Mazmur 27:12

27:12 Do not turn me over to my enemies, ¹ 

for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me. ² 

Mazmur 41:6

41:6 When someone comes to visit, ³  he pretends to be friendly; ⁴ 

he thinks of ways to defame me, ⁵ 

and when he leaves he slanders me. ⁶ 

Mazmur 64:4

64:4 in order to shoot down the innocent ⁷  in secluded places.

They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation. ⁸ 

Mazmur 64:8

64:8 Their slander will bring about their demise. ⁹ 

All who see them will shudder, ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 119:69

119:69 Arrogant people smear my reputation with lies, ¹¹ 

but I observe your precepts with all my heart.

Mazmur 119:78

119:78 May the arrogant be humiliated, for they have slandered me! ¹² 

But I meditate on your precepts.

Mazmur 140:9

140:9 As for the heads of those who surround me –

may the harm done by ¹³  their lips overwhelm them!

[27:12]  ¹ tn Heb “do not give me over to the desire of my enemies.”

[27:12]  ² tn Heb “for they have risen up against me, lying witnesses and a testifier of violence.” The form יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) is traditionally understood as a verb meaning “snort, breathe out”: “for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty” (KJV; cf. BDB 422 s.v.). A better option is to take the form as a noun meaning “a witness” (or “testifier”). See Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3.

[41:6]  ³ tn Heb “to see.”

[41:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “he speaks deceitfully.”

[41:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “his heart gathers sin to itself.”

[41:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “he goes outside and speaks.”

[64:4]  ⁷ tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.

[64:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[64:8]  ⁹ tc The MT reads literally, “and they caused him to stumble, upon them, their tongue.” Perhaps the third plural subject of the verb is indefinite with the third singular pronominal suffix on the verb being distributive (see Ps 63:10). In this case one may translate, “each one will be made to stumble.” The preposition עַל (’al) might then be taken as adversative, “against them [is] their tongue.” Many prefer to emend the text to וַיַּכְשִׁילֵמוֹ עֲלֵי לְשׁוֹנָם (vayyakhshilemo ’aley lÿshonam, “and he caused them to stumble over their tongue”). However, if this reading is original, it is difficult to see how the present reading of the MT arose. Furthermore, the preposition is not collocated with the verb כָּשַׁל (kashal) elsewhere. It is likely that the MT is corrupt, but a satisfying emendation has not yet been proposed.

[64:8]  ¹⁰ tn The Hitpolel verbal form is probably from the root נוּד (nud; see HALOT 678 s.v. נוד), which is attested elsewhere in the Hitpolel stem, not the root נָדַד (nadad, as proposed by BDB 622 s.v. I נָדַד), which does not occur elsewhere in this stem.

[119:69]  ¹¹ tn Heb “smear over me a lie.”

[119:78]  ¹² tn Heb “for [with] falsehood they have denied me justice.”

[140:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “harm of their lips.” The genitive here indicates the source or agent of the harm.