Mazmur 10:5

10:5 He is secure at all times. ¹ 

He has no regard for your commands; ² 

he disdains all his enemies. ³ 

Mazmur 20:2

20:2 May he send you help from his temple; ⁴ 

from Zion may he give you support!

Mazmur 51:17

51:17 The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit ⁵  –

O God, a humble and repentant heart ⁶  you will not reject. ⁷ 

Mazmur 68:33

68:33 to the one who rides through the sky from ancient times! ⁸ 

Look! He thunders loudly. ⁹ 

Mazmur 78:21

78:21 When ¹⁰  the Lord heard this, he was furious.

A fire broke out against Jacob,

and his anger flared up ¹¹  against Israel,

Mazmur 78:52

78:52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep;

he led them through the wilderness like a flock.

[10:5]  ¹ tn Heb “they are firm, his ways, at every time.” The verb חַיִל (khayil, “be firm, be strong”) occurs only here and in Job 20:21, where it has the sense “endure.”

[10:5]  ² tc Heb “[on a] height, your judgments from before him.” If the MT is retained, then the idea may be that God’s “judgments” are high above (i.e., not recognized) by the wicked man. However, the syntax is awkward. The translation assumes an emendation of מָרוֹם (marom, “height”) to סָרוּ (saru, “[your judgments] are turned aside”), the final mem (ם) being dittographic (note the initial mem on the immediately following word [מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ, mishÿfatekha, “your judgments”). “Judgments” probably refers here to God’s laws or commands, rather than his judicial decisions or acts of judgment.

[10:5]  ³ tn Heb “all his enemies, he snorts against them.” This may picture the wicked man defiantly challenging his enemies because he is confident of success. Another option is to take יָפִיחַ (yafiakh) from the root יָפַח (yafakh, “to testify”) and translate “he testifies against all his enemies,” implying that he gets the upper hand over them in legal battles. The noun יָפֵחַ (yafeakh, “witness”) is attested in biblical Hebrew (see Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3). The verb, however, is not clearly attested.

[20:2]  ⁴ tc Heb “from [the] temple.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix (ן, nun) has probably been accidentally omitted by haplography. Note that the following word begins with a prefixed vav (ו). See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 184.

[51:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “a broken spirit.”

[51:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “a broken and crushed heart.”

[51:17]  ⁷ tn Or “despise.”

[68:33]  ⁸ tc Heb “to the one who rides through the skies of skies of ancient times.” If the MT is retained, one might translate, “to the one who rides through the ancient skies.” (שְׁמֵי [shÿmey, “skies of”] may be accidentally repeated.) The present translation assumes an emendation to בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִקֶּדֶם (bashamayim miqqedem, “[to the one who rides] through the sky from ancient times”), that is, God has been revealing his power through the storm since ancient times.

[68:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “he gives his voice a strong voice.” In this context God’s “voice” is the thunder that accompanies the rain (see vv. 8-9, as well as Deut 33:26).

[78:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “therefore.”

[78:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and also anger went up.”