Mazmur 10:10

10:10 His victims are crushed and beaten down;

they are trapped in his sturdy nets. ¹ 

Mazmur 18:44

18:44 When they hear of my exploits, they submit to me. ² 

Foreigners are powerless ³  before me;

Mazmur 22:3

22:3 You are holy;

you sit as king receiving the praises of Israel. ⁴ 

Mazmur 22:7

22:7 All who see me taunt ⁵  me;

they mock me ⁶  and shake their heads. ⁷ 

Mazmur 25:20

25:20 Protect me ⁸  and deliver me!

Please do not let me be humiliated,

for I have taken shelter in you!

Mazmur 29:11

29:11 The Lord gives ⁹  his people strength; ¹⁰ 

the Lord grants his people security. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 33:13

33:13 The Lord watches ¹²  from heaven;

he sees all people. ¹³ 

Mazmur 35:11

35:11 Violent men perjure themselves, ¹⁴ 

and falsely accuse me. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 37:12

37:12 Evil men plot against the godly ¹⁶ 

and viciously attack them. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 69:10

69:10 I weep and refrain from eating food, ¹⁸ 

which causes others to insult me. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 78:51

78:51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,

the firstfruits of their reproductive power ²⁰  in the tents of Ham.

Mazmur 78:59

78:59 God heard and was angry;

he completely rejected Israel.

Mazmur 79:4

79:4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. ²¹ 

Mazmur 85:2

85:2 You pardoned ²²  the wrongdoing of your people;

you forgave ²³  all their sin. (Selah)

Mazmur 87:7

87:7 As for the singers, as well as the pipers –

all of them sing within your walls. ²⁴ 

Mazmur 104:9

104:9 You set up a boundary for them that they could not cross,

so that they would not cover the earth again. ²⁵ 

Mazmur 105:31

105:31 He ordered flies to come; ²⁶ 

gnats invaded their whole territory.

Mazmur 106:40

106:40 So the Lord was angry with his people ²⁷ 

and despised the people who belong to him. ²⁸ 

Mazmur 107:4

107:4 They wandered through the wilderness on a desert road;

they found no city in which to live.

Mazmur 107:42

107:42 When the godly see this, they rejoice,

and every sinner ²⁹  shuts his mouth.

Mazmur 109:31

109:31 because he stands at the right hand of the needy,

to deliver him from those who threaten ³⁰  his life.

Mazmur 127:3

127:3 Yes, ³¹  sons ³²  are a gift from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb is a reward.

Mazmur 141:9

141:9 Protect me from the snare they have laid for me,

and the traps the evildoers have set. ³³ 

Mazmur 145:6

145:6 They will proclaim ³⁴  the power of your awesome acts!

I will declare your great deeds!

Mazmur 149:2-3

149:2 Let Israel rejoice in their Creator!

Let the people ³⁵  of Zion delight in their king! ³⁶ 

149:3 Let them praise his name with dancing!

Let them sing praises to him to the accompaniment of the tambourine and harp!

[10:10]  ¹ tn Heb “he crushes, he is bowed down, and he falls into his strong [ones], [the] unfortunate [ones].” This verse presents several lexical and syntactical difficulties. The first word (יִדְכֶּה, yidekeh) is an otherwise unattested Qal form of the verb דָּכָה (dakhah, “crush”). (The Qere [marginal] form is imperfect; the consonantal text [Kethib] has the perfect with a prefixed conjunction vav [ו].) If the wicked man’s victim is the subject, which seems to be the case (note the two verbs which follow), then the form should be emended to a Niphal (יִדָּכֶה, yiddakheh). The phrase בַּעֲצוּמָיו (ba’atsumayv, “into his strong [ones]”), poses interpretive problems. The preposition -בְּ (bet) follows the verb נָפַל (nafal, “fall”), so it may very well carry the nuance “into” here, with “his strong [ones]” then referring to something into which the oppressed individual falls. Since a net is mentioned in the preceding verse as the instrument used to entrap the victim, it is possible that “strong [ones]” here refers metonymically to the wicked man’s nets or traps. Ps 35:8 refers to a man falling into a net (רֶשֶׁת, reshet), as does Ps 141:10 (where the plural of מִכְמָר [mikhmar, “net”] is used). A hunter’s net (רֶשֶׁת), is associated with snares (פַּח [pakh], מֹקְשִׁים, [moqÿshim]) and ropes (חֲבָלִים, khavalim) in Ps 140:5. The final word in the verse (חֶלְכָּאִים (khelka’im, “unfortunate [ones]”) may be an alternate form of חֵלְכָח (khelkhakh, “unfortunate [one]”; see vv. 8, 14). The Qere (marginal reading) divides the form into two words, חֵיל כָּאִים (khel ka’im, “army/host of disheartened [ones]”). The three verb forms in v. 10 are singular because the representative “oppressed” individual is the grammatical subject (see the singular עָנִי [’aniy] in v. 9).

[18:44]  ² tn Heb “at a report of an ear they submit to me.” The report of the psalmist’s exploits is so impressive that those who hear it submit to his rulership without putting up a fight.

[18:44]  ³ tn For the meaning “be weak, powerless” for כָּחַשׁ (kakhash), see Ps 109:24. The next line (see v. 45a), in which “foreigners” are also mentioned, favors this interpretation. Another option is to translate “cower in fear” (see Deut 33:29; Pss 66:3; 81:15; cf. NIV “cringe”; NRSV “came cringing”).

[22:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “[O] one who sits [on] the praises of Israel.” The verb “receiving” is supplied in the translation for clarity. The metaphorical language pictures the Lord as sitting enthroned as king in his temple, receiving the praises that his people Israel offer up to him.

[22:7]  ⁵ tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”

[22:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.

[22:7]  ⁷ sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.

[25:20]  ⁸ tn Or “my life.”

[29:11]  ⁹ tn The imperfect verbal forms in v. 11 are either descriptive or generalizing.

[29:11]  ¹⁰ sn Strength. This probably refers to military power; see the use of the noun in 1 Sam 2:10 and Ps 86:16.

[29:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “blesses his people with peace.” The Hebrew term שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) probably refers here to the protection and prosperity experienced by God’s people after the Lord intervenes in battle on their behalf.

[33:13]  ¹² tn The Hebrew perfect verbal forms in v. 13 state general facts.

[33:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “all the sons of men.”

[35:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “witnesses of violence rise up.”

[35:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[that] which I do not know they ask me.”

[37:12]  ¹⁶ tn Or “innocent.” The singular is used here in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and the typical godly individual are in view.

[37:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and gnashes at him with his teeth” (see Ps 35:16). The language may picture the evil men as wild animals. The active participles in v. 12 are used for purposes of dramatic description.

[69:10]  ¹⁸ sn Fasting was a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.

[69:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and it becomes insults to me.”

[78:51]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the beginning of strength.” If retained, the plural form אוֹנִים (’onim, “strength”) probably indicates degree (“great strength”), but many ancient witnesses read “their strength,” which presupposes an emendation to אֹנָם (’onam; singular form of the noun with third masculine plural pronominal suffix).

[79:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.

[85:2]  ²² tn Heb “lifted up.”

[85:2]  ²³ tn Heb “covered over.”

[87:7]  ²⁴ tc Heb “and singers, like pipers, all my springs [are] in you.” The participial form חֹלְלִים (kholÿlim) appears to be from a denominative verb meaning “play the pipe,” though some derive the form from חוּל (khul, “dance”). In this case the duplicated lamed (ל) requires an emendation to מְחֹלְלִים (mÿkholÿlim, “a Polel form). The words are addressed to Zion. As it stands, the Hebrew text makes little, if any, sense. “Springs” are often taken here as a symbol of divine blessing and life”), but this reading does not relate to the preceding line in any apparent way. The present translation assumes an emendation of כָּל־מַעְיָנַי (kol-ma’yanay, “all my springs”) to כֻּלָּם עָנוּ (kullam ’anu, “all of them sing,” with the form עָנוּ being derived from עָנָה, ’anah, “sing”).

[104:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a boundary you set up, they will not cross, they will not return to cover the earth.”

[105:31]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he spoke and flies came.”

[106:40]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord burned against his people.”

[106:40]  ²⁸ tn Heb “his inheritance.”

[107:42]  ²⁹ tn Heb “all evil,” which stands metonymically for those who do evil.

[109:31]  ³⁰ tn Heb “judge.”

[127:3]  ³¹ tn or “look.”

[127:3]  ³² tn Some prefer to translate this term with the gender neutral “children,” but “sons” are plainly in view here, as the following verses make clear. Daughters are certainly wonderful additions to a family, but in ancient Israelite culture sons were the “arrows” that gave a man security in his old age, for they could defend the family interests at the city gate, where the legal and economic issues of the community were settled.

[141:9]  ³³ tn Heb “and the traps of the doers of evil.”

[145:6]  ³⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as an imperfect, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as a jussive, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may they proclaim.”

[149:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

[149:2]  ³⁶ sn The Lord is the king here, as the parallelism in the previous line (“their creator”) indicates.