Mazmur 137:5

137:5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

may my right hand be crippled! ¹ 

Mazmur 69:23

69:23 May their eyes be blinded! ² 

Make them shake violently! ³ 

Mazmur 40:15

40:15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”

be humiliated ⁴  and disgraced! ⁵ 

Mazmur 109:11

109:11 May the creditor seize ⁶  all he owns!

May strangers loot his property! ⁷ 

[137:5]  ¹ tn Heb “may my right hand forget.” In this case one must supply an object, such as “how to move.” The elliptical nature of the text has prompted emendations (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 236). The translation assumes an emendation to תִּכְשַׁח (tikhshakh), from an otherwise unattested root כשׁח, meaning “to be crippled; to be lame.” See HALOT 502 s.v. כשׁח, which cites Arabic cognate evidence in support of the proposal. The corruption of the MT can be explained as an error of transposition facilitated by the use of שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”) just before this.

[69:23]  ² tn Heb “may their eyes be darkened from seeing.”

[69:23]  ³ tn Heb “make their hips shake continually.”

[40:15]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive in this imprecation.

[40:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “May they be humiliated according to their shame, those who say to me, ‘Aha! Aha!’”

[109:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “lay snares for” (see Ps 38:12).

[109:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “the product of his labor.”