Mazmur 9:11-16

9:11 Sing praises to the Lord, who rules ¹  in Zion!

Tell the nations what he has done! ² 

9:12 For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed; ³ 

he did not overlook ⁴  their cry for help ⁵ 

9:13 when they prayed: ⁶ 

“Have mercy on me, ⁷  Lord!

See how I am oppressed by those who hate me, ⁸ 

O one who can snatch me away ⁹  from the gates of death!

9:14 Then I will ¹⁰  tell about all your praiseworthy acts; ¹¹ 

in the gates of Daughter Zion ¹²  I will rejoice because of your deliverance.” ¹³ 

9:15 The nations fell ¹⁴  into the pit they had made;

their feet were caught in the net they had hidden. ¹⁵ 

9:16 The Lord revealed himself;

he accomplished justice;

the wicked were ensnared by their own actions. ¹⁶  (Higgaion. ¹⁷  Selah)

[9:11]  ¹ tn Heb “sits” (i.e., enthroned, and therefore ruling – see v. 4). Another option is to translate as “lives” or “dwells.”

[9:11]  ² tn Heb “declare among the nations his deeds.”

[9:12]  ³ tn Heb “for the one who seeks shed blood remembered them.” The idiomatic expression “to seek shed blood” seems to carry the idea “to seek payment/restitution for one’s shed blood.” The plural form דָּמִים (damim, “shed blood”) occurs only here as the object of דָּרַשׁ (darash); the singular form דָּם (dam, “blood”) appears with the verb in Gen 9:5; 42:22; Ezek 33:6. “Them,” the pronominal object of the verb “remembered,” refers to the oppressed, mentioned specifically in the next line, so the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “did not forget.”

[9:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “the cry for help of the oppressed.” In this context the “oppressed” are the psalmist and those he represents, whom the hostile nations have threatened.

[9:13]  ⁶ tn The words “when they prayed,” though not represented in the Hebrew text, are supplied in the translation for clarification. The petition in vv. 13-14 is best understood as the cry for help which the oppressed offered to God when the nations threatened. The Lord answered this request, prompting the present song of thanksgiving.

[9:13]  ⁷ tn Or “show me favor.”

[9:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “see my misery from the ones who hate me.”

[9:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “one who lifts me up.”

[9:14]  ¹⁰ tn Or “so that I might.”

[9:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all your praise.” “Praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt it.

[9:14]  ¹² sn Daughter Zion is an idiomatic title for Jerusalem. It appears frequently in the prophets, but only here in the psalms.

[9:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “in your deliverance.”

[9:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “sank down.”

[9:15]  ¹⁵ sn The hostility of the nations against God’s people is their downfall, for it prompts God to intervene and destroy them. See also Ps 7:15-16.

[9:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “by the work of his hands [the] wicked [one] was ensnared. The singular form רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) is collective or representative here (see vv. 15, 17). The form נוֹקֵשׁ (noqesh) appears to be an otherwise unattested Qal form (active participle) from נָקַשׁ (naqash), but the form should be emended to נוֹקַשׁ (noqash), a Niphal perfect from יָקַשׁ (yaqash).

[9:16]  ¹⁷ tn This is probably a technical musical term.