1 tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”
2 tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.
3 sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.
4 tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”
5 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).
6 tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”
7 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 17-18 draw attention to the progressive nature of the action.
8 tn Heb “they.” The masculine form indicates the enemies are in view. The referent (the psalmist’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “they gaze, they look upon me.”
