Mazmur 71:10

71:10 For my enemies talk about me;

those waiting for a chance to kill me plot my demise. ¹ 

Mazmur 103:18

103:18 to those who keep his covenant,

who are careful to obey his commands. ² 

Mazmur 104:32

104:32 He looks down on the earth and it shakes;

he touches the mountains and they start to smolder.

Mazmur 105:3

105:3 Boast about his holy name!

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

Mazmur 107:2

107:2 Let those delivered by the Lord speak out, ³ 

those whom he delivered ⁴  from the power ⁵  of the enemy,

Mazmur 109:6

109:6 ⁶ Appoint an evil man to testify against him! ⁷ 

May an accuser stand ⁸  at his right side!

Mazmur 109:20

109:20 May the Lord repay my accusers in this way, ⁹ 

those who say evil things about ¹⁰  me! ¹¹ 

Mazmur 115:8

115:8 Those who make them will end up ¹²  like them,

as will everyone who trusts in them.

Mazmur 115:13

115:13 He will bless his loyal followers, ¹³ 

both young and old. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 119:42

119:42 Then I will have a reply for the one who insults me, ¹⁵ 

for I trust in your word.

Mazmur 119:63

119:63 I am a friend to all your loyal followers, ¹⁶ 

and to those who keep your precepts.

[71:10]  ¹ tn Heb “those who watch for my life consult together.”

[103:18]  ² tn Heb “to those who remember his precepts to do them.”

[107:2]  ³ tn Or “let the redeemed of the Lord say [so].”

[107:2]  ⁴ tn Or “redeemed.”

[107:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “hand.”

[109:6]  ⁶ sn In vv. 6-19 the psalmist calls on God to judge his enemies severely. Some attribute this curse-list to the psalmist’s enemies rather than the psalmist. In this case one should paraphrase v. 6: “They say about me, ‘Appoint an evil man, etc.’” Those supporting this line of interpretation point out that vv. 2-5 and 20 refer to the enemies’ attack on the psalmist being a verbal one. Furthermore in vv. 1-5, 20 the psalmist speaks of his enemies in the plural, while vv. 6-19 refer to an individual. This use of the singular in vv. 6-19 could be readily explained if this is the psalmist’s enemies’ curse on him. However, it is much more natural to understand vv. 6-19 as the psalmist’s prayer against his enemies. There is no introductory quotation formula in v. 6 to indicate that the psalmist is quoting anyone, and the statement “may the Lord repay my accusers in this way” in v. 20 most naturally appears to be a fitting conclusion to the prayer in vv. 6-19. But what about the use of the singular in vv. 6-19? Often in the psalms the psalmist will describe his enemies as a group, but then speak of them as an individual as well, as if viewing his adversaries collectively as one powerful foe. See, for example, Ps 7, where the psalmist uses both the plural (vv. 1, 6) and the singular (vv. 2, 4-5) in referring to enemies. Perhaps by using the singular in such cases, the psalmist wants to single out each enemy for individual attention, or perhaps he has one especially hostile enemy in mind who epitomizes the opposition of the whole group. This may well be the case in Ps 109. Perhaps we should understand the singular throughout vv. 6-19 in the sense of “each and every one.” For a lengthy and well-reasoned defense of the opposite view – that vv. 6-19 are a quotation of what the enemies said about the psalmist – see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 72-73.

[109:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “appoint against him an evil [man].”

[109:6]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive here (note the imperative in the preceding line).

[109:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “[may] this [be] the repayment to my accusers from the Lord.”

[109:20]  ¹⁰ tn Or “against.”

[109:20]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being; soul”) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[115:8]  ¹² tn Heb “will be.” Another option is to take the prefixed verbal form as a prayer, “may those who make them end up like them.”

[115:8]  sn Because the idols are lifeless, they cannot help their worshipers in times of crisis. Consequently the worshipers end up as dead as the gods in which they trust.

[115:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “the fearers of the Lord.”

[115:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the small along with the great.” The translation assumes that “small” and “great” here refer to age (see 2 Chr 15:13). Another option is to translate “both the insignificant and the prominent” (see Job 3:19; cf. NEB “high and low alike”).

[119:42]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and I will answer [the] one who insults me a word.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the jussive (see v. 41).

[119:63]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to all who fear you.”