Mazmur 22:6-7

22:6 But I ¹  am a worm, ²  not a man; ³ 

people insult me and despise me. ⁴ 

22:7 All who see me taunt ⁵  me;

they mock me ⁶  and shake their heads. ⁷ 

Mazmur 35:15-16

35:15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together;

they gathered together to ambush me. ⁸ 

They tore at me without stopping to rest. ⁹ 

35:16 When I tripped, they taunted me relentlessly, ¹⁰ 

and tried to bite me. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 69:9-12

69:9 Certainly ¹²  zeal for ¹³  your house ¹⁴  consumes me;

I endure the insults of those who insult you. ¹⁵ 

69:10 I weep and refrain from eating food, ¹⁶ 

which causes others to insult me. ¹⁷ 

69:11 I wear sackcloth

and they ridicule me. ¹⁸ 

69:12 Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me;

drunkards mock me in their songs. ¹⁹ 

[22:6]  ¹ tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s experience and that of his ancestors. When he considers God’s past reliability, it only heightens his despair and confusion, for God’s present silence stands in stark contrast to his past saving acts.

[22:6]  ² tn The metaphor expresses the psalmist’s self-perception, which is based on how others treat him (see the following line).

[22:6]  ³ tn Or “not a human being.” The psalmist perceives himself as less than human.

[22:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “a reproach of man and despised by people.”

[22:7]  ⁵ tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”

[22:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.

[22:7]  ⁷ sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.

[35:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “they gathered together against me, stricken [ones], and I did not know.” The Hebrew form נֵכִים (nekhim, “stricken ones” ?) is problematic. Some suggest an emendation to נָכְרִים[כְ] (kÿnokhÿrim, “foreigners”) or “like foreigners,” which would fit with what follows, “[like] foreigners that I do not recognize.” Perhaps the form should be read as a Qal active participle, נֹכִים (nokhim, “ones who strike”) from the verbal root נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike”). The Qal of this verb is unattested in biblical Hebrew, but the peal (basic) stem appears in Old Aramaic (J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire [BibOr], 114; DNWSI 1:730.) In this case one might translate, “attackers gathered together against me though I was not aware of it” (cf. NASB “smiters”; NEB, NRSV “ruffians”; NIV “attackers”).

[35:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “they tore and did not keep quiet.” By using the verb “tear,” the psalmist likens his enemies to a wild animal (see Hos 13:8). In v. 17 he compares them to hungry young lions.

[35:16]  ¹⁰ tc The MT reads “as profane [ones] of mockers of food,” which is nonsensical. The present translation assumes (1) an emendation of בְּחַנְפֵי (bÿkhanfey, “as profane men”) to בְּחַנְפִי (bekhanfiy, “when I tripped”; preposition + Qal infinitive construct from II חָנַף [“limp”] + first common singular pronominal suffix) and (2) an emendation of לַעֲגֵי מָעוֹג (la’agey ma’og, “mockers of food”) to עָגוּ[ם]לַעְגָּ (la’gam ’agu, “[with] taunting they taunted”; masculine plural noun with enclitic mem + Qal perfect third common plural from לַּעַג [la’ag, “taunt”]).

[35:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “gnashing at me with their teeth.” The infinitive absolute adds a complementary action – they gnashed with their teeth as they taunted.

[69:9]  ¹² tn Or “for.” This verse explains that the psalmist’s suffering is due to his allegiance to God.

[69:9]  ¹³ tn Or “devotion to.”

[69:9]  ¹⁴ sn God’s house, the temple, here represents by metonymy God himself.

[69:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the insults of those who insult you fall upon me.”

[69:9]  sn Jn 2:17 applies the first half of this verse to Jesus’ ministry in the context of John’s account of Jesus cleansing the temple.

[69:10]  ¹⁶ sn Fasting was a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.

[69:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and it becomes insults to me.”

[69:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and I am an object of ridicule to them.”

[69:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the mocking songs of the drinkers of beer.”