Mazmur 7:16

7:16 He becomes the victim of his own destructive plans ¹ 

and the violence he intended for others falls on his own head. ² 

Mazmur 9:3

9:3 When my enemies turn back,

they trip and are defeated ³  before you.

Mazmur 9:17

9:17 The wicked are turned back and sent to Sheol; ⁴ 

this is the destiny of ⁵  all the nations that ignore ⁶  God,

Mazmur 18:4

18:4 The waves ⁷  of death engulfed me,

the currents ⁸  of chaos ⁹  overwhelmed me. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 41:7

41:7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another; ¹¹ 

they plan ways to harm me.

Mazmur 49:12

49:12 but, despite their wealth, people do not last, ¹² 

they are like animals ¹³  that perish. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 49:20

49:20 Wealthy people do not understand; ¹⁵ 

they are like animals ¹⁶  that perish. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 63:9

63:9 Enemies seek to destroy my life, ¹⁸ 

but they will descend into the depths of the earth. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 78:47

78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail,

and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain.

Mazmur 78:63

78:63 Fire consumed their ²⁰  young men,

and their ²¹  virgins remained unmarried. ²² 

Mazmur 83:17

83:17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified! ²³ 

May they die in shame! ²⁴ 

Mazmur 88:3

88:3 For my life ²⁵  is filled with troubles

and I am ready to enter Sheol. ²⁶ 

Mazmur 91:3

91:3 he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter ²⁷ 

and from the destructive plague.

Mazmur 109:20

109:20 May the Lord repay my accusers in this way, ²⁸ 

those who say evil things about ²⁹  me! ³⁰ 

Mazmur 109:22

109:22 For I am oppressed and needy,

and my heart beats violently within me. ³¹ 

Mazmur 116:3

116:3 The ropes of death tightened around me, ³² 

the snares ³³  of Sheol confronted me.

I was confronted ³⁴  with trouble and sorrow.

Mazmur 119:92

119:92 If I had not found encouragement in your law, ³⁵ 

I would have died in my sorrow. ³⁶ 

Mazmur 135:8

135:8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

including both men and animals.

Mazmur 136:10

136:10 to the one who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

for his loyal love endures,

Mazmur 139:19

139:19 If only ³⁷  you would kill the wicked, O God!

Get away from me, you violent men! ³⁸ 

Mazmur 141:7

141:7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil, ³⁹ 

so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

Mazmur 144:10

144:10 the one who delivers ⁴⁰  kings,

and rescued David his servant from a deadly ⁴¹  sword.

[7:16]  ¹ tn Heb “his harm [i.e., the harm he conceived for others, see v. 14] returns on his head.”

[7:16]  ² tn Heb “and on his forehead his violence [i.e., the violence he intended to do to others] comes down.”

[9:3]  ³ tn Or “perish”; or “die.” The imperfect verbal forms in this line either emphasize what typically happens or describe vividly the aftermath of a recent battle in which the Lord defeated the psalmist’s enemies.

[9:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “the wicked turn back to Sheol.” The imperfect verbal form either emphasizes what typically happens or describes vividly the aftermath of the Lord’s victory over the psalmist’s enemies. See v. 3.

[9:17]  ⁵ tn The words “this is the destiny of” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The verb “are turned back” is understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[9:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “forget.” “Forgetting God” refers here to worshiping false gods and thereby refusing to recognize his sovereignty (see also Deut 8:19; Judg 3:7; 1 Sam 12:9; Isa 17:10; Jer 3:21; Ps 44:20). The nations’ refusal to acknowledge God’s sovereignty accounts for their brazen attempt to attack and destroy his people.

[18:4]  ⁷ tc Ps 18:4 reads “ropes,” while 2 Sam 22:5 reads “waves.” The reading of the psalm has been influenced by the next verse (note “ropes of Sheol”) and perhaps also by Ps 116:3 (where “ropes of death” appears, as here, with the verb אָפַף, ’afaf). However, the parallelism of v. 4 (note “currents” in the next line) favors the reading “waves.” While the verb אָפַף is used with “ropes” as subject in Ps 116:3, it can also be used with engulfing “waters” as subject (see Jonah 2:5). Death is compared to surging waters in v. 4 and to a hunter in v. 5.

[18:4]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew noun נַחַל (nakhal) usually refers to a river or stream, but in this context the plural form likely refers to the currents of the sea (see vv. 15-16).

[18:4]  ⁹ tn The noun בְלִיַּעַל (vÿliyya’al) is used here as an epithet for death. Elsewhere it is a common noun meaning “wickedness, uselessness.” It is often associated with rebellion against authority and other crimes that result in societal disorder and anarchy. The phrase “man/son of wickedness” refers to one who opposes God and the order he has established. The term becomes an appropriate title for death, which, through human forces, launches an attack against God’s chosen servant.

[18:4]  ¹⁰ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. (Note the perfect verbal form in the parallel/preceding line.) The verb בָּעַת (ba’at) sometimes by metonymy carries the nuance “frighten,” but the parallelism (see “engulfed”) favors the meaning “overwhelm” here.

[41:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “together against me they whisper, all those who hate me.” The Hitpael of לָחַשׁ (lakhash) refers here to whispering to one another (see 2 Sam 12:19).

[49:12]  ¹² tn Heb “but mankind in honor does not remain.” The construction vav (ו) + noun at the beginning of the verse can be taken as contrastive in relation to what precedes. The Hebrew term יְקָר (yÿqar, “honor”) probably refers here to the wealth mentioned in the preceding context. The imperfect verbal form draws attention to what is characteristically true. Some scholars emend יָלִין (yalin, “remains”) to יָבִין (yavin, “understands”) but this is an unnecessary accommodation to the wording of v. 20.

[49:12]  ¹³ tn Or “cattle.”

[49:12]  ¹⁴ tn The verb is derived from דָּמָה (damah, “cease; destroy”; BDB 198 s.v.). Another option is to derive the verb from דָּמָה (“be silent”; see HALOT 225 s.v. II דמה, which sees two homonymic roots [דָּמָה, “be silent,” and דָּמָה, “destroy”] rather than a single root) and translate, “they are like dumb beasts.” This makes particularly good sense in v. 20, where the preceding line focuses on mankind’s lack of understanding.

[49:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “mankind in honor does not understand.” The Hebrew term יְקָר (yÿqar, “honor”) probably refers here to the wealth mentioned in the preceding context. The imperfect verbal form draws attention to what is characteristically true. Some emend יָבִין (yavin, “understands”) to יָלִין (yalin, “remains”), but this is an unnecessary accommodation to the wording of v. 12.

[49:20]  ¹⁶ tn Or “cattle.”

[49:20]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew verb is derived from דָּמָה (damah, “cease, destroy”; BDB 198 s.v.). Another option is to derive the verb from דָּמָה (damah, “be silent”; see HALOT 225 s.v. II דמה, which sees two homonymic roots [I דָּמַה, “be silent,” and II דָּמַה, “destroy”] rather than a single root) and translate, “they are like dumb beasts.” This makes particularly good sense here, where the preceding line focuses on mankind’s lack of understanding.

[63:9]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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.

[78:63]  ²⁰ tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

[78:63]  ²¹ tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).

[78:63]  ²² tn Heb “were not praised,” that is, in wedding songs. The young men died in masses, leaving no husbands for the young women.

[83:17]  ²³ tn Heb “and may they be terrified to perpetuity.” The Hebrew expression עֲדֵי־עַד (’adey-’ad, “to perpetuity”) can mean “forevermore” (see Pss 92:7; 132:12, 14), but here it may be used hyperbolically, for the psalmist asks that the experience of judgment might lead the nations to recognize (v. 18) and even to seek (v. 16) God.

[83:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “may they be ashamed and perish.” The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling severe judgment down on his enemies. The strong language of the imprecation seems to run contrary to the positive outcome of divine judgment envisioned in v. 16b. Perhaps the language of v. 17 is overstated for effect. Another option is that v. 16b expresses an ideal, while the strong imprecation of vv. 17-18 anticipates reality. It would be nice if the defeated nations actually pursued a relationship with God, but if judgment does not bring them to that point, the psalmist asks that they be annihilated so that they might at least be forced to acknowledge God’s power.

[88:3]  ²⁵ tn Or “my soul.”

[88:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and my life approaches Sheol.”

[91:3]  ²⁷ tn The word refers specifically to a fowler (or hunter of birds).

[109:20]  ²⁸ tn Heb “[may] this [be] the repayment to my accusers from the Lord.”

[109:20]  ²⁹ tn Or “against.”

[109:20]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being; soul”) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[109:22]  ³¹ tc The verb in the Hebrew text (חָלַל, khalal) appears to be a Qal form from the root חלל meaning “pierced; wounded.” However, the Qal of this root is otherwise unattested. The translation assumes an emendation to יָחִיל (yakhil), a Qal imperfect from חוּל (khul, “tremble”) or to חֹלַל (kholal), a polal perfect from חוּל (khul). See Ps 55:4, which reads לִבִּי יָחִיל בְּקִרְבִּי (libbiy yakhil bÿqirbbiy, “my heart trembles [i.e., “beats violently”] within me”).

[116:3]  ³² tn Heb “surrounded me.”

[116:3]  ³³ tn The Hebrew noun מצר (“straits; distress”) occurs only here, Ps 118:5 and Lam 1:3. If retained, it refers to Sheol as a place where one is confined or severely restricted (cf. BDB 865 s.v. מֵצַר, “the straits of Sheol”; NIV “the anguish of the grave”; NRSV “the pangs of Sheol”). However, HALOT 624 s.v. מֵצַר suggests an emendation to מְצָדֵי (mÿtsadey, “snares of”), a rare noun attested in Job 19:6 and Eccl 7:26. This proposal, which is reflected in the translation, produces better parallelism with “ropes” in the preceding line.

[116:3]  ³⁴ tn The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls the crisis from which the Lord delivered him.

[119:92]  ³⁵ tn Heb “if your law had not been my delight.”

[119:92]  ³⁶ tn Or “my suffering.”

[139:19]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (see Pss 81:8; 95:7, as well as GKC 321 §109.b).

[139:19]  ³⁸ tn Heb “men of bloodshed.”

[141:7]  ³⁹ tn Heb “like splitting and breaking open in the earth.” The meaning of the statement and the point of the comparison are not entirely clear. Perhaps the psalmist is suggesting that he and other godly individuals are as good as dead; their bones are scattered about like dirt that is dug up and tossed aside.

[144:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “grants deliverance to.”

[144:10]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “harmful.”