Mazmur 14:5

14:5 They are absolutely terrified, ¹ 

for God defends the godly. ² 

Mazmur 16:3

16:3 As for God’s chosen people who are in the land,

and the leading officials I admired so much ³  –

Mazmur 18:45

18:45 foreigners lose their courage; ⁴ 

they shake with fear ⁵  as they leave ⁶  their strongholds. ⁷ 

Mazmur 20:8

20:8 They will fall down, ⁸ 

but we ⁹  will stand firm. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 35:24

35:24 Vindicate me by your justice, O Lord my God!

Do not let them gloat ¹¹  over me!

Mazmur 73:17

73:17 Then I entered the precincts of God’s temple, ¹² 

and understood the destiny of the wicked. ¹³ 

Mazmur 94:21

94:21 They conspire against ¹⁴  the blameless, ¹⁵ 

and condemn to death the innocent. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 104:30

104:30 When you send your life-giving breath, they are created,

and you replenish the surface of the ground.

Mazmur 105:45

105:45 so that they might keep his commands

and obey ¹⁷  his laws.

Praise the Lord!

Mazmur 106:14

106:14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving ¹⁸  for meat; ¹⁹ 

they challenged God ²⁰  in the desert.

Mazmur 106:28

106:28 They worshiped ²¹  Baal of Peor,

and ate sacrifices offered to the dead. ²² 

Mazmur 107:32

107:32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people!

Let them praise him in the place where the leaders preside! ²³ 

Mazmur 109:15

109:15 May the Lord be constantly aware of them, ²⁴ 

and cut off the memory of his children ²⁵  from the earth!

Mazmur 119:150

119:150 Those who are eager to do ²⁶  wrong draw near;

they are far from your law.

Mazmur 119:155

119:155 The wicked have no chance for deliverance, ²⁷ 

for they do not seek your statutes.

Mazmur 136:21

136:21 and gave their land as an inheritance,

for his loyal love endures,

Mazmur 139:20

139:20 They ²⁸  rebel against you ²⁹  and act deceitfully; ³⁰ 

your enemies lie. ³¹ 

[14:5]  ¹ tn Heb “there they are afraid [with] fear.” The perfect verbal form is probably used in a rhetorical manner; the psalmist describes the future demise of the oppressors as if it were already occurring. The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is also used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the wicked standing in fear at a spot that is this vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.). The cognate accusative following the verb emphasizes the degree of their terror.

[14:5]  ² tn Heb “for God is with a godly generation.” The Hebrew noun דּוֹר (dor, “generation”) refers here to the general class of people who are characterized by godliness. See BDB 190 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.

[16:3]  ³ tn Heb “regarding the holy ones who [are] in the land, they; and the mighty [ones] in [whom is/was] all my desire.” The difficult syntax makes the meaning of the verse uncertain. The phrase “holy ones” sometimes refers to God’s angelic assembly (see Ps 89:5, 7), but the qualifying clause “who are in the land” suggests that here it refers to God’s people (Ps 34:9) or to their priestly leaders (2 Chr 35:3).

[18:45]  ⁴ tn Heb “wither, wear out.”

[18:45]  ⁵ tn The meaning of חָרַג (kharag, “shake”) is established on the basis of cognates in Arabic and Aramaic. 2 Sam 22:46 reads חָגַר (khagar), which might mean here, “[they] come limping” (on the basis of a cognate in postbiblical Hebrew). The normal meaning for חָגַר (“gird”) makes little sense here.

[18:45]  ⁶ tn Heb “from.”

[18:45]  ⁷ tn Heb “their prisons.” The besieged cities of the foreigners are compared to prisons.

[20:8]  ⁸ tn Or “stumble and fall down.”

[20:8]  ⁹ tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronominal subject) highlights the contrast between God’s victorious people and the defeated enemies mentioned in the previous line. The perfect verbal forms either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle. They describe the demise of the enemy as being as good as done.

[20:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “rise up and remain upright.” On the meaning of the Hitpolel of עוּד (’ud), see HALOT 795 s.v. I עוד. The verbal forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [ו] consecutive) either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle.

[35:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “rejoice.”

[73:17]  ¹² tn The plural of the term מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash) probably refers to the temple precincts (see Ps 68:35; Jer 51:51).

[73:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “I discerned their end.” At the temple the psalmist perhaps received an oracle of deliverance announcing his vindication and the demise of the wicked (see Ps 12) or heard songs of confidence (for example, Ps 11), wisdom psalms (for example, Pss 1, 37), and hymns (for example, Ps 112) that describe the eventual downfall of the proud and wealthy.

[94:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “attack.”

[94:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the life of the blameless.”

[94:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the blood of the innocent they declare guilty.”

[105:45]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “guard.”

[106:14]  ¹⁸ sn They had an insatiable craving. This is described in Num 11:4-35.

[106:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they craved [with] a craving.”

[106:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they tested God.”

[106:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “joined themselves to.”

[106:28]  sn They worshiped Baal of Peor. See Num 25:3, 5. Baal of Peor was a local manifestation of the Canaanite deity Baal located at Peor.

[106:28]  ²² tn Here “the dead” may refer to deceased ancestors (see Deut 26:14). Another option is to understand the term as a derogatory reference to the various deities which the Israelites worshiped at Peor along with Baal (see Num 25:2 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 49).

[107:32]  ²³ tn Heb “in the seat of the elders.”

[109:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “may they [that is, the sins mentioned in v. 14] be before the Lord continually.”

[109:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “their memory.” The plural pronominal suffix probably refers back to the children mentioned in v. 13, and for clarity this has been specified in the translation.

[119:150]  ²⁶ tn Heb “those who pursue.”

[119:155]  ²⁷ tn Heb “far from the wicked [is] deliverance.”

[139:20]  ²⁸ tn Heb “who.”

[139:20]  ²⁹ tc Heb “they speak [of] you.” The suffixed form of the verb אָמַר (’amar, “to speak”) is peculiar. The translation assumes an emendation to יַמְרֻךָ (yamrukha), a Hiphil form from מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”; see Ps 78:40).

[139:20]  ³⁰ tn Heb “by deceit.”

[139:20]  ³¹ tc Heb “lifted up for emptiness, your cities.” The Hebrew text as it stands makes no sense. The form נָשֻׂא (nasu’; a Qal passive participle) should be emended to נָשְׂאוּ (nosÿu; a Qal perfect, third common plural, “[they] lift up”). Many emend עָרֶיךָ (’arekha, “your cities”) to עָלֶיךָ (’alekha, “against you”), but it is preferable to understand the noun as an Aramaism and translate “your enemies” (see Dan 4:16 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 253).