Mazmur 94:1

Psalm 94 ¹ 

94:1 O Lord, the God who avenges!

O God who avenges, reveal your splendor! ² 

Mazmur 35:12

35:12 They repay me evil for the good I have done; ³ 

I am overwhelmed with sorrow. ⁴ 

Mazmur 103:10

103:10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; ⁵ 

he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. ⁶ 

Mazmur 91:8

91:8 Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes –

you will see the wicked paid back. ⁷ 

Mazmur 28:4

28:4 Pay them back for their evil deeds!

Pay them back for what they do!

Punish them! ⁸ 

Mazmur 18:20

18:20 The Lord repaid ⁹  me for my godly deeds; ¹⁰ 

he rewarded ¹¹  my blameless behavior. ¹² 

Mazmur 149:7

149:7 in order to take ¹³  revenge on the nations,

and punish foreigners.

Mazmur 62:12

62:12 and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love. ¹⁴ 

For you repay men for what they do. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 137:8

137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! ¹⁶ 

How blessed will be the one who repays you

for what you dished out to us! ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 38:20

38:20 They repay me evil for the good I have done;

though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 41:10

41:10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,

so I can pay them back!” ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 18:47

18:47 The one true God ²⁰  completely vindicates me; ²¹ 

he makes nations submit to me. ²² 

Mazmur 18:24

18:24 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds; ²³ 

he took notice of my blameless behavior. ²⁴ 

Mazmur 58:10

58:10 The godly ²⁵  will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;

they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

Mazmur 99:8

99:8 O Lord our God, you answered them.

They found you to be a forgiving God,

but also one who punished their sinful deeds. ²⁶ 

Mazmur 10:15

10:15 Break the arm ²⁷  of the wicked and evil man!

Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds, ²⁸ 

which he thought you would not discover. ²⁹ 

Mazmur 79:10

79:10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants

be avenged among the nations! ³⁰ 

Mazmur 31:23

31:23 Love the Lord, all you faithful followers ³¹  of his!

The Lord protects those who have integrity,

but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly. ³² 

Mazmur 109:5

109:5 They repay me evil for good, ³³ 

and hate for love.

Mazmur 8:2

8:2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies

you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries, ³⁴ 

so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy. ³⁵ 

Mazmur 116:12

116:12 How can I repay the Lord

for all his acts of kindness to me?

Mazmur 94:2

94:2 Rise up, O judge of the earth!

Pay back the proud!

Mazmur 109:4

109:4 They repay my love with accusations, ³⁶ 

but I continue to pray. ³⁷ 

Mazmur 89:32

89:32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club, ³⁸ 

their sin by inflicting them with bruises. ³⁹ 

Mazmur 79:12

79:12 Pay back our neighbors in full! ⁴⁰ 

May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord! ⁴¹ 

Mazmur 7:4

7:4 or have wronged my ally, ⁴² 

or helped his lawless enemy, ⁴³ 

Mazmur 94:23

94:23 He will pay them back for their sin. ⁴⁴ 

He will destroy them because of ⁴⁵  their evil;

the Lord our God will destroy them.

Mazmur 54:5

54:5 May those who wait to ambush me ⁴⁶  be repaid for their evil! ⁴⁷ 

As a demonstration of your faithfulness, ⁴⁸  destroy them!

Mazmur 35:23

35:23 Rouse yourself, wake up ⁴⁹  and vindicate me! ⁵⁰ 

My God and Lord, defend my just cause! ⁵¹ 

Mazmur 9:12

9:12 For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed; ⁵² 

he did not overlook ⁵³  their cry for help ⁵⁴ 

Mazmur 38:14

38:14 I am like a man who cannot hear

and is incapable of arguing his defense. ⁵⁵ 

Mazmur 44:16

44:16 before the vindictive enemy

who ridicules and insults me. ⁵⁶ 

Mazmur 69:22

69:22 May their dining table become a trap before them!

May it be a snare for that group of friends! ⁵⁷ 

Mazmur 109:20

109:20 May the Lord repay my accusers in this way, ⁵⁸ 

those who say evil things about ⁵⁹  me! ⁶⁰ 

Mazmur 119:17

ג (Gimel)

119:17 Be kind to your servant!

Then I will live ⁶¹  and keep ⁶²  your instructions. ⁶³ 

Mazmur 135:14

135:14 For the Lord vindicates ⁶⁴  his people,

and has compassion on his servants. ⁶⁵ 

Mazmur 55:19

55:19 God, the one who has reigned as king from long ago,

will hear and humiliate them. ⁶⁶  (Selah)

They refuse to change,

and do not fear God. ⁶⁷ 

Mazmur 59:5

59:5 You, O Lord God, the invincible warrior, ⁶⁸  the God of Israel,

rouse yourself and punish ⁶⁹  all the nations!

Have no mercy on any treacherous evildoers! (Selah)

Mazmur 59:12

59:12 They speak sinful words. ⁷⁰ 

So let them be trapped by their own pride

and by the curses and lies they speak!

Mazmur 142:7

142:7 Free me ⁷¹  from prison,

that I may give thanks to your name.

Because of me the godly will assemble, ⁷² 

for you will vindicate me. ⁷³ 

Mazmur 10:14

10:14 You have taken notice, ⁷⁴ 

for ⁷⁵  you always see ⁷⁶  one who inflicts pain and suffering. ⁷⁷ 

The unfortunate victim entrusts his cause to you; ⁷⁸ 

you deliver ⁷⁹  the fatherless. ⁸⁰ 

[94:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 94. The psalmist asks God to judge the wicked and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.

[94:1]  ² tn Heb “shine forth” (see Pss 50:2; 80:1).

[35:12]  ³ tn Heb “they repay me evil instead of good.”

[35:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “[there is] bereavement to my soul.”

[103:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”

[103:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”

[91:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “retribution on the wicked.”

[28:4]  ⁸ 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.

[18:20]  ⁹ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not imperfect.

[18:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “according to my righteousness.” As vv. 22-24 make clear, the psalmist refers here to his unwavering obedience to God’s commands. In these verses the psalmist explains that the Lord was pleased with him and willing to deliver him because he had been loyal to God and obedient to his commandments. Ancient Near Eastern literature contains numerous parallels. A superior (a god or king) would typically reward a subject (a king or the servant of a king, respectively) for loyalty and obedience. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 211-13.

[18:20]  ¹¹ tn The unreduced Hiphil prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, in which case the psalmist would be generalizing. However, both the preceding and following contexts (see especially v. 24) suggest he is narrating his experience. Despite its unreduced form, the verb is better taken as a preterite. For other examples of unreduced Hiphil preterites, see Pss 55:14a; 68:9a, 10b; 80:8a; 89:43a; 107:38b; 116:6b.

[18:20]  ¹² tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands he repaid to me.” “Hands” suggest activity and behavior.

[149:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “to do.”

[62:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and to you, O Master, [is] loyal love.”

[62:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for you pay back to a man according to his deed.” Another option is to understand vv. 11b and 12a as the first principle and v. 12b as the second. In this case one might translate, “God has declared one principle, two principles I have heard, namely, that God is strong, and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love, and that you repay men for what they do.”

[62:12]  sn You repay men for what they do. The psalmist views God’s justice as a demonstration of both his power (see v. 11c) and his loyal love (see v. 12a). When God judges evildoers, he demonstrates loyal love to his people.

[137:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.

[137:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”

[38:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the ones who repay evil instead of good accuse me, instead of my pursuing good.”

[41:10]  ¹⁹ tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) here indicates purpose or result (“Then I will repay them”) after the preceding imperatives.

[18:47]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the God.” See v. 32.

[18:47]  ²¹ tn Heb “is the one who grants vengeance to me.” The plural form of the noun indicates degree here, suggesting complete vengeance or vindication.

[18:47]  sn Completely vindicates me. In the ancient Near East military victory was sometimes viewed as a sign that one’s God had judged in favor of the victor, avenging and/or vindicating him. See, for example, Judg 11:27, 32-33, 36.

[18:47]  ²² tn Heb “he subdues nations beneath me.” On the meaning of the verb דָּבַר (davar, “subdue,” a homonym of דָּבַר, davar, “speak”), see HALOT 209-10 s.v. I דבר. See also Ps 47:3 and 2 Chr 22:10. 2 Sam 22:48 reads “and [is the one who] brings down nations beneath me.”

[18:24]  ²³ tn Heb “according to my righteousness.”

[18:24]  ²⁴ tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.” 2 Sam 22:25 reads “according to my purity before his eyes.” The verbal repetition (compare vv. 20 and 24) sets off vv. 20-24 as a distinct sub-unit within the psalm.

[58:10]  ²⁵ tn The singular is representative here, as is the singular from “wicked” in the next line.

[99:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a God of lifting up [i.e., forgiveness] you were to them, and an avenger concerning their deeds.” The present translation reflects the traditional interpretation, which understands the last line as qualifying the preceding one. God forgave Moses and Aaron, but he also disciplined them when they sinned (cf. NIV, NRSV). Another option is to take “their deeds” as referring to harmful deeds directed against Moses and Aaron. In this case the verse may be translated, “and one who avenged attacks against them.” Still another option is to emend the participial form נֹקֵם (noqem, “an avenger”) to נֹקָם (noqam), a rare Qal participial form of נָקַה (naqah, “purify”) with a suffixed pronoun. In this case one could translate, “and one who purified them from their [sinful] deeds” (cf. NEB “and held them innocent”).

[10:15]  ²⁷ sn The arm symbolizes the strength of the wicked, which they use to oppress and exploit the weak.

[10:15]  ²⁸ tn Heb “you seek his wickedness.” As in v. 13, the verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as describing a fact, “you hold him accountable,” or as anticipating divine judgment, “you will hold him accountable.” However, since the verb is in apparent parallelism with the preceding imperative (“break”), it is better to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s desire or request.

[10:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “you will not find.” It is uncertain how this statement relates to what precedes. Some take בַל (bal), which is used as a negative particle in vv. 4, 6, 11, 18, as asseverative here, “Indeed find (i.e., judge his wickedness).” The translation assumes that the final words are an asyndetic relative clause which refers back to what the wicked man boasted in God’s face (“you will not find [i.e., my wickedness]”). See v. 13.

[79:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”

[31:23]  ³¹ tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[31:23]  ³² tn The participial forms in the second and third lines characterize the Lord as one who typically protects the faithful and judges the proud.

[109:5]  ³³ tn Heb “and they set upon me evil in place of good.”

[8:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “you establish strength because of your foes.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation follows the reading of the LXX which has “praise” (αἶνος, ainos) in place of “strength” (עֹז, ’oz); cf. NIV, NCV, NLT.

[8:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “to cause to cease an enemy and an avenger.” The singular forms are collective. The Hitpael participle of נָקַם (naqam) also occurs in Ps 44:16.

[109:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “in place of my love they oppose me.”

[109:4]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and I, prayer.”

[89:32]  ³⁸ tn Heb “I will punish with a club their rebellion.”

[89:32]  sn Despite the harsh image of beating…with a club, the language reflects a father-son relationship (see v. 30; 2 Sam 7:14). According to Proverbs, a שֵׁבֶט (shevet, “club”) was sometimes utilized to administer corporal punishment to rebellious children (see Prov 13:24; 22:15; 23:13-14; 29:15).

[89:32]  ³⁹ tn Heb “with blows their sin.”

[79:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.

[79:12]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”

[7:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “if I have repaid the one at peace with me evil.” The form שׁוֹלְמִי (sholÿmi, “the one at peace with me”) probably refers to a close friend or ally, i.e., one with whom the psalmist has made a formal agreement. See BDB 1023 s.v. שָׁלוֹם 4.a.

[7:4]  ⁴³ tn Heb “or rescued my enemy in vain.” The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive (the verb form is pseudo-cohortative; see IBHS 576-77 §34.5.3) carries on the hypothetical nuance of the perfect in the preceding line. Some regard the statement as a parenthetical assertion that the psalmist is kind to his enemies. Others define חָלַץ (khalats) as “despoil” (cf. NASB, NRSV “plundered”; NIV “robbed”), an otherwise unattested nuance for this verb. Still others emend the verb to לָחַץ (lakhats, “oppress”). Most construe the adverb רֵיקָם (reqam, “emptily, vainly”) with “my enemy,” i.e., the one who is my enemy in vain.” The present translation (1) assumes an emendation of צוֹרְרִי (tsorÿriy, “my enemy”) to צוֹרְרוֹ (tsorÿro, “his [i.e., the psalmist’s ally’s] enemy”) following J. Tigay, “Psalm 7:5 and Ancient Near Eastern Treaties,” JBL 89 (1970): 178-86, (2) understands the final mem (ם) on רֵיקָם as enclitic, and (3) takes רִיק (riq) as an adjective modifying “his enemy.” (For other examples of a suffixed noun followed by an attributive adjective without the article, see Pss 18:17 (“my strong enemy”), 99:3 (“your great and awesome name”) and 143:10 (“your good spirit”). The adjective רִיק occurs with the sense “lawless” in Judg 9:4; 11:3; 2 Chr 13:7. In this case the psalmist affirms that he has not wronged his ally, nor has he given aid to his ally’s enemies. Ancient Near Eastern treaties typically included such clauses, with one or both parties agreeing not to lend aid to the treaty partner’s enemies.

[94:23]  ⁴⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.

[94:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “in.”

[54:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2.

[54:5]  ⁴⁷ tn The Kethib (consonantal text) reads a Qal imperfect, “the evil will return,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has a Hiphil imperfect, “he will repay.” The parallel line has an imperative (indicating a prayer/request), so it is best to read a jussive form יָשֹׁב (yashov, “let it [the evil] return”) here.

[54:5]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”

[35:23]  ⁴⁹ sn Though he is confident that the Lord is aware of his situation (see v. 22a), the psalmist compares the Lord’s inactivity to sleep and urges him to wake up.

[35:23]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “for my justice.”

[35:23]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “for my cause.”

[9:12]  ⁵² 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]  ⁵³ tn Heb “did not forget.”

[9:12]  ⁵⁴ 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.

[38:14]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”

[44:16]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “from the voice of one who ridicules and insults, from the face of an enemy and an avenger.” See Ps 8:2.

[69:22]  ⁵⁷ tc Heb “and to the friends for a snare.” The plural of שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) is used in Ps 55:20 of one’s “friends.” If the reading of the MT is retained here, the term depicts the psalmist’s enemies as a close-knit group of friends who are bound together by their hatred for the psalmist. Some prefer to revocalize the text as וּלְשִׁלּוּמִים (ulÿshillumim, “and for retribution”). In this case the noun stands parallel to פַּח (pakh, “trap”) and מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), and one might translate, “may their dining table become a trap before them, [a means of] retribution and a snare” (cf. NIV).

[109:20]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “[may] this [be] the repayment to my accusers from the Lord.”

[109:20]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “against.”

[109:20]  ⁶⁰ 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).

[119:17]  ⁶¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is probably a cohortative indicating purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:17]  ⁶² tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the imperative that begins the verse.

[119:17]  ⁶³ tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss as well as several ancient versions read the plural here.

[135:14]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “judges,” but here the idea is that the Lord “judges on behalf of” his people. The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to the Lord’s characteristic actions.

[135:14]  ⁶⁵ sn Verse 14 echoes Deut 32:36, where Moses affirms that God mercifully relents from fully judging his wayward people.

[55:19]  ⁶⁶ tc Heb “God will hear and answer them, even [the] one who sits [from] ancient times.” The prefixed verbal from with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the anticipatory force of the preceding imperfect. The verb appears to be a Qal form from עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”). If this reading is retained, the point would be that God “answered” them in judgment. The translation assumes an emendation to the Piel וַיְעַנֵּם (vay’annem; see 2 Kgs 17:20) and understands the root as עָנָה (’anah, “to afflict”; see also 1 Kgs 8:35).

[55:19]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “[the ones] for whom there are no changes, and they do not fear God.”

[59:5]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “Lord, God, Hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי (’elohey) before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”). See Ps 89:9, but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yÿhvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 80:4, 19; 84:8 as well.

[59:5]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “wake up to punish” (see Pss 35:23; 44:23).

[59:12]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “the sin of their mouth [is] the word of their lips.”

[142:7]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “bring out my life.”

[142:7]  ⁷² tn Or “gather around.”

[142:7]  ⁷³ tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.

[10:14]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “you see.” One could translate the perfect as generalizing, “you do take notice.”

[10:14]  ⁷⁵ tn If the preceding perfect is taken as generalizing, then one might understand כִּי (ki) as asseverative: “indeed, certainly.”

[10:14]  ⁷⁶ tn Here the imperfect emphasizes God’s typical behavior.

[10:14]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “destruction and suffering,” which here refers metonymically to the wicked, who dish out pain and suffering to their victims.

[10:14]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “to give into your hand, upon you, he abandons, [the] unfortunate [one].” The syntax is awkward and the meaning unclear. It is uncertain who or what is being given into God’s hand. Elsewhere the idiom “give into the hand” means to deliver into one’s possession. If “to give” goes with what precedes (as the accentuation of the Hebrew text suggests), then this may refer to the wicked man being delivered over to God for judgment. The present translation assumes that “to give” goes with what follows (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). The verb יַעֲזֹב (ya’azov) here has the nuance “entrust” (see Gen 39:6; Job 39:11); the direct object (“[his] cause”) is implied.

[10:14]  ⁷⁹ tn Or “help.”

[10:14]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “[for] one who is fatherless, you are a deliverer.” The noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9).

[10:14]  sn The fatherless. Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 68:5; 82:3; 94:6; 146:9; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21).