Mazmur 37:15

37:15 Their swords will pierce ¹  their own hearts,

and their bows will be broken.

Mazmur 42:10

42:10 My enemies’ taunts cut into me to the bone, ² 

as they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” ³ 

Mazmur 69:26

69:26 For they harass ⁴  the one whom you discipline; ⁵ 

they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. ⁶ 

Mazmur 77:10

77:10 Then I said, “I am sickened by the thought

that the sovereign One ⁷  might become inactive. ⁸ 

Mazmur 18:38

18:38 I beat them ⁹  to death; ¹⁰ 

they fall at my feet. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 38:2

38:2 For your arrows pierce ¹²  me,

and your hand presses me down. ¹³ 

[37:15]  ¹ tn Heb “enter into.”

[42:10]  ² tc Heb “with a shattering in my bones my enemies taunt me.” A few medieval Hebrew mss and Symmachus’ Greek version read “like” instead of “with.”

[42:10]  ³ sn “Where is your God?” The enemies ask this same question in v. 3.

[69:26]  ⁴ tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”

[69:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”

[69:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).

[69:26]  sn The psalmist is innocent of the false charges made by his enemies (v. 4), but he is also aware of his sinfulness (v. 5) and admits that he experiences divine discipline (v. 26) despite his devotion to God (v. 9). Here he laments that his enemies take advantage of such divine discipline by harassing and slandering him. They “kick him while he’s down,” as the expression goes.

[77:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.

[77:10]  ⁸ tc Heb “And I said, ‘This is my wounding, the changing of the right hand of the Most High.’” The form חַלּוֹתִי (khallotiy) appears to be a Qal infinitive construct (with a first person singular pronominal suffix) from the verbal root חָלַל (khalal, “to pierce; to wound”). The present translation assumes an emendation to חֲלוֹתִי (khalotiy), a Qal infinitive construct (with a first person singular pronominal suffix) from the verbal root חָלָה (khalah, “be sick, weak”). The form שְׁנוֹת (shÿnot) is understood as a Qal infinitive construct from שָׁנָה (shanah, “to change”) rather than a plural noun form, “years” (see v. 5). “Right hand” here symbolizes by metonymy God’s power and activity. The psalmist observes that his real problem is theological in nature. His experience suggests that the sovereign Lord has abandoned him and become inactive. However, this goes against the grain of his most cherished beliefs.

[18:38]  ⁹ tn Or “smash them.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “and I wiped them out and smashed them.”

[18:38]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “until they are unable to rise.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “until they do not rise.”

[18:38]  ¹¹ sn They fall at my feet. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 294-97.

[38:2]  ¹² tn The verb Hebrew נָחַת (nakhat) apparently here means “penetrate, pierce” (note the use of the Qal in Prov 17:10). The psalmist pictures the Lord as a warrior who shoots arrows at him (see Ps 7:12-13).

[38:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and your hand [?] upon me.” The meaning of the verb נָחַת (nakhat) is unclear in this context. It is preferable to emend the form to וַתָּנַח (vattanakh) from the verb נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”). In this case the text would read literally, “and your hand rests upon me” (see Isa 25:10, though the phrase is used in a positive sense there, unlike Ps 38:2).