Discovery BoxPsalms 7:2 
Context7:2 Otherwise they will rip 1 me 2 to shreds like a lion;
they will tear me to bits and no one will be able to rescue me. 3
Psalms 17:12
Context17:12 He 4 is like a lion 5 that wants to tear its prey to bits, 6
like a young lion crouching 7 in hidden places.
Psalms 22:13
Context22:13 They 8 open their mouths to devour me 9
like a roaring lion that rips its prey. 10
1 tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew text, even though “all who chase me” in v. 1 refers to a whole group of enemies. The singular is also used in vv. 4-5, but the psalmist returns to the plural in v. 6. The singular is probably collective, emphasizing the united front that the psalmist’s enemies present. This same alternation between a collective singular and a plural referring to enemies appears in Pss 9:3, 6; 13:4; 31:4, 8; 41:6, 10-11; 42:9-10; 55:3; 64:1-2; 74:3-4; 89:22-23; 106:10-11; 143:3, 6, 9.
2 tn Heb “my life.” The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.
3 tn Heb “tearing and there is no one rescuing.” The verbal form translated “tearing” is a singular active participle.
4 tn Here the psalmist switches to the singular pronoun; he views his enemies collectively, or singles out a representative of the group, perhaps its leader.
5 tn Heb “his likeness [is] like a lion.”
6 tn Heb “[that] longs to tear.”
7 tn Heb “sitting.”
8 tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”
9 tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).
10 tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”
