Mazmur 31:12

31:12 I am forgotten, like a dead man no one thinks about; ¹ 

I am regarded as worthless, like a broken jar. ² 

Mazmur 46:8

46:8 Come! Witness the exploits ³  of the Lord,

who brings devastation to the earth! ⁴ 

Mazmur 74:5

74:5 They invade like lumberjacks

swinging their axes in a thick forest. ⁵ 

Mazmur 78:47

78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail,

and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain.

Mazmur 80:12

80:12 Why did you break down its walls, ⁶ 

so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? ⁷ 

Mazmur 91:6

91:6 the plague that comes in the darkness,

or the disease that comes at noon. ⁸ 

[31:12]  ¹ tn Heb “I am forgotten, like a dead man, from [the] heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the center of one’s thoughts.

[31:12]  ² tn Heb “I am like a broken jar.” One throws away a broken jar without a second thought because it is considered worthless and useless.

[46:8]  ³ sn In this context the Lord’s exploits are military in nature (see vv. 8b-9).

[46:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “who sets desolations in the earth” (see Isa 13:9). The active participle describes God’s characteristic activity as a warrior.

[74:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “it is known like one bringing upwards, in a thicket of wood, axes.” The Babylonian invaders destroyed the woodwork in the temple.

[80:12]  ⁶ sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).

[80:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “pluck it.”

[91:6]  ⁸ sn As in Deut 32:23-24, vv. 5-6 closely associate military attack and deadly disease. Perhaps the latter alludes to one of the effects of siege warfare on the population of an entrapped city, which was especially vulnerable to the outbreak of epidemics.