Mazmur 22:20

22:20 Deliver me ¹  from the sword!

Save ²  my life ³  from the claws ⁴  of the wild dogs!

Mazmur 141:9

141:9 Protect me from the snare they have laid for me,

and the traps the evildoers have set. ⁵ 

Mazmur 49:15

49:15 But ⁶  God will rescue ⁷  my life ⁸  from the power ⁹  of Sheol;

certainly ¹⁰  he will pull me to safety. ¹¹  (Selah)

Mazmur 89:48

89:48 No man can live on without experiencing death,

or deliver his life from the power of Sheol. ¹²  (Selah)

[22:20]  ¹ tn Or “my life.”

[22:20]  ² tn The verb “save” is supplied in the translation; it is understood by ellipsis (see “deliver” in the preceding line).

[22:20]  ³ tn Heb “my only one.” The psalmist may mean that his life is precious, or that he feels isolated and alone.

[22:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the hand.” Here “hand” is understood by metonymy as a reference to the “paw” and thus the “claws” of the wild dogs.

[141:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the traps of the doers of evil.”

[49:15]  ⁶ tn Or “certainly.”

[49:15]  ⁷ tn Or “redeem.”

[49:15]  ⁸ tn Or “me.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[49:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “hand.”

[49:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “for.”

[49:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he will take me.” To improve the poetic balance of the verse, some move the words “from the power of Sheol” to the following line. The verse would then read: “But God will rescue my life; / from the power of Sheol he will certainly deliver me” (cf. NEB).

[49:15]  sn According to some, the psalmist here anticipates the resurrection (or at least an afterlife in God’s presence). But it is more likely that the psalmist here expresses his hope that God will rescue him from premature death at the hands of the rich oppressors denounced in the psalm. The psalmist is well aware that all (the wise and foolish) die (see vv. 7-12), but he is confident God will lead him safely through the present “times of trouble” (v. 5) and sweep the wicked away to their final destiny. The theme is a common one in the so-called wisdom psalms (see Pss 1, 34, 37, 112). For a fuller discussion of the psalmists’ view of the afterlife, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “A Theology of the Psalms,” A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, 284-88.

[89:48]  ¹² tn Heb “Who [is] the man [who] can live and not see death, [who] can deliver his life from the hand of Sheol?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”