Psalms 9:20

9:20 Terrify them, Lord! ¹ 

Let the nations know they are mere mortals! ²  (Selah)

Psalms 10:18

10:18 You defend ³  the fatherless and oppressed, ⁴ 

so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them. ⁵ 

Psalms 56:11

56:11 in God I trust, I am not afraid.

What can mere men ⁶  do to me? ⁷ 

Psalms 73:19

73:19 How desolate they become in a mere moment!

Terrifying judgments make their demise complete! ⁸ 

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¹ tn Heb “place, Lord, terror with regard to them.” The Hebrew term מוֹרָה (morah, “terror”) is an alternative form of מוֹרָא (mora’; a reading that appears in some mss and finds support in several ancient textual witnesses).

² tn Heb “let the nations know they [are] man[kind]”; i.e., mere human beings (as opposed to God).

³ tn Heb “to judge (on behalf of),” or “by judging (on behalf of).”

⁴ tn Heb “crushed.” See v. 10.

⁵ tn Heb “he will not add again [i.e., “he will no longer”] to terrify, man from the earth.” The Hebrew term אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh, “man”) refers here to the wicked nations (v. 16). By describing them as “from the earth,” the psalmist emphasizes their weakness before the sovereign, eternal king.

⁶ tn The statement is similar to that of v. 4, except “flesh” is used there instead of “man.”

⁷ tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.

⁸ tn Heb “they come to an end, they are finished, from terrors.”