Mazmur 31:17

31:17 O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,

for I call out to you!

May evil men be humiliated!

May they go wailing to the grave! ¹ 

Mazmur 66:3

66:3 Say to God:

“How awesome are your deeds!

Because of your great power your enemies cower in fear ²  before you.

Mazmur 84:3

84:3 Even the birds find a home there,

and the swallow ³  builds a nest,

where she can protect her young ⁴ 

near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,

my king and my God.

[31:17]  ¹ tn The verb יִדְּמוּ (yiddÿmu) is understood as a form of דָּמַם (damam, “wail, lament”). Another option is to take the verb from דָּמַם (“be quiet”; see BDB 198-99 s.v. I דָּמַם), in which case one might translate, “May they lie silent in the grave.”

[66:3]  ² tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 81:15 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “be weak, powerless” (see also Ps 109:24).

[84:3]  ³ tn The word translated “swallow” occurs only here and in Prov 26:2.

[84:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, [in] which she places her young.”

[84:3]  sn The psalmist here romanticizes the temple as a place of refuge and safety. As he thinks of the birds nesting near its roof, he envisions them finding protection in God’s presence.