Mazmur 3:7-8
KonteksDeliver me, my God!
Yes, 2 you will strike 3 all my enemies on the jaw;
you will break the teeth 4 of the wicked. 5
you show favor to your people. 7 (Selah)
Mazmur 35:1-3
KonteksBy David.
35:1 O Lord, fight 9 those who fight with me!
Attack those who attack me!
35:2 Grab your small shield and large shield, 10
and rise up to help me!
35:3 Use your spear and lance 11 against 12 those who chase me!
Assure me with these words: 13 “I am your deliverer!”
Mazmur 60:1-5
KonteksFor the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; 15 a prayer 16 of David written to instruct others. 17 It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram-Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down 18 12,000 Edomites 19 in the Valley of Salt. 20
60:1 O God, you have rejected us. 21
You suddenly turned on us in your anger. 22
Please restore us! 23
60:2 You made the earth quake; you split it open. 24
Repair its breaches, for it is ready to fall. 25
60:3 You have made your people experience hard times; 26
you have made us drink intoxicating wine. 27
60:4 You have given your loyal followers 28 a rallying flag,
so that they might seek safety from the bow. 29 (Selah)
60:5 Deliver by your power 30 and answer me, 31
so that the ones you love may be safe. 32
[3:7] 1 tn In v. 2 the psalmist describes his enemies as those who “confront” him (קָמִים [qamim], literally, “rise up against him”). Now, using the same verbal root (קוּם, qum) he asks the
[3:7] 2 tn Elsewhere in the psalms the particle כִּי (ki), when collocated with a perfect verbal form and subordinated to a preceding imperative directed to God, almost always has an explanatory or causal force (“for, because”) and introduces a motivating argument for why God should respond positively to the request (see Pss 5:10; 6:2; 12:1; 16:1; 41:4; 55:9; 56:1; 57:1; 60:2; 69:1; 74:20; 119:94; 123:3; 142:6; 143:8). (On three occasions the כִּי is recitative after a verb of perception [“see/know that,” see Pss 4:3; 25:19; 119:159]). If כִּי is taken as explanatory here, then the psalmist is arguing that God should deliver him now because that is what God characteristically does. However, such a motivating argument is not used in the passages cited above. The motivating argument usually focuses on the nature of the psalmist’s dilemma or the fact that he trusts in the Lord. For this reason it is unlikely that כִּי has its normal force here. Most scholars understand the particle כִּי as having an asseverative (emphasizing) function here (“indeed, yes”; NEB leaves the particle untranslated).
[3:7] 3 tn If the particle כִּי (ki) is taken as explanatory, then the perfect verbal forms in v. 7b would describe God’s characteristic behavior. However, as pointed out in the preceding note on the word “yes,” the particle probably has an asseverative force here. If so, the perfects may be taken as indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s assault on his enemies as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm, as expressed before (vv. 3-6) and after this (v. 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“Strike all my enemies on the jaw, break the teeth of the wicked”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.
[3:7] 4 sn The expression break the teeth may envision violent hand-to hand combat, though it is possible that the enemies are pictured here as a dangerous animal (see Job 29:17).
[3:7] 5 tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.
[3:8] 6 tn Heb “to the
[3:8] 7 tn Heb “upon your people [is] your blessing.” In this context God’s “blessing” includes deliverance/protection, vindication, and sustained life (see Pss 21:3, 6; 24:5).
[35:1] 8 sn Psalm 35. The author, who faces ruthless enemies who seek his life for no reason, begs the Lord to fight his battles for him and to vindicate him by annihilating his adversaries.
[35:2] 10 tn Two different types of shields are mentioned here. See also Ezek 38:4. Many modern translations render the first term (translated here “small shield”) as “buckler” (cf. NASB “buckler and shield”; the order is often reversed in the translation, apparently for stylistic reasons: cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV “shield and buckler”). The English term “buckler,” referring to a small round shield held on the arm to protect the upper body, is unfamiliar to many modern readers, so the term “small shield” was used in the present translation for clarity.
[35:3] 11 tn Or “javelin.” On the meaning of this word, which occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, see M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:210-11.
[35:3] 12 tn Heb “draw out spear and lance to meet.”
[35:3] 13 tn Heb “say to me,” or “say to my soul.”
[60:1] 14 sn Psalm 60. The psalmist grieves over Israel’s humiliation, but in response to God’s assuring word, he asks for divine help in battle and expresses his confidence in victory.
[60:1] 15 tn The Hebrew expression means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title.
[60:1] 16 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-59, is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
[60:1] 18 tn In Josh 8:21 and Judg 20:48 the two verbs “turn back” and “strike down” are also juxtaposed. There they refer to a military counter-attack.
[60:1] 19 tn Heb “12,000 of Edom.” Perhaps one should read אֲרַם (’aram, “Aram”) here rather than אֱדוֹם (’edom, “Edom”).
[60:1] 20 sn The heading apparently refers to the military campaign recorded in 2 Sam 10 and 1 Chr 19.
[60:1] 21 sn You have rejected us. See Pss 43:2; 44:9, 23.
[60:1] 22 tn Heb “you broke out upon us, you were angry.”
[60:1] 23 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
[60:2] 24 tn The verb פָּצַם (patsam, “split open”) occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “crack,” and an Aramaic cognate is used in Tg. Jer 22:14 with the meaning “break open, frame.” See BDB 822 s.v. and Jastrow 1205 s.v. פְּצַם.
[60:2] sn You made the earth quake; you split it open. The psalmist uses the imagery of an earthquake to describe the nation’s defeat.
[60:2] 25 sn It is ready to fall. The earth is compared to a wall that has been broken by the force of the earthquake (note the preceding line) and is ready to collapse.
[60:3] 26 tn Heb “you have caused your people to see [what is] hard.”
[60:3] 27 tn Heb “wine of staggering,” that is, intoxicating wine that makes one stagger in drunkenness. Intoxicating wine is here an image of divine judgment that makes its victims stagger like drunkards. See Isa 51:17-23.
[60:4] 28 tn Heb “those who fear you.”
[60:4] 29 tn There is a ray of hope in that God has allowed his loyal followers to rally under a battle flag. The translation assumes the verb is from the root נוּס (nus, “flee”) used here in the Hitpolel in the sense of “find safety for oneself” (HALOT 681 s.v. נוס) or “take flight for oneself” (BDB 630-31 s.v. נוּס). Another option is to take the verb as a denominative from נֵס (nes, “flag”) and translate “that it may be displayed” (BDB 651 s.v. II נסס) or “that they may assemble under the banner” (HALOT 704 s.v. II נסס). Here קֹשֶׁט (qoshet) is taken as an Aramaized form of קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”; BDB 905-6 s.v. קֶשֶׁת), though some understand the homonymic קֹשְׁטְ (qosht, “truth”) here (see Prov 22:21; cf. NASB). If one follows the latter interpretation, the line may be translated, “so that they might assemble under the banner for the sake of truth.”
[60:5] 30 tn Heb “right hand.”
[60:5] 31 tn The Qere (marginal reading) has “me,” while the Kethib (consonantal text) has “us.”
[60:5] 32 tn Or “may be rescued.” The lines are actually reversed in the Hebrew text, “So that the ones you love may be rescued, deliver by your power and answer me.”
