Mazmur 17:8-9
Konteks17:8 Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye! 1
Hide me in the shadow of your wings! 2
17:9 Protect me from 3 the wicked men who attack 4 me,
my enemies who crowd around me for the kill. 5
Mazmur 17:13
Konteks17:13 Rise up, Lord!
Confront him! 6 Knock him down! 7
Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man! 8
Mazmur 59:1-2
KonteksFor the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; 10 a prayer 11 of David, written when Saul sent men to surround his house and murder him. 12
59:1 Deliver me from my enemies, my God!
Protect me 13 from those who attack me! 14
59:2 Deliver me from evildoers! 15
Rescue me from violent men! 16
Mazmur 140:1-4
KonteksFor the music director; a psalm of David.
140:1 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men! 18
Protect me from violent men, 19
140:2 who plan ways to harm me. 20
All day long they stir up conflict. 21
140:3 Their tongues wound like a serpent; 22
a viper’s 23 venom is behind 24 their lips. (Selah)
140:4 O Lord, shelter me from the power 25 of the wicked!
Protect me from violent men,
who plan to knock me over. 26
[17:8] 1 tc Heb “Protect me like the pupil, a daughter of an eye.” The noun בַּת (bat, “daughter”) should probably be emended to בָּבַת (bavat, “pupil”). See Zech 2:12 HT (2:8 ET) and HALOT 107 s.v. *בָּבָה.
[17:8] 2 sn Your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.
[17:9] 3 tn Heb “from before”; or “because.” In the Hebrew text v. 9 is subordinated to v. 8. The words “protect me” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:9] 4 tn Heb “destroy.” The psalmist uses the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of danger. He describes the wicked as being already in the process of destroying him.
[17:9] 5 tn Heb “my enemies, at the risk of life they surround me.” The Hebrew phrase בְּנֶפֶשׁ (bÿnefesh) sometimes has the nuance “at the risk of [one’s] life” (see 1 Kgs 2:23; Prov 7:23; Lam 5:9).
[17:13] 6 tn Heb “Be in front of his face.”
[17:13] 7 tn Or “bring him to his knees.”
[17:13] 8 tn Heb “rescue my life from the wicked [one] [by] your sword.”
[59:1] 9 sn Psalm 59. The psalmist calls down judgment on his foreign enemies, whom he compares to ravenous wild dogs.
[59:1] 10 tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the superscription to Pss 57-58, 75.
[59:1] 11 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-58, 60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
[59:1] 12 tn Heb “when Saul sent and they watched his house in order to kill him.”
[59:1] sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when Saul sent assassins to surround David’s house and kill him in the morning (see 1 Sam 19:11). However, the psalm itself mentions foreign enemies (vv. 5, 8). Perhaps these references reflect a later adaptation of an original Davidic psalm.
[59:1] 13 tn Or “make me secure”; Heb “set me on high.”
[59:1] 14 tn Heb “from those who raise themselves up [against] me.”
[59:2] 15 tn Heb “from the workers of wickedness.”
[59:2] 16 tn Heb “from men of bloodshed.”
[140:1] 17 sn Psalm 140. The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his deadly enemies, calls judgment down upon them, and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.
[140:1] 18 tn Heb “from a wicked man.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
[140:1] 19 tn Heb “a man of violent acts.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).
[140:2] 20 tn Heb “they devise wicked [plans] in [their] mind.”
[140:2] 21 tc Heb “they attack [for] war.” Some revocalize the verb (which is a Qal imperfect from גּוּר, gur, “to attack”) as יְגָרוּ (yÿgaru), a Piel imperfect from גָרָה (garah, “stir up strife”). This is followed in the present translation.
[140:3] 22 tn Heb “they sharpen their tongue like a serpent.” Ps 64:3 reads, “they sharpen their tongues like sword.” Perhaps Ps 140:3 uses a mixed metaphor, the point being that “they sharpen their tongues [like a sword],” as it were, so that when they speak, their words wound like a serpent’s bite. Another option is that the language refers to the pointed or forked nature of a serpent’s tongue, which is viewed metaphorically as “sharpened.”
