Mazmur 11:2

11:2 For look, the wicked ¹  prepare ²  their bows, ³ 

they put their arrows on the strings,

to shoot in the darkness ⁴  at the morally upright. ⁵ 

Mazmur 30:7

30:7 O Lord, in your good favor you made me secure. ⁶ 

Then you rejected me ⁷  and I was terrified.

Mazmur 31:1

Psalm 31 ⁸ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

31:1 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter!

Never let me be humiliated!

Vindicate me by rescuing me! ⁹ 

Mazmur 46:9

46:9 He brings an end to wars throughout the earth; ¹⁰ 

he shatters ¹¹  the bow and breaks ¹²  the spear;

he burns ¹³  the shields with fire. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 55:3

55:3 because of what the enemy says, ¹⁵ 

and because of how the wicked ¹⁶  pressure me, ¹⁷ 

for they hurl trouble ¹⁸  down upon me ¹⁹ 

and angrily attack me.

Mazmur 90:10

90:10 The days of our lives add up to seventy years, ²⁰ 

or eighty, if one is especially strong. ²¹ 

But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression. ²² 

Yes, ²³  they pass quickly ²⁴  and we fly away. ²⁵ 

Mazmur 127:2

127:2 It is vain for you to rise early, come home late,

and work so hard for your food. ²⁶ 

Yes, ²⁷  he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep. ²⁸ 

[11:2]  ¹ tn In the psalms the “wicked” (רְשָׁעִים, rÿsha’im) are typically proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and threaten his people (Ps 3:8).

[11:2]  ² tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form depicts the enemies’ hostile action as underway.

[11:2]  ³ tn Heb “a bow.”

[11:2]  ⁴ sn In the darkness. The enemies’ attack, the precise form of which is not indicated, is compared here to a night ambush by archers; the psalmist is defenseless against this deadly attack.

[11:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).

[30:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “in your good favor you caused to stand for my mountain strength.” Apparently this means “you established strength for my mountain” (“mountain” in this case representing his rule, which would be centered on Mt. Zion) or “you established strength as my mountain” (“mountain” in this case being a metaphor for security).

[30:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “you hid your face.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or, as here, carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Ps 88:14).

[31:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 31. The psalmist confidently asks the Lord to protect him. Enemies threaten him and even his friends have abandoned him, but he looks to the Lord for vindication. In vv. 19-24, which were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18, the psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him.

[31:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “in your vindication rescue me.”

[46:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[the] one who causes wars to cease unto the end of the earth.” The participle continues the description begun in v. 8b and indicates that this is the Lord’s characteristic activity. Ironically, he brings peace to the earth by devastating the warlike, hostile nations (vv. 8, 9b).

[46:9]  ¹¹ tn The verb שָׁבַר (shavar, “break”) appears in the Piel here (see Ps 29:5). In the OT it occurs thirty-six times in the Piel, always with multiple objects (the object is either a collective singular or grammatically plural or dual form). The Piel may highlight the repetition of the pluralative action, or it may suggest an intensification of action, indicating repeated action comprising a whole, perhaps with the nuance “break again and again, break in pieces.” Another option is to understand the form as resultative: “make broken” (see IBHS 404-7 §24.3). The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.

[46:9]  ¹² tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries along the generalizing emphasis of the preceding imperfect.

[46:9]  ¹³ tn The imperfect verbal form carries on and emphasizes the generalizing nature of the description.

[46:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “wagons he burns with fire.” Some read “chariots” here (cf. NASB), but the Hebrew word refers to wagons or carts, not chariots, elsewhere in the OT. In this context, where military weapons are mentioned, it is better to revocalize the form as עֲגִלוֹת (’agilot, “round shields”), a word which occurs only here in the OT, but is attested in later Hebrew and Aramaic.

[55:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “because of [the] voice of [the] enemy.”

[55:3]  ¹⁶ tn The singular forms “enemy” and “wicked” are collective or representative, as the plural verb forms in the second half of the verse indicate.

[55:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “from before the pressure of the wicked.” Some suggest the meaning “screech” (note the parallel “voice”; cf. NEB “shrill clamour”; NRSV “clamor”) for the rare noun עָקָה (’aqah, “pressure”).

[55:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “wickedness,” but here the term refers to the destructive effects of their wicked acts.

[55:3]  ¹⁹ tc The verb form in the MT appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוֹט (mot, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in the Kethib (consonantal text) of Ps 140:10, where the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read. Here in Ps 55:3 it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). It is odd for “rain down” to be used with an abstract object like “wickedness,” but in Job 20:23 God “rains down” anger (unless one emends the text there; see BHS).

[90:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the days of our years, in them [are] seventy years.”

[90:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “or if [there is] strength, eighty years.”

[90:10]  ²² tn Heb “and their pride [is] destruction and wickedness.” The Hebrew noun רֹהַב (rohav) occurs only here. BDB 923 s.v. assigns the meaning “pride,” deriving the noun from the verbal root רהב (“to act stormily [boisterously, arrogantly]”). Here the “pride” of one’s days (see v. 9) probably refers to one’s most productive years in the prime of life. The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 10:7. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10. The oppressive and abusive actions of evil men are probably in view (see Job 4:8; 5:6; 15:35; Isa 10:1; 59:4).

[90:10]  ²³ tn or “for.”

[90:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “it passes quickly.” The subject of the verb is probably “their pride” (see the preceding line). The verb גּוּז (guz) means “to pass” here; it occurs only here and in Num 11:31.

[90:10]  ²⁵ sn We fly away. The psalmist compares life to a bird that quickly flies off (see Job 20:8).

[127:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “[it is] vain for you, you who are early to rise, who delay sitting, who eat the food of hard work.” The three substantival participles are parallel and stand in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the preposition. See לָכֶם (lakhem, “for you”).

[127:2]  ²⁷ tn Here the Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4; Ps 63:2).

[127:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he gives to his beloved, sleep.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew term שֵׁנָא (shena’, “sleep,” an alternate form of שֵׁנָה, shenah) is an adverbial accusative. The point seems to be this: Hard work by itself is not what counts, but one’s relationship to God, for God is able to bless an individual even while he sleeps. (There may even be a subtle allusion to the miracle of conception following sexual intercourse; see the reference to the gift of sons in the following verse.) The statement is not advocating laziness, but utilizing hyperbole to give perspective and to remind the addressees that God must be one’s first priority. Another option is to take “sleep” as the direct object: “yes, he gives sleep to his beloved” (cf. NIV, NRSV). In this case the point is this: Hard work by itself is futile, for only God is able to bless one with sleep, which metonymically refers to having one’s needs met. He blesses on the basis of one’s relationship to him, not on the basis of physical energy expended.