Mazmur 10:5

10:5 He is secure at all times. ¹ 

He has no regard for your commands; ² 

he disdains all his enemies. ³ 

Mazmur 35:4

35:4 May those who seek my life be embarrassed and humiliated!

May those who plan to harm me be turned back and ashamed! ⁴ 

Mazmur 35:17

35:17 O Lord, how long are you going to just stand there and watch this? ⁵ 

Rescue ⁶  me ⁷  from their destructive attacks;

guard my life ⁸  from the young lions!

Mazmur 45:12

45:12 Rich people from Tyre ⁹ 

will seek your favor by bringing a gift. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 71:13

71:13 May my accusers be humiliated and defeated!

May those who want to harm me ¹¹  be covered with scorn and disgrace!

Mazmur 71:24

71:24 All day long my tongue will also tell about your justice,

for those who want to harm me ¹²  will be embarrassed and ashamed. ¹³ 

Mazmur 86:2

86:2 Protect me, ¹⁴  for I am loyal!

O my God, deliver your servant, who trusts in you!

Mazmur 86:14

86:14 O God, arrogant men attack me; ¹⁵ 

a gang ¹⁶  of ruthless men, who do not respect you, seek my life. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 104:14

104:14 He provides grass ¹⁸  for the cattle,

and crops for people to cultivate, ¹⁹ 

so they can produce food from the ground, ²⁰ 

Mazmur 109:28

109:28 They curse, but you will bless. ²¹ 

When they attack, they will be humiliated, ²² 

but your servant will rejoice.

Mazmur 141:6

141:6 They will be thrown down the side of a cliff by their judges. ²³ 

They ²⁴  will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.

Mazmur 143:12

143:12 As a demonstration of your loyal love, ²⁵  destroy my enemies!

Annihilate ²⁶  all who threaten my life, ²⁷ 

for I am your servant.

[10:5]  ¹ tn Heb “they are firm, his ways, at every time.” The verb חַיִל (khayil, “be firm, be strong”) occurs only here and in Job 20:21, where it has the sense “endure.”

[10:5]  ² tc Heb “[on a] height, your judgments from before him.” If the MT is retained, then the idea may be that God’s “judgments” are high above (i.e., not recognized) by the wicked man. However, the syntax is awkward. The translation assumes an emendation of מָרוֹם (marom, “height”) to סָרוּ (saru, “[your judgments] are turned aside”), the final mem (ם) being dittographic (note the initial mem on the immediately following word [מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ, mishÿfatekha, “your judgments”). “Judgments” probably refers here to God’s laws or commands, rather than his judicial decisions or acts of judgment.

[10:5]  ³ tn Heb “all his enemies, he snorts against them.” This may picture the wicked man defiantly challenging his enemies because he is confident of success. Another option is to take יָפִיחַ (yafiakh) from the root יָפַח (yafakh, “to testify”) and translate “he testifies against all his enemies,” implying that he gets the upper hand over them in legal battles. The noun יָפֵחַ (yafeakh, “witness”) is attested in biblical Hebrew (see Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3). The verb, however, is not clearly attested.

[35:4]  ⁴ tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies. See also the distinct jussive form in v. 6.

[35:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “O Lord, how long will you see?”

[35:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “bring back, restore.”

[35:17]  ⁷ tn Or “my life.”

[35:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “my only one.” The psalmist may mean that his life is precious, or that he feels isolated and alone (see Ps 22:20). The verb “guard” is supplied in the translation, because the verb “rescue” is understood by ellipsis (see the previous line).

[45:12]  ⁹ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[45:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and a daughter of Tyre with a gift, your face they will appease, the rich of people.” The phrase “daughter of Tyre” occurs only here in the OT. It could be understood as addressed to the bride, indicating she was a Phoenician (cf. NEB). However, often in the OT the word “daughter,” when collocated with the name of a city or country, is used to personify the referent (see, for example, “Daughter Zion” in Ps 9:14, and “Daughter Babylon” in Ps 137:8). If that is the case here, then “Daughter Tyre” identifies the city-state of Tyre as the place from which the rich people come (cf. NRSV). The idiom “appease the face” refers to seeking one’s favor (see Exod 32:11; 1 Sam 13:12; 1 Kgs 13:6; 2 Kgs 13:4; 2 Chr 33:12; Job 11:19; Ps 119:58; Prov 19:6; Jer 26:19; Dan 9:13; Zech 7:2; 8:21-22; Mal 1:9).

[71:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “those who seek my harm.”

[71:24]  ¹² tn Heb “those who seek my harm.”

[71:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “will have become embarrassed and ashamed.” The perfect verbal forms function here as future perfects, indicating future actions which will precede chronologically the action expressed by the main verb in the preceding line.

[86:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my life.”

[86:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “rise up against me.”

[86:14]  ¹⁶ tn Or “assembly.”

[86:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “seek my life and do not set you before them.” See Ps 54:3.

[104:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “causes the grass to sprout up.”

[104:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for the service of man” (see Gen 2:5).

[104:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to cause food to come out from the earth.”

[109:28]  ²¹ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect as a prayer/request (“may you bless”).

[109:28]  ²² tn The verbal sequence is perfect + prefixed form with vav (ו) consecutive. Since the psalmist seems to be anticipating the demise of his enemies, he may be using these forms rhetorically to describe the enemies’ defeat as if it were already accomplished. Some emend the text to קָמוּ יֵבֹשׁוּ (qamu yevoshu, “may those who attack me be humiliated”). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 75.

[141:6]  ²³ tn Heb “they are thrown down by the hands of a cliff, their judges.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult and the meaning uncertain. The perfect verbal form is understood as rhetorical; the psalmist describes the anticipated downfall of the wicked as if it had already occurred. “Their judges” could be taken as the subject of the verb, but this makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes the judges are the agents and that the wicked, mentioned earlier in the psalm, are the subjects of the verb.

[141:6]  ²⁴ tn It is unclear how this statement relates to the preceding sentence. Perhaps the judges are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the verb “will listen,” and “my words” are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the phrase “are pleasant.” The psalmist may be affirming here his confidence that he will be vindicated when he presents his case before the judges, while the wicked will be punished.

[143:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”

[143:12]  ²⁶ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect.

[143:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “all the enemies of my life.”