Mazmur 35:13

35:13 When they were sick, I wore sackcloth, ¹ 

and refrained from eating food. ² 

(If I am lying, may my prayers go unanswered!) ³ 

Mazmur 69:32

69:32 The oppressed look on – let them rejoice!

You who seek God, ⁴  may you be encouraged! ⁵ 

Mazmur 85:3

85:3 You withdrew all your fury;

you turned back from your raging anger. ⁶ 

[35:13]  ¹ tn Heb “as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.” Sackcloth was worn by mourners. When the psalmist’s enemies were sick, he was sorry for their misfortune and mourned for them.

[35:13]  ² sn Fasting was also a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities, such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.

[35:13]  ³ tn Heb “and my prayer upon my chest will return.” One could translate, “but my prayer was returning upon my chest,” but the use of the imperfect verbal form sets this line apart from the preceding and following lines (vv. 13a, 14), which use the perfect to describe the psalmist’s past actions.

[69:32]  ⁴ sn You who seek God refers to those who seek to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him (see Ps 53:2).

[69:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “may your heart[s] live.” See Ps 22:26.

[85:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81. See Pss 69:24; 78:49.