Mazmur 18:39

18:39 You give me strength ¹  for battle;

you make my foes kneel before me. ² 

Mazmur 27:3

27:3 Even when an army is deployed against me,

I do not fear. ³ 

Even when war is imminent, ⁴ 

I remain confident. ⁵ 

Mazmur 36:12

36:12 I can see the evildoers! They have fallen! ⁶ 

They have been knocked down and are unable to get up! ⁷ 

Mazmur 41:10

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

so I can pay them back!” ⁸ 

Mazmur 78:31

78:31 when the anger of God flared up against them.

He killed some of the strongest of them;

he brought the young men of Israel to their knees.

Mazmur 109:28

109:28 They curse, but you will bless. ⁹ 

When they attack, they will be humiliated, ¹⁰ 

but your servant will rejoice.

Mazmur 139:21

139:21 O Lord, do I not hate those who hate you,

and despise those who oppose you? ¹¹ 

[18:39]  ¹ tn Heb “clothed me.” See v. 32.

[18:39]  ² tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”

[18:39]  sn My foes kneel before me. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 268.

[27:3]  ³ tn Heb “my heart does not fear.”

[27:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “if war rises up against me.”

[27:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “in this [i.e., “during this situation”] I am trusting.”

[36:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “there the workers of wickedness have fallen.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the evildoers lying fallen at a spot that is vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.).

[36:12]  ⁷ tn The psalmist uses perfect verbal forms in v. 12 to describe the demise of the wicked as if it has already taken place.

[41:10]  ⁸ tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) here indicates purpose or result (“Then I will repay them”) after the preceding imperatives.

[109:28]  ⁹ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect as a prayer/request (“may you bless”).

[109:28]  ¹⁰ tn The verbal sequence is perfect + prefixed form with vav (ו) consecutive. Since the psalmist seems to be anticipating the demise of his enemies, he may be using these forms rhetorically to describe the enemies’ defeat as if it were already accomplished. Some emend the text to קָמוּ יֵבֹשׁוּ (qamu yevoshu, “may those who attack me be humiliated”). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 75.

[139:21]  ¹¹ tc Heb “who raise themselves up against you.” The form וּבִתְקוֹמְמֶיךָ (uvitqomÿmekha) should be emended to וּבְמִתְקוֹמְמֶיךָ (uvÿmitqomÿmekha), a Hitpolel participle (the prefixed mem [מ] of the participle is accidentally omitted in the MT, though a few medieval Hebrew mss have it).