Mazmur 28:4

28:4 Pay them back for their evil deeds!

Pay them back for what they do!

Punish them! ¹ 

Mazmur 34:14

34:14 Turn away from evil and do what is right! ² 

Strive for peace and promote it! ³ 

Mazmur 109:11

109:11 May the creditor seize ⁴  all he owns!

May strangers loot his property! ⁵ 

Mazmur 119:94

119:94 I belong to you. Deliver me!

For I seek your precepts.

Mazmur 119:10

119:10 With all my heart I seek you.

Do not allow me to stray from your commands!

Mazmur 2:1

Psalm 2 ⁶ 

2:1 Why ⁷  do the nations rebel? ⁸ 

Why ⁹  are the countries ¹⁰  devising ¹¹  plots that will fail? ¹² 

Mazmur 73:16

73:16 When I tried to make sense of this,

it was troubling to me. ¹³ 

Mazmur 104:23

104:23 Men then go out to do their work,

and labor away until evening. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 109:4

109:4 They repay my love with accusations, ¹⁵ 

but I continue to pray. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 118:13

118:13 “You aggressively attacked me ¹⁷  and tried to knock me down, ¹⁸ 

but the Lord helped me.

Mazmur 119:4

119:4 You demand that your precepts

be carefully kept. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 119:45

119:45 I will be secure, ²⁰ 

for I seek your precepts.

Mazmur 40:14

40:14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life

be totally embarrassed and ashamed! ²¹ 

May those who want to harm me

be turned back and ashamed! ²² 

Mazmur 18:23

18:23 I was innocent before him,

and kept myself from sinning. ²³ 

Mazmur 26:11

26:11 But I have integrity! ²⁴ 

Rescue me ²⁵  and have mercy on me!

Mazmur 56:5

56:5 All day long they cause me trouble; ²⁶ 

they make a habit of plotting my demise. ²⁷ 

Mazmur 78:46

78:46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,

the fruit of their labor to the locust.

Mazmur 105:44

105:44 He handed the territory of nations over to them,

and they took possession of what other peoples had produced, ²⁸ 

Mazmur 107:36

107:36 He allowed the hungry to settle there,

and they established a city in which to live.

Mazmur 109:29

109:29 My accusers will be covered ²⁹  with shame,

and draped in humiliation as if it were a robe.

Mazmur 112:5

112:5 It goes well for the one ³⁰  who generously lends money,

and conducts his business honestly. ³¹ 

Mazmur 119:2

119:2 How blessed are those who observe his rules,

and seek him with all their heart,

Mazmur 119:52

119:52 I remember your ancient regulations, ³² 

O Lord, and console myself. ³³ 

Mazmur 119:61

119:61 The ropes of the wicked tighten around ³⁴  me,

but I do not forget your law.

Mazmur 119:157

119:157 The enemies who chase me are numerous. ³⁵ 

Yet I do not turn aside from your rules.

Mazmur 10:5

10:5 He is secure at all times. ³⁶ 

He has no regard for your commands; ³⁷ 

he disdains all his enemies. ³⁸ 

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! ³⁹ 

Mazmur 35:17

35:17 O Lord, how long are you going to just stand there and watch this? ⁴⁰ 

Rescue ⁴¹  me ⁴²  from their destructive attacks;

guard my life ⁴³  from the young lions!

Mazmur 45:12

45:12 Rich people from Tyre ⁴⁴ 

will seek your favor by bringing a gift. ⁴⁵ 

Mazmur 71:13

71:13 May my accusers be humiliated and defeated!

May those who want to harm me ⁴⁶  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 ⁴⁷  will be embarrassed and ashamed. ⁴⁸ 

Mazmur 86:2

86:2 Protect me, ⁴⁹  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; ⁵⁰ 

a gang ⁵¹  of ruthless men, who do not respect you, seek my life. ⁵² 

Mazmur 104:14

104:14 He provides grass ⁵³  for the cattle,

and crops for people to cultivate, ⁵⁴ 

so they can produce food from the ground, ⁵⁵ 

Mazmur 109:28

109:28 They curse, but you will bless. ⁵⁶ 

When they attack, they will be humiliated, ⁵⁷ 

but your servant will rejoice.

Mazmur 141:6

141:6 They will be thrown down the side of a cliff by their judges. ⁵⁸ 

They ⁵⁹  will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.

Mazmur 143:12

143:12 As a demonstration of your loyal love, ⁶⁰  destroy my enemies!

Annihilate ⁶¹  all who threaten my life, ⁶² 

for I am your servant.

Mazmur 1:3

1:3 He is like ⁶³  a tree planted by flowing streams; ⁶⁴ 

it ⁶⁵  yields ⁶⁶  its fruit at the proper time, ⁶⁷ 

and its leaves never fall off. ⁶⁸ 

He succeeds in everything he attempts. ⁶⁹ 

Mazmur 3:1

Psalm 3 ⁷⁰ 

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. ⁷¹ 

3:1 Lord, how ⁷²  numerous are my enemies!

Many attack me. ⁷³ 

Mazmur 26:1

Psalm 26 ⁷⁴ 

By David.

26:1 Vindicate me, O Lord,

for I have integrity, ⁷⁵ 

and I trust in the Lord without wavering.

Mazmur 27:9

27:9 Do not reject me! ⁷⁶ 

Do not push your servant away in anger!

You are my deliverer! ⁷⁷ 

Do not forsake or abandon me,

O God who vindicates me!

Mazmur 32:5

32:5 Then I confessed my sin;

I no longer covered up my wrongdoing.

I said, “I will confess ⁷⁸  my rebellious acts to the Lord.”

And then you forgave my sins. ⁷⁹  (Selah)

Mazmur 38:12

38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; ⁸⁰ 

those who want to harm me speak destructive words;

all day long they say deceitful things.

Mazmur 54:3

54:3 For foreigners ⁸¹  attack me; ⁸² 

ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life. ⁸³  (Selah)

Mazmur 62:3

62:3 How long will you threaten ⁸⁴  a man?

All of you are murderers, ⁸⁵ 

as dangerous as a leaning wall or an unstable fence. ⁸⁶ 

Mazmur 73:28

73:28 But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. ⁸⁷ 

I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter,

as ⁸⁸  I declare all the things you have done.

Mazmur 101:2

101:2 I will walk in ⁸⁹  the way of integrity.

When will you come to me?

I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace. ⁹⁰ 

Mazmur 127:1

Psalm 127 ⁹¹ 

A song of ascents, ⁹²  by Solomon.

127:1 If the Lord does not build a house, ⁹³ 

then those who build it work in vain.

If the Lord does not guard a city, ⁹⁴ 

then the watchman stands guard in vain.

Mazmur 54:1

Psalm 54 ⁹⁵ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song ⁹⁶  by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.” ⁹⁷ 

54:1 O God, deliver me by your name! ⁹⁸ 

Vindicate me ⁹⁹  by your power!

[28:4]  ¹ tn Heb “Give to them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds. According to the work of their hands give to them. Return their due to them.” The highly repetitive style reflects the psalmist’s agitated emotional state and draws attention to his yearning for justice.

[34:14]  ² tn Or “do good.”

[34:14]  ³ tn Heb “seek peace and pursue it.”

[109:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “lay snares for” (see Ps 38:12).

[109:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “the product of his labor.”

[2:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 2. In this royal psalm the author asserts the special status of the divinely chosen Davidic king and warns the nations and their rulers to submit to the authority of God and his chosen vice-regent.

[2:1]  ⁷ tn The question is rhetorical. Rather than seeking information, the psalmist expresses his outrage that the nations would have the audacity to rebel against God and his chosen king.

[2:1]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verb רָגַשׁ (ragash) occurs only here. In Dan 6:6, 11, 15 the Aramaic cognate verb describes several officials acting as a group. A Hebrew nominal derivative is used in Ps 55:14 of a crowd of people in the temple.

[2:1]  ⁹ tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew imperfect form describes the rebellion as underway. The verb הָגָה (hagah), which means “to recite quietly, meditate,” here has the metonymic nuance “devise, plan, plot” (see Ps 38:12; Prov 24:2).

[2:1]  ¹² tn Heb “devising emptiness.” The noun רִיק (riq, “emptiness”) may characterize their behavior as “worthless, morally bankrupt” but more likely refers to the outcome of their plots (i.e., failure). As the rest of the psalm emphasizes, their rebellion will fail.

[73:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “and [when] I pondered to understand this, troubling it [was] in my eyes.”

[104:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “man goes out to his work, and to his labor until evening.”

[109:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in place of my love they oppose me.”

[109:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and I, prayer.”

[118:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “pushing, you pushed me.” The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following verbal idea. The psalmist appears to address the nations as if they were an individual enemy. Some find this problematic and emend the verb form (which is a Qal perfect second masculine singular with a first person singular suffix) to נִדְחֵיתִי (nidkheti), a Niphal perfect first common singular, “I was pushed.”

[118:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to fall,” i.e., “that [I] might fall.”

[119:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you, you commanded your precepts, to keep, very much.”

[119:45]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and I will walk about in a wide place.” The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive gives a further consequence of the anticipated positive divine response (see vv. 43-44). Another option is to take the cohortative as expressing the psalmist’s request. In this case one could translate, “and please give me security.”

[40:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed together, the ones seeking my life to snatch it away.”

[40:14]  ²² tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse (“may those…be…embarrassed and ashamed…may those…be turned back and ashamed”) are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.

[40:14]  sn See Ps 35:4 for a similar prayer.

[18:23]  ²³ tn Heb “from my sin,” that is, from making it my own in any way.

[18:23]  sn Kept myself from sinning. Leading a blameless life meant that the king would be loyal to God’s covenant, purge the government and society of evil and unjust officials, and reward loyalty to the Lord (see Ps 101).

[26:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and I in my integrity walk.” The psalmist uses the imperfect verbal form to emphasize this is his practice. The construction at the beginning of the verse (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist and the sinners mentioned in vv. 9-10.

[26:11]  ²⁵ tn Or “redeem me.”

[56:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “my affairs they disturb.” For other instances of דָּבָר (davar) meaning “affairs, business,” see BDB 183 s.v.. The Piel of עָצַב (’atsav, “to hurt”) occurs only here and in Isa 63:10, where it is used of “grieving” (or “offending”) the Lord’s holy Spirit. Here in Ps 56:5, the verb seems to carry the nuance “disturb, upset,” in the sense of “cause trouble.”

[56:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “against me [are] all their thoughts for harm.”

[105:44]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and the [product of the] work of peoples they possessed.”

[109:29]  ²⁹ tn Heb “clothed.” Another option is to translate the prefixed verbal forms in this line and the next as jussives (“may my accusers be covered with shame”).

[112:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “man.”

[112:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “he sustains his matters with justice.”

[119:52]  ³² tn Heb “I remember your regulations from of old.” The prepositional phrase “from of old” apparently modifies “your regulations,” alluding to the fact that God revealed them to Israel in the distant past. Another option is to understand the prepositional phrase as modifying the verb, in which case one might translate, “I have long remembered your regulations.”

[119:52]  ³³ tn Or “find comfort.”

[119:61]  ³⁴ tn Heb “surround.”

[119:157]  ³⁵ tn Heb “many [are] those who chase me and my enemies.”

[10:5]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “O Lord, how long will you see?”

[35:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “bring back, restore.”

[35:17]  ⁴² tn Or “my life.”

[35:17]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[45:12]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “those who seek my harm.”

[71:24]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “those who seek my harm.”

[71:24]  ⁴⁸ 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]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “my life.”

[86:14]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “rise up against me.”

[86:14]  ⁵¹ tn Or “assembly.”

[86:14]  ⁵² tn Heb “seek my life and do not set you before them.” See Ps 54:3.

[104:14]  ⁵³ tn Heb “causes the grass to sprout up.”

[104:14]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “for the service of man” (see Gen 2:5).

[104:14]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “to cause food to come out from the earth.”

[109:28]  ⁵⁶ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect as a prayer/request (“may you bless”).

[109:28]  ⁵⁷ 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]  ⁵⁸ 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]  ⁵⁹ 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]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”

[143:12]  ⁶¹ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect.

[143:12]  ⁶² tn Heb “all the enemies of my life.”

[1:3]  ⁶³ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same characteristic force as the imperfect in the preceding verse. According to the psalmist, the one who studies and obeys God’s commands typically prospers.

[1:3]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “channels of water.”

[1:3]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “which.”

[1:3]  ⁶⁶ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in v. 3 draw attention to the typical nature of the actions/states they describe.

[1:3]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “in its season.”

[1:3]  ⁶⁸ tn Or “fade”; “wither.”

[1:3]  sn The author compares the godly individual to a tree that has a rich water supply (planted by flowing streams), develops a strong root system, and is filled with leaves and fruit. The simile suggests that the godly have a continual source of life which in turn produces stability and uninterrupted prosperity.

[1:3]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “and all which he does prospers”; or “and all which he does he causes to prosper.” (The simile of the tree does not extend to this line.) It is not certain if the Hiphil verbal form (יַצְלִיחַ, yatsliakh) is intransitive-exhibitive (“prospers”) or causative (“causes to prosper”) here. If the verb is intransitive, then כֹּל (kol, “all, everything”) is the subject. If the verb is causative, then the godly individual or the Lord himself is the subject and כֹּל is the object. The wording is reminiscent of Josh 1:8, where the Lord tells Joshua: “This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper (literally, “cause your way to prosper”) and be successful.”

[3:1]  ⁷⁰ sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).

[3:1]  ⁷¹ sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).

[3:1]  ⁷² tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).

[3:1]  ⁷³ tn Heb “many rise up against me.”

[26:1]  ⁷⁴ sn Psalm 26. The author invites the Lord to test his integrity, asserts his innocence and declares his loyalty to God.

[26:1]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “for I in my integrity walk.”

[27:9]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

[27:9]  ⁷⁷ tn Or “[source of] help.”

[32:5]  ⁷⁸ tn The Hiphil of ידה normally means “give thanks, praise,” but here, as in Prov 28:13, it means “confess.”

[32:5]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “the wrongdoing of my sin.” By joining synonyms for “sin” in this way, the psalmist may be emphasizing the degree of his wrongdoing.

[38:12]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “lay snares.”

[54:3]  ⁸¹ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read זֵדִים (zedim, “proud ones”) rather than זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”). (No matter which reading one chooses as original, dalet-resh confusion accounts for the existence of the variant.) The term זֵדִים (“proud ones”) occurs in parallelism with עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) is parallel to עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.

[54:3]  ⁸² tn Heb “rise against me.”

[54:3]  ⁸³ tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”

[62:3]  ⁸⁴ tn The verb form is plural; the psalmist addresses his enemies. The verb הוּת occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “shout at.”

[62:3]  ⁸⁵ tn The Hebrew text has a Pual (passive) form, but the verb form should be vocalized as a Piel (active) form. See BDB 953-54 s.v. רָצַח.

[62:3]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “like a bent wall and a broken fence.” The point of the comparison is not entirely clear. Perhaps the enemies are depicted as dangerous, like a leaning wall or broken fence that is in danger of falling on someone (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:69).

[73:28]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “but as for me, the nearness of God for me [is] good.”

[73:28]  ⁸⁸ tn The infinitive construct with -לְ (lÿ) is understood here as indicating an attendant circumstance. Another option is to take it as indicating purpose (“so that I might declare”) or result (“with the result that I declare”).

[101:2]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “take notice of.”

[101:2]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “I will walk about in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.”

[127:1]  ⁹¹ sn Psalm 127. In this wisdom psalm the psalmist teaches that one does not find security by one’s own efforts, for God alone gives stability and security.

[127:1]  ⁹² sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[127:1]  ⁹³ sn The expression build a house may have a double meaning here. It may refer on the surface level to a literal physical structure in which a family lives, but at a deeper, metaphorical level it refers to building, perpetuating, and maintaining a family line. See Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; 1 Sam 2:35; 2 Sam 7:27; 1 Kgs 11:38; 1 Chr 17:10, 25. Having a family line provided security in ancient Israel.

[127:1]  ⁹⁴ sn The city symbolizes community security, which is the necessary framework for family security.

[54:1]  ⁹⁵ sn Psalm 54. The psalmist asks God for protection against his enemies, confidently affirms that God will vindicate him, and promises to give thanks to God for his saving intervention.

[54:1]  ⁹⁶ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.

[54:1]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “Is not David hiding with us?”

[54:1]  sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm during the period when Saul was seeking his life. On one occasion the Ziphites informed Saul that David was hiding in their territory (see 1 Sam 23:19-20).

[54:1]  ⁹⁸ tn God’s “name” refers here to his reputation and revealed character, which would instill fear in the psalmist’s enemies (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:17).

[54:1]  ⁹⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.