Mazmur 35:21

35:21 They are ready to devour me; ¹ 

they say, “Aha! Aha! We’ve got you!” ² 

Mazmur 44:13

44:13 You made us ³  an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. ⁴ 

Mazmur 57:3

57:3 May he send help from heaven and deliver me ⁵ 

from my enemies who hurl insults! ⁶  (Selah)

May God send his loyal love and faithfulness!

Mazmur 79:4

79:4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. ⁷ 

Mazmur 119:39

119:39 Take away the insults that I dread! ⁸ 

Indeed, ⁹  your regulations are good.

[35:21]  ¹ tn Heb “and they cause their mouth to be wide against me.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries on the generalizing mood of the previous verse. For other examples of this use of the prefixed verbal form with vav consecutive, see GKC 329 §111.t.

[35:21]  ² tn Heb “our eye sees.” Apparently this is an idiom meaning to “look in triumph” or “gloat over” (see Ps 54:7).

[44:13]  ³ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.”

[57:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “may he send from heaven and deliver me.” The prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives expressing the psalmist’s prayer. The second verb, which has a vav (ו) conjunctive prefixed to it, probably indicates purpose. Another option is to take the forms as imperfects expressing confidence, “he will send from heaven and deliver me” (cf. NRSV).

[57:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “he hurls insults, one who crushes me.” The translation assumes that this line identifies those from whom the psalmist seeks deliverance. (The singular is representative; the psalmist is surrounded by enemies, see v. 4.) Another option is to understand God as the subject of the verb חָרַף (kharaf), which could then be taken as a homonym of the more common root חָרַף (“insult”) meaning “confuse.” In this case “one who crushes me” is the object of the verb. One might translate, “he [God] confuses my enemies.”

[79:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.

[119:39]  ⁸ tn Heb “my reproach that I fear.”

[119:39]  ⁹ tn Or “for.”