Mazmur 18:42

18:42 I grind them as fine windblown dust; ¹ 

I beat them underfoot ²  like clay ³  in the streets.

Mazmur 56:7

56:7 Because they are bent on violence, do not let them escape! ⁴ 

In your anger ⁵  bring down the nations, ⁶  O God!

Mazmur 141:8

141:8 Surely I am looking to you, ⁷  O sovereign Lord.

In you I take shelter.

Do not expose me to danger! ⁸ 

Mazmur 143:3

143:3 Certainly ⁹  my enemies ¹⁰  chase me.

They smash me into the ground. ¹¹ 

They force me to live ¹²  in dark regions, ¹³ 

like those who have been dead for ages.

[18:42]  ¹ tn Heb “I pulverize them like dust upon the face of the wind.” The phrase “upon the face of” here means “before.” 2 Sam 22:43 reads, “like dust of the earth.”

[18:42]  ² tc Ps 18:42 reads, “I empty them out” (Hiphil of ריק), while 2 Sam 22:43 reads, “I crush them, I stomp on them” (juxtaposing the synonyms דקק and רקע). It is likely that the latter is a conflation of variants. One, but not both, of the verbs in 2 Sam 22:43 is probably original; “empty out” does not form as good a parallel with “grind, pulverize” in the parallel line.

[18:42]  ³ tn Or “mud.”

[56:7]  ⁴ tc Heb “because of wickedness, deliverance to them.” As it stands, the MT makes no sense. The negative particle אַיִן (’ayin, “there is not,” which is due to dittography of the immediately preceding אָוֶן, ’aven, “wickedness”), should probably be added before “deliverance” (see BHS, note a). The presence of an imperative in the next line (note “bring down”) suggests that this line should be translated as a prayer as well, “may there not be deliverance to them.”

[56:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “in anger.” The pronoun “your” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[56:7]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps “people” in a general sense.

[141:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “my eyes [are] toward you.”

[141:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “do not lay bare my life.” Only here is the Piel form of the verb collocated with the term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”). In Isa 53:12 the Lord’s servant “lays bare (the Hiphil form of the verb is used) his life to death.”

[143:3]  ⁹ tn Or “for.”

[143:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “an enemy.” The singular is used in a representative sense to describe a typical member of the larger group of enemies (note the plural “enemies” in vv. 9, 12).

[143:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”

[143:3]  ¹² tn Or “sit.”

[143:3]  ¹³ sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).