Mazmur 35:19

35:19 Do not let those who are my enemies for no reason ¹  gloat ²  over me!

Do not let those who hate me without cause carry out their wicked schemes! ³ 

Mazmur 38:12

38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; ⁴ 

those who want to harm me speak destructive words;

all day long they say deceitful things.

Mazmur 65:9

65:9 You visit the earth and give it rain; ⁵ 

you make it rich and fertile ⁶ 

with overflowing streams full of water. ⁷ 

You provide grain for them, ⁸ 

for you prepare the earth to yield its crops. ⁹ 

Mazmur 68:30

68:30 Sound your battle cry ¹⁰  against the wild beast of the reeds, ¹¹ 

and the nations that assemble like a herd of calves led by bulls! ¹² 

They humble themselves ¹³  and offer gold and silver as tribute. ¹⁴ 

God ¹⁵  scatters ¹⁶  the nations that like to do battle.

Mazmur 126:2

126:2 At that time we laughed loudly

and shouted for joy. ¹⁷ 

At that time the nations said, ¹⁸ 

“The Lord has accomplished great things for these people.”

[35:19]  ¹ tn Heb “[with] a lie.” The Hebrew noun שֶׁקֶר (sheqer, “lie”) is used here as an adverb, “falsely, wrongfully” (see Ps 38:19).

[35:19]  ² tn Heb “rejoice.”

[35:19]  ³ tn Heb “[do not let] those who hate me without cause pinch [i.e., wink] an eye.” The negative particle is understood in the second line by ellipsis (see the preceding line). In the Book of Proverbs “winking an eye” is associated with deceit and trickery (see 6:13; 10:10; 16:30).

[38:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “lay snares.”

[65:9]  ⁵ tn The verb form is a Polel from שׁוּק (shuq, “be abundant”), a verb which appears only here and in Joel 2:24 and 3:13, where it is used in the Hiphil stem and means “overflow.”

[65:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “you greatly enrich it.”

[65:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “[with] a channel of God full of water.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very deep stream (“a stream fit for God,” as it were).

[65:9]  ⁸ tn The pronoun apparently refers to the people of the earth, mentioned in v. 8.

[65:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “for thus [referring to the provision of rain described in the first half of the verse] you prepare it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix attached to the verb “prepare” refers back to the “earth,” which is a feminine noun with regard to grammatical form.

[68:30]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts such as Ps 68 this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Ps 106:9 and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 18:15; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[68:30]  ¹¹ sn The wild beast of the reeds probably refers to a hippopotamus, which in turn symbolizes the nation of Egypt.

[68:30]  ¹² tn Heb “an assembly of bulls, with calves of the nations.”

[68:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “humbling himself.” The verb form is a Hitpael participle from the root רָפַס (rafas, “to trample”). The Hitpael of this verb appears only here and in Prov 6:3, where it seems to mean, “humble oneself,” a nuance that fits nicely in this context. The apparent subject is “wild beast” or “assembly,” though both of these nouns are grammatically feminine, while the participle is a masculine form. Perhaps one should emend the participial form to a masculine plural (מִתְרַפִּם, mitrapim) and understand “bulls” or “calves” as the subject.

[68:30]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “with pieces [?] of silver.” The meaning of the Hebrew term רַצֵּי (ratsey) is unclear. It is probably best to emend the text to בֶּצֶר וְכָסֶף (betser vÿkhasef, “[with] gold and silver”).

[68:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[68:30]  ¹⁶ tn The verb בָּזַר (bazar) is an alternative form of פָּזַר (pazar, “scatter”).

[126:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with a shout.”

[126:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they said among the nations.”