Mazmur 18:8

18:8 Smoke ascended from ¹  his nose; ² 

fire devoured as it came from his mouth; ³ 

he hurled down fiery coals. ⁴ 

Mazmur 30:5

30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,

and his good favor restores one’s life. ⁵ 

One may experience sorrow during the night,

but joy arrives in the morning. ⁶ 

Mazmur 31:13

31:13 For I hear what so many are saying, ⁷ 

the terrifying news that comes from every direction. ⁸ 

When they plot together against me,

they figure out how they can take my life.

Mazmur 40:17

40:17 I am oppressed and needy! ⁹ 

May the Lord pay attention to me! ¹⁰ 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O my God, do not delay!

Mazmur 62:3

62:3 How long will you threaten ¹¹  a man?

All of you are murderers, ¹² 

as dangerous as a leaning wall or an unstable fence. ¹³ 

Mazmur 63:11

63:11 But the king ¹⁴  will rejoice in God;

everyone who takes oaths in his name ¹⁵  will boast,

for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 68:11

68:11 The Lord speaks; ¹⁷ 

many, many women spread the good news. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 71:18

71:18 Even when I am old and gray, ¹⁹ 

O God, do not abandon me,

until I tell the next generation about your strength,

and those coming after me about your power. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 73:28

73:28 But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. ²¹ 

I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter,

as ²²  I declare all the things you have done.

Mazmur 108:9

108:9 Moab is my wash basin. ²³ 

I will make Edom serve me. ²⁴ 

I will shout in triumph over Philistia.”

Mazmur 138:7

138:7 Even when I must walk in the midst of danger, ²⁵  you revive me.

You oppose my angry enemies, ²⁶ 

and your right hand delivers me.

[18:8]  ¹ tn Heb “within”; or “[from] within.” For a discussion of the use of the preposition -בְּ (bÿ) here, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 163-64.

[18:8]  ² tn Or “in his anger.” The noun אַף (’af) can carry the abstract meaning “anger,” but the parallelism (note “from his mouth”) suggests the more concrete meaning “nose” here. See also v. 15, “the powerful breath of your nose.”

[18:8]  ³ tn Heb “fire from his mouth devoured.” In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the two perfect verbal forms in the verse.

[18:8]  sn Fire devoured as it came from his mouth. For other examples of fire as a weapon in OT theophanies and ancient Near Eastern portrayals of warring gods and kings, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 165-67.

[18:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “coals burned from him.” Perhaps the psalmist pictures God’s fiery breath igniting coals (cf. Job 41:21), which he then hurls as weapons (cf. Ps 120:4).

[30:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).

[30:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.

[31:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “the report of many.”

[31:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “the terror from all around.”

[40:17]  ⁹ sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

[40:17]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The Lord will pay attention to me” (cf. NRSV). The parallel in Ps 70:5 has, “O God, hurry to me!” For this reason some prefer to emend יַחֲשָׁב (yakhashav, “may he pay attention”) to חוּשָׁה (khushah, “hurry!”). The syntax of the Hebrew text is awkward; elsewhere when the Qal of חָשַׁב (khashav, “reckon; consider”) is collocated with the preposition -ל (lamed) and a pronominal suffix there is an accompanying direct object or additional prepositional phrase/adverbial accusative (see Gen 15:6; 2 Sam 19:19; Job 13:24; 19:11; 33:10; Pss 32:2; 41:7; Amos 6:5).

[62:3]  ¹¹ tn The verb form is plural; the psalmist addresses his enemies. The verb הוּת occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “shout at.”

[62:3]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text has a Pual (passive) form, but the verb form should be vocalized as a Piel (active) form. See BDB 953-54 s.v. רָצַח.

[62:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “like a bent wall and a broken fence.” The point of the comparison is not entirely clear. Perhaps the enemies are depicted as dangerous, like a leaning wall or broken fence that is in danger of falling on someone (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:69).

[63:11]  ¹⁴ sn The psalmist probably refers to himself in the third person here.

[63:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “who swears [an oath] by him.”

[63:11]  ¹⁶ tn The Niphal of this verb occurs only here and in Gen 8:2, where it is used of God “stopping” or “damming up” the great deep as he brought the flood to an end.

[68:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “gives a word.” Perhaps this refers to a divine royal decree or battle cry.

[68:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the ones spreading the good news [are] a large army.” The participle translated “the ones spreading the good news” is a feminine plural form. Apparently the good news here is the announcement that enemy kings have been defeated (see v. 12).

[71:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and even unto old age and gray hair.”

[71:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “until I declare your arm to a generation, to everyone who comes your power.” God’s “arm” here is an anthropomorphism that symbolizes his great strength.

[73:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “but as for me, the nearness of God for me [is] good.”

[73:28]  ²² tn The infinitive construct with -לְ (lÿ) is understood here as indicating an attendant circumstance. Another option is to take it as indicating purpose (“so that I might declare”) or result (“with the result that I declare”).

[108:9]  ²³ sn The metaphor of the wash basin, used to rinse one’s hands and feet, suggests that Moab, in contrast to Israel’s elevated position (vv. 7-8), would be reduced to the status of a servant.

[108:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “over Edom I will throw my sandal.” The point of the metaphor is not entirely clear. Some interpret this as idiomatic for “taking possession of.” Others translate עַל (’al) as “to” and understand this as referring to a master throwing his dirty sandal to a servant so that the latter might dust it off.

[138:7]  ²⁵ tn Or “distress.”

[138:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “against the anger of my enemies you extend your hand.”