Mazmur 17:11

17:11 They attack me, now they surround me; ¹ 

they intend to throw me to the ground. ² 

Mazmur 27:13

27:13 Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience

the Lord’s favor in the land of the living? ³ 

Mazmur 37:3

37:3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right!

Settle in the land and maintain your integrity! ⁴ 

Mazmur 147:6

147:6 The Lord lifts up the oppressed,

but knocks ⁵  the wicked to the ground.

[17:11]  ¹ tc Heb “our steps, now they surround me.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “surround me,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has “surround us,” harmonizing the pronoun to the preceding “our steps.” The first person plural pronoun does not fit the context, where the psalmist speaks as an individual. In the preceding verses the psalmist uses a first person singular verbal or pronominal form twenty times. For this reason it is preferable to emend “our steps” to אִשְּׁרוּנִי (’ishÿruni, “they attack me”) from the verbal root אָשֻׁר (’ashur, “march, stride, track”).

[17:11]  ² tn Heb “their eyes they set to bend down in the ground.”

[27:13]  ³ tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is incomplete: “If I had not believed [I would] see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” The words “Where would I be” are supplied in the translation to clarify the intent of the statement.

[37:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “tend integrity.” The verb רָעָה (ra’ah, “tend, shepherd”) is probably used here in the sense of “watch over, guard.” The noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness, honesty, integrity”) is understood as the direct object of the verb, though it could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “[feed] securely,” if the audience is likened to a flock of sheep.

[147:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “brings down.”