Discovery BoxPsalms 17:13 
Context17:13 Rise up, Lord!
Confront him! 1 Knock him down! 2
Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man! 3
Psalms 22:21
Context22:21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lion, 4
and from the horns of the wild oxen! 5
You have answered me! 6
Psalms 31:15
Context31:15 You determine my destiny! 7
Rescue me from the power of my enemies and those who chase me.
Psalms 49:15
Context49:15 But 8 God will rescue 9 my life 10 from the power 11 of Sheol;
certainly 12 he will pull me to safety. 13 (Selah)
Psalms 55:18
Context55:18 He will rescue 14 me and protect me from those who attack me, 15
even though 16 they greatly outnumber me. 17
Psalms 71:4
Context71:4 My God, rescue me from the power 18 of the wicked,
from the hand of the cruel oppressor!
Psalms 71:11
Context71:11 They say, 19 “God has abandoned him.
Run and seize him, for there is no one who will rescue him!”
Psalms 71:23
Context71:23 My lips will shout for joy! Yes, 20 I will sing your praises!
I will praise you when you rescue me! 21
Psalms 72:12
Context72:12 For he will rescue the needy 22 when they cry out for help,
and the oppressed 23 who have no defender.
Psalms 120:2
Context120:2 I said, 24 “O Lord, rescue me 25
from those who lie with their lips 26
and those who deceive with their tongue. 27
Psalms 140:1
ContextFor the music director; a psalm of David.
140:1 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men! 29
Protect me from violent men, 30
Psalms 143:11
Context143:11 O Lord, for the sake of your reputation, 31 revive me! 32
Because of your justice, rescue me from trouble! 33
Psalms 144:7
Context144:7 Reach down 34 from above!
Grab me and rescue me from the surging water, 35
from the power of foreigners, 36
Psalms 144:11
Context144:11 Grab me and rescue me from the power of foreigners, 37
who speak lies,
and make false promises. 38
1 tn Heb “Be in front of his face.”
2 tn Or “bring him to his knees.”
3 tn Heb “rescue my life from the wicked [one] [by] your sword.”
4 sn The psalmist again compares his enemies to vicious dogs and ferocious lions (see vv. 13, 16).
5 tn The Hebrew term רֵמִים (remim) appears to be an alternate spelling of רְאֵמִים (rÿ’emim, “wild oxen”; see BDB 910 s.v. רְאֵם).
6 tn Heb “and from the horns of the wild oxen you answer me.” Most take the final verb with the preceding prepositional phrase. Some understand the verb form as a relatively rare precative perfect, expressing a wish or request (see IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew. (See the discussion at Ps 3:7.) Others prefer to take the perfect in its usual indicative sense. The psalmist, perhaps in response to an oracle of salvation, affirms confidently that God has answered him, assuring him that deliverance is on the way. The present translation takes the prepositional phrase as parallel to the preceding “from the mouth of the lion” and as collocated with the verb “rescue” at the beginning of the verse. “You have answered me” is understood as a triumphant shout which marks a sudden shift in tone and introduces the next major section of the psalm. By isolating the statement syntactically, the psalmist highlights the declaration.
7 tn Heb “in your hand [are] my times.”
8 tn Or “certainly.”
9 tn Or “redeem.”
10 tn Or “me.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
11 tn Heb “hand.”
12 tn Or “for.”
13 tn Heb “he will take me.” To improve the poetic balance of the verse, some move the words “from the power of Sheol” to the following line. The verse would then read: “But God will rescue my life; / from the power of Sheol he will certainly deliver me” (cf. NEB).
sn According to some, the psalmist here anticipates the resurrection (or at least an afterlife in God’s presence). But it is more likely that the psalmist here expresses his hope that God will rescue him from premature death at the hands of the rich oppressors denounced in the psalm. The psalmist is well aware that all (the wise and foolish) die (see vv. 7-12), but he is confident God will lead him safely through the present “times of trouble” (v. 5) and sweep the wicked away to their final destiny. The theme is a common one in the so-called wisdom psalms (see Pss 1, 34, 37, 112). For a fuller discussion of the psalmists’ view of the afterlife, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “A Theology of the Psalms,” A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, 284-88.
14 tn The perfect verbal form is here used rhetorically to indicate that the action is certain to take place (the so-called perfect of certitude).
15 tn Heb “he will redeem in peace my life from [those who] draw near to me.”
16 tn Or “for.”
17 tn Heb “among many they are against me.” For other examples of the preposition עִמָּד (’immad) used in the sense of “at, against,” see HALOT 842 s.v.; BDB 767 s.v.; IBHS 219 §11.2.14b.
18 tn Heb “hand.”
19 tn Heb “saying.”
20 tn Or “when.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) has an emphasizing (asseverative) function here.
21 tn Heb “and my life [or “soul”] which you will have redeemed.” The perfect verbal form functions here as a future perfect. The psalmist anticipates praising God, for God will have rescued him by that time.
22 tn The singular is representative. The typical needy individual here represents the entire group.
23 tn The singular is representative. The typical oppressed individual here represents the entire group.
24 tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the introductory note for this psalm.
25 tn Or “my life.”
26 tn Heb “from a lip of falsehood.”
27 tn Heb “from a tongue of deception.”
28 sn Psalm 140. The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his deadly enemies, calls judgment down upon them, and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.
29 tn Heb “from a wicked man.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
30 tn Heb “a man of violent acts.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
31 tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
32 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 11-12a are understood as expressing the psalmist’s desire. Note the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.
33 tn Heb “by your justice bring out my life from trouble.”
34 tn Heb “stretch out your hands.”
35 tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful foreign enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see the next line and Ps 18:16-17).
36 tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”
37 tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”
38 tn Heb “who [with] their mouth speak falsehood, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” See v. 8 where the same expression occurs.
