Mazmur 10:2

10:2 The wicked arrogantly chase the oppressed; ¹ 

the oppressed are trapped ²  by the schemes the wicked have dreamed up. ³ 

Mazmur 12:3-5

12:3 May the Lord cut off ⁴  all flattering lips,

and the tongue that boasts! ⁵ 

12:4 They say, ⁶  “We speak persuasively; ⁷ 

we know how to flatter and boast. ⁸ 

Who is our master?” ⁹ 

12:5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed, ¹⁰ 

because of the painful cries ¹¹  of the needy,

I will spring into action,” ¹²  says the Lord.

“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” ¹³ 

Mazmur 119:51

119:51 Arrogant people do nothing but scoff at me. ¹⁴ 

Yet I do not turn aside from your law.

Mazmur 119:69

119:69 Arrogant people smear my reputation with lies, ¹⁵ 

but I observe your precepts with all my heart.

Mazmur 119:85

119:85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me, ¹⁶ 

which violates your law. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 119:122

119:122 Guarantee the welfare of your servant! ¹⁸ 

Do not let the arrogant oppress me!

Mazmur 123:3-4

123:3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!

For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some. ¹⁹ 

123:4 We have had our fill ²⁰ 

of the taunts of the self-assured,

of the contempt of the proud.

[10:2]  ¹ tn Heb “because of the pride of [the] wicked he burns [i.e. hotly pursues] [the] oppressed.” The singular forms רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) and עָנִי (’aniy, “oppressed”) are collective and representative, as indicated in the next line, which uses plural verb forms to describe the actions of both.

[10:2]  ² tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 2 describe either what typically happens (from the psalmist’s perspective) or what the psalmist was experiencing at the time he offered this prayer.

[10:2]  ³ tn Heb “they are trapped in the schemes which they have thought up.” The referents of the two pronominal suffixes on the verbs have been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent of the first suffix (“they”) is taken as the oppressed, while the referent of the second (“they”) is taken to be the wicked (cf. NIV, which renders “wicked” in the previous line as a collective singular). Others take the referent of both occurrences of “they” in the line to be the wicked (cf. NRSV, “let them be caught in the schemes they have devised”).

[12:3]  ⁴ tn The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the Lord cut off”), not indicative (“The Lord will cut off”; see also Ps 109:15 and Mal 2:12). The psalmist appeals to God to destroy the wicked, rather than simply stating his confidence that he will. In this way he seeks to activate divine judgment by appealing to God’s just character. For an example of the power of such a curse, see Judg 9:7-57.

[12:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “a tongue speaking great [things].”

[12:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “which say.” The plural verb after the relative pronoun indicates a plural antecedent for the pronoun, probably “lips” in v. 3.

[12:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “to our tongue we make strong.” The Hiphil of גָבַר (gavar) occurs only here and in Dan 9:27, where it refers to making strong, or confirming, a covenant. Here in Ps 12 the evildoers “make their tongue strong” in the sense that they use their tongue to produce flattering and arrogant words to accomplish their purposes. The preposition -לְ (l) prefixed to “our tongue” may be dittographic.

[12:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “our lips [are] with us.” This odd expression probably means, “our lips are in our power,” in the sense that they say what they want, whether it be flattery or boasting. For other cases where אֵת (’et, “with”) has the sense “in the power of,” see Ps 38:10 and other texts listed by BDB 86 s.v. 3.a.

[12:4]  ⁹ sn The rhetorical question expresses the arrogant attitude of these people. As far as they are concerned, they are answerable to no one for how they speak.

[12:5]  ¹⁰ tn The term translated “oppressed” is an objective genitive; the oppressed are the recipients/victims of violence.

[12:5]  ¹¹ tn Elsewhere in the psalms this noun is used of the painful groans of prisoners awaiting death (79:11; 102:20). The related verb is used of the painful groaning of those wounded in combat (Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15) and of the mournful sighing of those in grief (Ezek 9:4; 24:17).

[12:5]  ¹² tn Heb “I will rise up.”

[12:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “I will place in deliverance, he pants for it.” The final two words in Hebrew (יָפִיחַ לוֹ, yafiakh lo) comprise an asyndetic relative clause, “the one who pants for it.” “The one who pants” is the object of the verb “place” and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix (in the phrase “for it”) is “deliverance.” Another option is to translate, “I will place in deliverance the witness for him,” repointing יָפִיחַ (a Hiphil imperfect from פּוּחַ, puakh, “pant”) as יָפֵחַ (yafeakh), a noun meaning “witness.” In this case the Lord would be promising protection to those who have the courage to support the oppressed in the court of law. However, the first part of the verse focuses on the oppressed, not their advocates.

[119:51]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “scoff at me to excess.”

[119:69]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “smear over me a lie.”

[119:85]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for me.”

[119:85]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “which [is] not according to your law.”

[119:122]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “be surety for your servant for good.”

[123:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for greatly we are filled [with] humiliation.”

[123:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “greatly our soul is full to it.”