Mazmur 2:3

2:3 They say, ¹  “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! ² 

Let’s free ourselves from ³  their ropes!”

Mazmur 73:8-9

73:8 They mock ⁴  and say evil things; ⁵ 

they proudly threaten violence. ⁶ 

73:9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,

and lay claim to the earth. ⁷ 

[2:3]  ¹ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.

[2:3]  ² tn Heb “their (i.e., the Lord’s and the king’s) shackles.” The kings compare the rule of the Lord and his vice-regent to being imprisoned.

[2:3]  ³ tn Heb “throw off from us.”

[73:8]  ⁴ tn The verb מוּק (muq, “mock”) occurs only here in the OT.

[73:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “and speak with evil.”

[73:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “oppression from an elevated place they speak.” The traditional accentuation of the MT places “oppression” with the preceding line. In this case, one might translate, “they mock and speak with evil [of] oppression, from an elevated place [i.e., “proudly”] they speak.” By placing “oppression” with what follows, one achieves better poetic balance in the parallelism.

[73:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “they set in heaven their mouth, and their tongue walks through the earth.” The meaning of the text is uncertain. Perhaps the idea is that they lay claim to heaven (i.e., speak as if they were ruling in heaven) and move through the earth declaring their superiority and exerting their influence. Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) the first line as adversative and translate, “they set their mouth against heaven,” that is, they defy God.