Mazmur 3:1

Psalm 3 ¹ 

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. ² 

3:1 Lord, how ³  numerous are my enemies!

Many attack me. ⁴ 

Mazmur 7:6

7:6 Stand up angrily, ⁵  Lord!

Rise up with raging fury against my enemies! ⁶ 

Wake up for my sake and execute the judgment you have decreed for them! ⁷ 

Mazmur 28:1

Psalm 28 ⁸ 

By David.

28:1 To you, O Lord, I cry out!

My protector, ⁹  do not ignore me! ¹⁰ 

If you do not respond to me, ¹¹ 

I will join ¹²  those who are descending into the grave. ¹³ 

Mazmur 55:1

Psalm 55 ¹⁴ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song ¹⁵  by David.

55:1 Listen, O God, to my prayer!

Do not ignore ¹⁶  my appeal for mercy!

Mazmur 60:4

60:4 You have given your loyal followers ¹⁷  a rallying flag,

so that they might seek safety from the bow. ¹⁸  (Selah)

Mazmur 106:23

106:23 He threatened ¹⁹  to destroy them,

but ²⁰  Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him ²¹ 

and turned back his destructive anger. ²² 

[3:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).

[3:1]  ² sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).

[3:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “many rise up against me.”

[7:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “in your anger.”

[7:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “Lift yourself up in the angry outbursts of my enemies.” Many understand the preposition prefixed to עַבְרוֹת (’avrot, “angry outbursts”) as adversative, “against,” and the following genitive “enemies” as subjective. In this case one could translate, “rise up against my furious enemies” (cf. NIV, NRSV). The present translation, however, takes the preposition as indicating manner (cf. “in your anger” in the previous line) and understands the plural form of the noun as indicating an abstract quality (“fury”) or excessive degree (“raging fury”). Cf. Job 21:30.

[7:6]  ⁷ tc Heb “Wake up to me [with the] judgment [which] you have commanded.” The LXX understands אֵלִי (’eliy, “my God”) instead of אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”; the LXX reading is followed by NEB, NIV, NRSV.) If the reading of the MT is retained, the preposition probably has the sense of “on account of, for the sake of.” The noun מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “judgment”) is probably an adverbial accusative, modifying the initial imperative, “wake up.” In this case צִוִּיתָ (tsivvita, “[which] you have commanded”) is an asyndetic relative clause. Some take the perfect as precative. In this case one could translate the final line, “Wake up for my sake! Decree judgment!” (cf. NIV). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[28:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 28. The author looks to the Lord for vindication, asks that the wicked be repaid in full for their evil deeds, and affirms his confidence that the Lord will protect his own.

[28:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[28:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “do not be deaf from me.”

[28:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “lest [if] you are silent from me.”

[28:1]  ¹² tn Heb “I will be equal with.”

[28:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[55:1]  ¹⁴ sn Psalm 55. The suffering and oppressed author laments that one of his friends has betrayed him, but he is confident that God will vindicate him by punishing his deceitful enemies.

[55:1]  ¹⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.

[55:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “hide yourself from.”

[60:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “those who fear you.”

[60:4]  ¹⁸ tn There is a ray of hope in that God has allowed his loyal followers to rally under a battle flag. The translation assumes the verb is from the root נוּס (nus, “flee”) used here in the Hitpolel in the sense of “find safety for oneself” (HALOT 681 s.v. נוס) or “take flight for oneself” (BDB 630-31 s.v. נוּס). Another option is to take the verb as a denominative from נֵס (nes, “flag”) and translate “that it may be displayed” (BDB 651 s.v. II נסס) or “that they may assemble under the banner” (HALOT 704 s.v. II נסס). Here קֹשֶׁט (qoshet) is taken as an Aramaized form of קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”; BDB 905-6 s.v. קֶשֶׁת), though some understand the homonymic קֹשְׁטְ (qosht, “truth”) here (see Prov 22:21; cf. NASB). If one follows the latter interpretation, the line may be translated, “so that they might assemble under the banner for the sake of truth.”

[106:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he said.”

[106:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “if not,” that is, “[and would have] if [Moses] had not.”

[106:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “stood in the gap before him.”

[106:23]  ²² tn Heb “to turn back his anger from destroying.”

[106:23]  sn Verses 19-23 describe the events of Exod 32:1-35.