” The singular forms are used in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and godly individual are in view. The three active participles and one imperfect (“repay”) draw attention to the characteristic behavior of the two types.
11 tn Or “wound,” or “illness.”
12 tn Heb “stand [aloof].”
13 tn Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”
14 tn Heb “their life.” Some emend the text to “his life,” understanding the antecedent of the pronoun as “brother” in v. 7. However, the man and brother of v. 7 are representative of the human race in general, perhaps explaining why a plural pronoun appears in v. 8. Of course, the plural pronoun could refer back to “the rich” mentioned in v. 6. Another option (the one assumed in the translation) is that the suffixed mem is enclitic. In this case the “ransom price for human life” is referred to an abstract, general way.
15 tn Heb “and one ceases forever.” The translation assumes an indefinite subject which in turn is representative of the entire human race (“one,” that refers to human beings without exception). The verb חָדַל (khadal, “cease”) is understood in the sense of “come to an end; fail” (i.e., die). Another option is to translate, “and one ceases/refrains forever.” In this case the idea is that the living, convinced of the reality of human mortality, give up all hope of “buying off” God and refrain from trying to do so.
16 tn Heb “you run with him.”
17 tn Heb “and with adulterers [is] your portion.”
18 tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2.
19 tn The Kethib (consonantal text) reads a Qal imperfect, “the evil will return,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has a Hiphil imperfect, “he will repay.” The parallel line has an imperative (indicating a prayer/request), so it is best to read a jussive form יָשֹׁב (yashov, “let it [the evil] return”) here.
20 tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”
21 tn Heb “the roar of the seas.”
22 sn The raging seas…the commotion made by the nations. The raging seas symbolize the turbulent nations of the earth (see Ps 46:2-3, 6; Isa 17:12).
23 tn Heb “after [are] the stringed instrument players.”
24 sn To celebrate a military victory, women would play tambourines (see Exod 15:20; Judg 11:34; 1 Sam 18:6).
25 tc Heb “and to the friends for a snare.” The plural of שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) is used in Ps 55:20 of one’s “friends.” If the reading of the MT is retained here, the term depicts the psalmist’s enemies as a close-knit group of friends who are bound together by their hatred for the psalmist. Some prefer to revocalize the text as וּלְשִׁלּוּמִים (ulÿshillumim, “and for retribution”). In this case the noun stands parallel to פַּח (pakh, “trap”) and מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), and one might translate, “may their dining table become a trap before them, [a means of] retribution and a snare” (cf. NIV).
26 sn The region of Zoan was located in the Egyptian delta, where the enslaved Israelites lived (see Num 13:22; Isa 19:11, 13; 30:4; Ezek 30:14).
27 tn Heb “the beginning of strength.” If retained, the plural form אוֹנִים (’onim, “strength”) probably indicates degree (“great strength”), but many ancient witnesses read “their strength,” which presupposes an emendation to אֹנָם (’onam; singular form of the noun with third masculine plural pronominal suffix).
28 tn Heb “they turned back.”
29 tn Or “acted treacherously like.”
30 tn Heb “they turned aside like a deceitful bow.”
31 tn Heb “they have poured out their blood like water, all around Jerusalem, and there is no one burying.”
32 tn Heb “you cause to be far from me friend and neighbor.”
33 tn Heb “those known by me, darkness.”
34 tn Heb “so your foot will not strike a stone.”
35 tn Heb “by me they swear.” When the psalmist’s enemies call judgment down on others, they hold the psalmist up as a prime example of what they desire their enemies to become.
36 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
37 tn Heb “before you will be established.”
38 tn Heb “but the loyal love of the
39 tn Heb “and his righteousness to sons of sons.”
40 tn The prefixed verbal form is either preterite or imperfect, in which case it is customary, describing repeated action in past time (“he would deliver”).
41 tn Heb “but they rebelled in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite or imperfect, in which case it is customary, describing repeated action in past time (“they would have a rebellious attitude”).
42 tn Heb “they sank down.” The Hebrew verb מָכַךְ (makhakh, “to lower; to sink”) occurs only here in the Qal.
43 tn “Bless” here carries the nuance “endue with sexual potency, make fertile.” See Gen 1:28, where the statement “he blessed them” directly precedes the command “be fruitful and populate the earth” (see also 1:22). The verb “bless” carries this same nuance in Gen 17:16 (where God’s blessing of Sarai imparts to her the capacity to bear a child); 48:16 (where God’s blessing of Joseph’s sons is closely associated with their having numerous descendants); and Deut 7:13 (where God’s blessing is associated with fertility in general, including numerous descendants). See also Gen 49:25 (where Jacob uses the noun derivative in referring to “blessings of the breast and womb,” an obvious reference to fertility) and Gen 27:27 (where the verb is used of a field to which God has given the capacity to produce vegetation).
44 tn The verbal form in this line appears to be an imperfect, which may be taken as customary (drawing attention to typical action in a past time frame) or as generalizing (in which case one should use the English present tense, understanding a move from narrative to present reality).
45 tn The words “As for their enemies” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. Without such clarification, one might think that v. 39 refers to those just mentioned in v. 38 as objects of divine blessing, which would contradict the point just emphasized by the psalmist. The structure of vv. 33-42 is paneled (A-B-A-B). In vv. 33-34 the psalmist describes God’s judgment upon his enemies (perhaps those who had enslaved his people). In vv. 35-38 he contrasts this judgment with the divine blessing poured out on God’s people. (See the note on the word “people” in v. 35.) In vv. 39-40 he contrasts this blessing with the judgment experienced by enemies, before returning in vv. 41-42 to the blessing experienced by God’s people.
46 tn Heb “from the oppression of calamity.”
47 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.
48 tn Or “among.”
49 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.
50 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).
51 tn Heb “and to me how precious are your thoughts, O God.” The Hebrew verb יָקַר (yaqar) probably has the sense of “difficult [to comprehend]” here (see HALOT 432 s.v. יקר qal.1 and note the use of Aramaic יַקִּר in Dan 2:11). Elsewhere in the immediate context the psalmist expresses his amazement at the extent of God’s knowledge about him (see vv. 1-6, 17b-18).
52 tn Heb “how vast are their heads.” Here the Hebrew word “head” is used of the “sum total” of God’s knowledge of the psalmist.
53 tn Heb “harm of their lips.” The genitive here indicates the source or agent of the harm.
54 tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.
55 tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”