Mazmur 9:12

9:12 For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed; ¹ 

he did not overlook ²  their cry for help ³ 

Mazmur 9:15-16

9:15 The nations fell ⁴  into the pit they had made;

their feet were caught in the net they had hidden. ⁵ 

9:16 The Lord revealed himself;

he accomplished justice;

the wicked were ensnared by their own actions. ⁶  (Higgaion. ⁷  Selah)

[9:12]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “did not forget.”

[9:12]  ³ 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.

[9:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “sank down.”

[9:15]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn This is probably a technical musical term.