Mazmur 7:12-13

7:12 If a person ¹  does not repent, God sharpens his sword ² 

and prepares to shoot his bow. ³ 

7:13 He prepares to use deadly weapons against him; ⁴ 

he gets ready to shoot flaming arrows. ⁵ 

Mazmur 38:2

38:2 For your arrows pierce ⁶  me,

and your hand presses me down. ⁷ 

[7:12]  ¹ tn Heb “If he”; the referent (a person who is a sinner) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The subject of the first verb is understood as the sinner who fails to repent of his ways and becomes the target of God’s judgment (vv. 9, 14-16).

[7:12]  ² tn Heb “if he does not return, his sword he sharpens.” The referent (God) of the pronominal subject of the second verb (“sharpens”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:12]  ³ tn Heb “his bow he treads and prepares it.” “Treading the bow” involved stepping on one end of it in order to string it and thus prepare it for battle.

[7:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “and for him he prepares the weapons of death.”

[7:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “his arrows into flaming [things] he makes.”

[38:2]  ⁶ tn The verb Hebrew נָחַת (nakhat) apparently here means “penetrate, pierce” (note the use of the Qal in Prov 17:10). The psalmist pictures the Lord as a warrior who shoots arrows at him (see Ps 7:12-13).

[38:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and your hand [?] upon me.” The meaning of the verb נָחַת (nakhat) is unclear in this context. It is preferable to emend the form to וַתָּנַח (vattanakh) from the verb נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”). In this case the text would read literally, “and your hand rests upon me” (see Isa 25:10, though the phrase is used in a positive sense there, unlike Ps 38:2).