Mazmur 52:4

52:4 You love to use all the words that destroy, ¹ 

and the tongue that deceives.

Mazmur 56:2

56:2 Those who anticipate my defeat ²  attack me all day long.

Indeed, ³  many are fighting against me, O Exalted One. ⁴ 

Mazmur 63:9

63:9 Enemies seek to destroy my life, ⁵ 

but they will descend into the depths of the earth. ⁶ 

Mazmur 78:45

78:45 He sent swarms of biting insects against them, ⁷ 

as well as frogs that overran their land. ⁸ 

Mazmur 91:3

91:3 he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter ⁹ 

and from the destructive plague.

Mazmur 144:10

144:10 the one who delivers ¹⁰  kings,

and rescued David his servant from a deadly ¹¹  sword.

[52:4]  ¹ tn Heb “you love all the words of swallowing.” Traditionally בַּלַּע (bala’) has been taken to mean “swallowing” in the sense of “devouring” or “destructive” (see BDB 118 s.v. בָּלַע). HALOT 135 s.v. III *בֶּלַע proposes a homonym here, meaning “confusion.” This would fit the immediate context nicely and provide a close parallel to the following line, which refers to deceptive words.

[56:2]  ² tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 59:10.

[56:2]  ³ tn Or “for.”

[56:2]  ⁴ tn Some take the Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “on high; above”) as an adverb modifying the preceding participle and translate, “proudly” (cf. NASB; NIV “in their pride”). The present translation assumes the term is a divine title here. The Lord is pictured as enthroned “on high” in Ps 92:8. (Note the substantival use of the term in Isa 24:4 and see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:34), who prefer to place the term at the beginning of the next verse.)

[63:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “but they for destruction seek my life.” The pronoun “they” must refer here to the psalmist’s enemies, referred to at this point for the first time in the psalm.

[63:9]  ⁶ sn The depths of the earth refers here to the underworld dwelling place of the dead (see Ezek 26:20; 31:14, 16, 18; 32:18, 24). See L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 167.

[78:45]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he sent an insect swarm against them and it devoured them.”

[78:45]  ⁸ tn Heb “and a swarm of frogs and it destroyed them.”

[91:3]  ⁹ tn The word refers specifically to a fowler (or hunter of birds).

[144:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “grants deliverance to.”

[144:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “harmful.”