Discovery BoxPsalms 118:13 
Context118:13 “You aggressively attacked me 1 and tried to knock me down, 2
but the Lord helped me.
Psalms 124:2
Context124:2 if the Lord had not been on our side,
when men attacked us, 3
Psalms 129:1-2
ContextA song of ascents. 5
129:1 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,”
let Israel say.
129:2 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,
but they have not defeated me.
1 tn Heb “pushing, you pushed me.” The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following verbal idea. The psalmist appears to address the nations as if they were an individual enemy. Some find this problematic and emend the verb form (which is a Qal perfect second masculine singular with a first person singular suffix) to נִדְחֵיתִי (nidkheti), a Niphal perfect first common singular, “I was pushed.”
2 tn Heb “to fall,” i.e., “that [I] might fall.”
3 tn Heb “rose up against us.”
4 sn Psalm 129. Israel affirms God’s justice and asks him to destroy the enemies of Zion.
5 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
