Mazmur 5:9

5:9 For ¹  they do not speak the truth; ² 

their stomachs are like the place of destruction, ³ 

their throats like an open grave, ⁴ 

their tongues like a steep slope leading into it. ⁵ 

Mazmur 7:1

Psalm 7 ⁶ 

A musical composition ⁷  by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning ⁸  a Benjaminite named Cush. ⁹ 

7:1 O Lord my God, in you I have taken shelter. ¹⁰ 

Deliver me from all who chase me! Rescue me!

Mazmur 22:9

22:9 Yes, you are the one who brought me out ¹¹  from the womb

and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.

Mazmur 32:6

32:6 For this reason every one of your faithful followers ¹²  should pray to you

while there is a window of opportunity. ¹³ 

Certainly ¹⁴  when the surging water ¹⁵  rises,

it will not reach them. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 42:11

42:11 Why are you depressed, ¹⁷  O my soul? ¹⁸ 

Why are you upset? ¹⁹ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 43:5

43:5 Why are you depressed, ²¹  O my soul? ²² 

Why are you upset? ²³ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ²⁴ 

Mazmur 63:11

63:11 But the king ²⁵  will rejoice in God;

everyone who takes oaths in his name ²⁶  will boast,

for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up. ²⁷ 

Mazmur 101:6

101:6 I will favor the honest people of the land, ²⁸ 

and allow them to live with me. ²⁹ 

Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me. ³⁰ 

Mazmur 144:2

144:2 who loves me ³¹  and is my stronghold,

my refuge ³²  and my deliverer,

my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,

who makes nations submit to me. ³³ 

[5:9]  ¹ tn Or “certainly.”

[5:9]  ² tn Heb “for there is not in his mouth truthfulness.” The singular pronoun (“his”) probably refers back to the “man of bloodshed and deceit” mentioned in v. 6. The singular is collective or representative, as the plural in the next line indicates, and so has been translated “they.”

[5:9]  ³ tn Heb “their inward part[s] [is] destruction.” For a discussion of the extended metaphor in v. 9b, see the note on the word “it” at the end of the verse.

[5:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “their throat is an open grave.” For a discussion of the extended metaphor in v. 9b, see the note on the word “it” at the end of the verse. The metaphor is suggested by the physical resemblance of the human throat to a deeply dug grave; both are dark chasms.

[5:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “they make smooth their tongue.” Flattering, deceitful words are in view. See Ps 12:2. The psalmist’s deceitful enemies are compared to the realm of death/Sheol in v. 9b. Sheol was envisioned as a dark region within the earth, the entrance to which was the grave with its steep slopes (cf. Ps 88:4-6). The enemies’ victims are pictured here as slipping down a steep slope (the enemies’ tongues) and falling into an open grave (their throat) that terminates in destruction in the inner recesses of Sheol (their stomach). The enemies’ קרב (“inward part”) refers here to their thoughts and motives, which are destructive in their intent. The throat is where these destructive thoughts are transformed into words, and their tongue is what they use to speak the deceitful words that lead their innocent victims to their demise.

[5:9]  sn As the psalmist walks down the path in which God leads him, he asks the Lord to guide his steps and remove danger from the path (v. 8), because he knows his enemies have “dug a grave” for him and are ready to use their deceitful words to “swallow him up” like the realm of death (i.e., Sheol) and bring him to ruin.

[7:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 7. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from his enemies. He protests his innocence and declares his confidence in God’s justice.

[7:1]  ⁷ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שִׁגָּיוֹן (shiggayon; translated here “musical composition”) is uncertain. Some derive the noun from the verbal root שָׁגָה (shagah, “swerve, reel”) and understand it as referring to a “wild, passionate song, with rapid changes of rhythm” (see BDB 993 s.v. שִׁגָּיוֹן). But this proposal is purely speculative. The only other appearance of the noun is in Hab 3:1, where it occurs in the plural.

[7:1]  ⁸ tn Or “on account of.”

[7:1]  ⁹ sn Apparently this individual named Cush was one of David’s enemies.

[7:1]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[22:9]  ¹¹ tn Or “the one who pulled me.” The verb is derived from either גָחָה (gakhah; see HALOT 187 s.v. גחה) or גִּיחַ (giyakh; see BDB 161 s.v. גִּיחַ) and seems to carry the nuance “burst forth” or “pull out.”

[32:6]  ¹² tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[32:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “at a time of finding.” This may mean, “while there is time to ‘find’ [the Lord]” and seek his forgiveness (cf. NIV). Some emend the text by combining מְצֹא (mÿtso’, “finding”) with the following term רַק (raq, “only, surely”) and read either ר[וֹ]מָצ (matsor, “distress”; see Ps 31:22) or ק[וֹ]מָצ (matsoq, “hardship”; see Ps 119:143). In this case, one may translate “in a time of distress/hardship” (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[32:6]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew term רַק (raq) occasionally has an asseverative force.

[32:6]  ¹⁵ sn The surging water is here a metaphor for trouble that endangers one’s life.

[32:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “him.” The translation uses the plural “them” to agree with the plural “every one of your faithful followers” in the first line of v. 6.

[42:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:11]  ¹⁸ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[42:11]  ²⁰ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God”), that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is almost identical to the one in v. 5. See also Ps 43:5.

[43:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[43:5]  ²² sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[43:5]  ²³ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[43:5]  ²⁴ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is identical to the one in Ps 42:11. See also 42:5, which differs only slightly.

[63:11]  ²⁵ sn The psalmist probably refers to himself in the third person here.

[63:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “who swears [an oath] by him.”

[63:11]  ²⁷ tn The Niphal of this verb occurs only here and in Gen 8:2, where it is used of God “stopping” or “damming up” the great deep as he brought the flood to an end.

[101:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.”

[101:6]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.”

[101:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.”

[144:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “my loyal love,” which is probably an abbreviated form of “the God of my loyal love” (see Ps 59:10, 17).

[144:2]  ³² tn Or “my elevated place.”

[144:2]  ³³ tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”