Mazmur 35:25

35:25 Do not let them say to themselves, ¹  “Aha! We have what we wanted!” ² 

Do not let them say, “We have devoured him!”

Mazmur 56:1-2

Psalm 56 ³ 

For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; ⁴  a prayer ⁵  of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. ⁶ 

56:1 Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! ⁷ 

All day long hostile enemies ⁸  are tormenting me. ⁹ 

56:2 Those who anticipate my defeat ¹⁰  attack me all day long.

Indeed, ¹¹  many are fighting against me, O Exalted One. ¹² 

Mazmur 57:3

57:3 May he send help from heaven and deliver me ¹³ 

from my enemies who hurl insults! ¹⁴  (Selah)

May God send his loyal love and faithfulness!

Mazmur 124:3

124:3 they would have swallowed us alive,

when their anger raged against us.

[35:25]  ¹ tn Heb “in their heart[s].”

[35:25]  ² tn Heb “Aha! Our desire!” The “desire” of the psalmist’s enemies is to triumph over him.

[56:1]  ³ sn Psalm 56. Despite the threats of his enemies, the psalmist is confident the Lord will keep his promise to protect and deliver him.

[56:1]  ⁴ tn The literal meaning of this phrase is “silent dove, distant ones.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a type of musical instrument.

[56:1]  ⁵ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 57-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[56:1]  ⁶ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm when the Philistines seized him and took him to King Achish of Gath (see 1 Sam 21:11-15).

[56:1]  ⁷ tn According to BDB 983 s.v. II שָׁאַף, the verb is derived from שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to trample, crush”) rather than the homonymic verb “pant after.”

[56:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “a fighter.” The singular is collective for his enemies (see vv. 5-6). The Qal of לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) also occurs in Ps 35:1.

[56:1]  ⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the continuing nature of the enemies’ attacks.

[56:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 59:10.

[56:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “for.”

[56:2]  ¹² tn Some take the Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “on high; above”) as an adverb modifying the preceding participle and translate, “proudly” (cf. NASB; NIV “in their pride”). The present translation assumes the term is a divine title here. The Lord is pictured as enthroned “on high” in Ps 92:8. (Note the substantival use of the term in Isa 24:4 and see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:34), who prefer to place the term at the beginning of the next verse.)

[57:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “may he send from heaven and deliver me.” The prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives expressing the psalmist’s prayer. The second verb, which has a vav (ו) conjunctive prefixed to it, probably indicates purpose. Another option is to take the forms as imperfects expressing confidence, “he will send from heaven and deliver me” (cf. NRSV).

[57:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he hurls insults, one who crushes me.” The translation assumes that this line identifies those from whom the psalmist seeks deliverance. (The singular is representative; the psalmist is surrounded by enemies, see v. 4.) Another option is to understand God as the subject of the verb חָרַף (kharaf), which could then be taken as a homonym of the more common root חָרַף (“insult”) meaning “confuse.” In this case “one who crushes me” is the object of the verb. One might translate, “he [God] confuses my enemies.”