Mazmur 17:5

17:5 I carefully obey your commands; ¹ 

I do not deviate from them. ² 

Mazmur 25:19

25:19 Watch my enemies, for they outnumber me;

they hate me and want to harm me. ³ 

Mazmur 102:5

102:5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,

my bones protrude from my skin. ⁴ 

Mazmur 119:139

119:139 My zeal ⁵  consumes ⁶  me,

for my enemies forget your instructions. ⁷ 

Mazmur 120:2

120:2 I said, ⁸  “O Lord, rescue me ⁹ 

from those who lie with their lips ¹⁰ 

and those who deceive with their tongue. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 120:6

120:6 For too long I have had to reside

with those who hate ¹²  peace.

Mazmur 139:6

139:6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;

it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it. ¹³ 

[17:5]  ¹ tn Heb “my steps stay firm in your tracks.” The infinitive absolute functions here as a finite verb (see GKC 347 §113.gg). God’s “tracks” are his commands, i.e., the moral pathways he has prescribed for the psalmist.

[17:5]  ² tn Heb “my footsteps do not stagger.”

[25:19]  ³ tn Heb “see my enemies for they are numerous, and [with] violent hatred they hate me.”

[102:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the sound of my groaning my bone[s] stick to my flesh.” The preposition at the beginning of the verse is causal; the phrase “sound of my groaning” is metonymic for the anxiety that causes the groaning. The point seems to be this: Anxiety (which causes the psalmist to groan) keeps him from eating (v. 4). This physical deprivation in turn makes him emaciated – he is turned to “skin and bones,” so to speak.

[119:139]  ⁵ tn or “zeal.”

[119:139]  ⁶ tn Heb “destroys,” in a hyperbolic sense.

[119:139]  ⁷ tn Heb “your words.”

[120:2]  ⁸ tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the introductory note for this psalm.

[120:2]  ⁹ tn Or “my life.”

[120:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from a lip of falsehood.”

[120:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from a tongue of deception.”

[120:6]  ¹² tn The singular participial form probably has a representative function here. The psalmist envisions the typical hater of peace who represents the entire category of such individuals.

[139:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “too amazing [is this] knowledge for me, it is elevated, I cannot attain to it.”