Mazmur 25:17

25:17 Deliver me from my distress; ¹ 

rescue me from my suffering! ² 

Mazmur 73:21

73:21 Yes, ³  my spirit was bitter, ⁴ 

and my insides felt sharp pain. ⁵ 

[25:17]  ¹ tc Heb “the distresses of my heart, they make wide.” The text makes little if any sense as it stands, unless this is an otherwise unattested intransitive use of the Hiphil of רָחַב (rakhav, “be wide”). It is preferable to emend the form הִרְחִיבוּ (hirkhivu; Hiphil perfect third plural “they make wide”) to הַרְחֵיב (harkhev; Hiphil imperative masculine singular “make wide”). (The final vav [ו] can be joined to the following word and taken as a conjunction.) In this case one can translate, “[in/from] the distresses of my heart, make wide [a place for me],” that is, “deliver me from the distress I am experiencing.” For the expression “make wide [a place for me],” see Ps 4:1.

[25:17]  ² tn Heb “from my distresses lead me out.”

[73:21]  ³ tn Or perhaps “when.”

[73:21]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form here describes a continuing attitude in a past time frame.

[73:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “and [in] my kidneys I was pierced.” The imperfect verbal form here describes a continuing condition in a past time frame.