¹ tn Heb “wither, wear out.”

² tn The meaning of חָרַג (kharag, “shake”) is established on the basis of cognates in Arabic and Aramaic. 2 Sam 22:46 reads חָגַר (khagar), which might mean here, “[they] come limping” (on the basis of a cognate in postbiblical Hebrew). The normal meaning for חָגַר (“gird”) makes little sense here.

³ tn Heb “from.”

⁴ tn Heb “their prisons.” The besieged cities of the foreigners are compared to prisons.

⁵ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord I will teach you.” In vv. 13-14 the psalmist explains to his audience what it means to “fear” the Lord.

⁶ tn Heb “melt.”

⁷ tn The statement is understood in a generalizing sense; God typically prevents the world from being overrun by chaos. One could take this as referring to an anticipated event, “I will make its pillars secure.”

⁸ tn “Those who hate the Lord” are also mentioned in 2 Chr 19:2 and Ps 139:21.

⁹ tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 66:3 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “to be weak; to be powerless” (see also Ps 109:24). The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, parallel to the jussive form in the next line.

¹⁰ tc Heb “and may their time be forever.” The Hebrew term עִתָּם (’ittam, “their time”) must refer here to the “time” of the demise and humiliation of those who hate the Lord. Some propose an emendation to בַּעֲתָתָם (ba’atatam) or בִּעֻתָם (bi’utam; “their terror”; i.e., “may their terror last forever”), but the omission of bet (ב) in the present Hebrew text is difficult to explain, making the proposed emendation unlikely.

tn The verb form at the beginning of the line is jussive, indicating that this is a prayer. The translation assumes that v. 15 is a parenthetical “curse” offered by the psalmist. Having heard the reference to Israel’s enemies (v. 14), the psalmist inserts this prayer, reminding the Lord that they are God’s enemies as well.

¹¹ tn This probably alludes to a sneak attack by enemies in the darkness of night (see Song 3:8).

¹² tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition and emotions (see Ps 108:1).

¹³ tn The passive participle בָּטֻחַ [בָּטוּחַ] (batuakh [batuakh]) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action. See Isa 26:3.

¹⁴ tn Heb “my flesh.”

¹⁵ tn The Hebrew verb סָמַר (samar, “to tremble”) occurs only here and in Job 4:15.

¹⁶ tn Heb “from fear of you.” The pronominal suffix on the noun is an objective genitive.