Mazmur 35:21

35:21 They are ready to devour me; ¹ 

they say, “Aha! Aha! We’ve got you!” ² 

Mazmur 49:6

49:6 They trust ³  in their wealth

and boast ⁴  in their great riches.

Mazmur 52:1

Psalm 52 ⁵ 

For the music director; a well-written song ⁶  by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.” ⁷ 

52:1 Why do you boast about your evil plans, ⁸  O powerful man?

God’s loyal love protects me all day long! ⁹ 

Mazmur 73:8-9

73:8 They mock ¹⁰  and say evil things; ¹¹ 

they proudly threaten violence. ¹² 

73:9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,

and lay claim to the earth. ¹³ 

Mazmur 94:4

94:4 They spew out threats ¹⁴  and speak defiantly;

all the evildoers boast. ¹⁵ 

[35:21]  ¹ tn Heb “and they cause their mouth to be wide against me.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries on the generalizing mood of the previous verse. For other examples of this use of the prefixed verbal form with vav consecutive, see GKC 329 §111.t.

[35:21]  ² tn Heb “our eye sees.” Apparently this is an idiom meaning to “look in triumph” or “gloat over” (see Ps 54:7).

[49:6]  ³ tn Heb “the ones who trust.” The substantival participle stands in apposition to “those who deceive me” (v. 5).

[49:6]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form emphasizes their characteristic behavior.

[52:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 52. The psalmist confidently confronts his enemy and affirms that God will destroy evildoers and vindicate the godly.

[52:1]  ⁶ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[52:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.’”

[52:1]  sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm during the period when Saul was seeking his life. On one occasion Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s head shepherd (1 Sam 21:7), informed Saul of David’s whereabouts (see 1 Sam 21-22).

[52:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “Why do you boast in evil?”

[52:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “the loyal love of God [is] all the day.” In this context, where the psalmist is threatened by his enemy, the point seems to be that the psalmist is protected by God’s loyal love at all times.

[73:8]  ¹⁰ tn The verb מוּק (muq, “mock”) occurs only here in the OT.

[73:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and speak with evil.”

[73:8]  ¹² tn Heb “oppression from an elevated place they speak.” The traditional accentuation of the MT places “oppression” with the preceding line. In this case, one might translate, “they mock and speak with evil [of] oppression, from an elevated place [i.e., “proudly”] they speak.” By placing “oppression” with what follows, one achieves better poetic balance in the parallelism.

[73:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “they set in heaven their mouth, and their tongue walks through the earth.” The meaning of the text is uncertain. Perhaps the idea is that they lay claim to heaven (i.e., speak as if they were ruling in heaven) and move through the earth declaring their superiority and exerting their influence. Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) the first line as adversative and translate, “they set their mouth against heaven,” that is, they defy God.

[94:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they gush forth [words].”

[94:4]  ¹⁵ tn The Hitpael of אָמַר (’amar) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6).