Mazmur 27:12

27:12 Do not turn me over to my enemies, ¹ 

for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me. ² 

Mazmur 94:20-21

94:20 Cruel rulers ³  are not your allies,

those who make oppressive laws. ⁴ 

94:21 They conspire against ⁵  the blameless, ⁶ 

and condemn to death the innocent. ⁷ 

[27:12]  ¹ tn Heb “do not give me over to the desire of my enemies.”

[27:12]  ² tn Heb “for they have risen up against me, lying witnesses and a testifier of violence.” The form יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) is traditionally understood as a verb meaning “snort, breathe out”: “for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty” (KJV; cf. BDB 422 s.v.). A better option is to take the form as a noun meaning “a witness” (or “testifier”). See Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3.

[94:20]  ³ tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.

[94:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.

[94:21]  ⁵ tn Or “attack.”

[94:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “the life of the blameless.”

[94:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the blood of the innocent they declare guilty.”