Mazmur 31:18

31:18 May lying lips be silenced –

lips ¹  that speak defiantly against the innocent ² 

with arrogance and contempt!

Mazmur 38:19

38:19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous; ³ 

those who hate me without cause outnumber me. ⁴ 

Mazmur 60:3

60:3 You have made your people experience hard times; ⁵ 

you have made us drink intoxicating wine. ⁶ 

Mazmur 65:10

65:10 You saturate ⁷  its furrows,

and soak ⁸  its plowed ground. ⁹ 

With rain showers you soften its soil, ¹⁰ 

and make its crops grow. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 68:21

68:21 Indeed God strikes the heads of his enemies,

the hairy foreheads of those who persist in rebellion. ¹² 

Mazmur 81:8

81:8 I said, ¹³  ‘Listen, my people!

I will warn ¹⁴  you!

O Israel, if only you would obey me! ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 107:12

107:12 So he used suffering to humble them; ¹⁶ 

they stumbled and no one helped them up.

Mazmur 119:10

119:10 With all my heart I seek you.

Do not allow me to stray from your commands!

Mazmur 137:8

137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! ¹⁷ 

How blessed will be the one who repays you

for what you dished out to us! ¹⁸ 

[31:18]  ¹ tn Heb “the [ones which].”

[31:18]  ² tn Or “godly.”

[38:19]  ³ tn Heb “and my enemies, life, are many.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “life”) fits very awkwardly here. The translation assumes an emendation to חִנָּם (khinam, “without reason”; note the parallelism with שֶׁקֶר [sheqer, “falsely”] and see Pss 35:19; 69:4; Lam 3:52). The verb עָצַם (’atsam) can sometimes mean “are strong,” but here it probably focuses on numerical superiority (note the parallel verb רָבַב, ravav, “be many”).

[38:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “are many.”

[60:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “you have caused your people to see [what is] hard.”

[60:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “wine of staggering,” that is, intoxicating wine that makes one stagger in drunkenness. Intoxicating wine is here an image of divine judgment that makes its victims stagger like drunkards. See Isa 51:17-23.

[65:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “saturating” [the form is an infinitive absolute].

[65:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “flatten, cause to sink.”

[65:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “trenches,” or “furrows.”

[65:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “soften it,” that is, the earth.

[65:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “its vegetation you bless.” Divine “blessing” often involves endowing an object with special power or capacity.

[68:21]  ¹² tn Heb “the hairy forehead of the one who walks about in his guilt.” The singular is representative.

[81:8]  ¹³ tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Verses 8-10 appear to recall what the Lord commanded the generation of Israelites that experienced the events described in v. 7. Note the statement in v. 11, “my people did not listen to me.”

[81:8]  ¹⁴ tn Or perhaps “command.”

[81:8]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew particle אִם (“if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (GKC 321 §109.b). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.

[107:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he subdued with suffering their heart.”

[137:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.

[137:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”