Mazmur 49:16

49:16 Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich ¹ 

and his wealth multiplies! ² 

Mazmur 63:10

63:10 Each one will be handed over to the sword; ³ 

their corpses will be eaten by jackals. ⁴ 

Mazmur 83:10

83:10 They were destroyed at Endor; ⁵ 

their corpses were like manure ⁶  on the ground.

Mazmur 139:11

139:11 If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me, ⁷ 

and the light will turn to night all around me,” ⁸ 

[49:16]  ¹ sn When a man becomes rich. Why would people fear such a development? The acquisition of wealth makes individuals powerful and enables them to oppress others (see vv. 5-6).

[49:16]  ² tn Heb “when the glory of his house grows great.”

[63:10]  ³ tn Heb “they will deliver him over to the sword.” The third masculine plural subject must be indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f) and the singular pronominal suffix either representative or distributive (emphasizing that each one will be so treated). Active verbs with indefinite subjects may be translated as passives with the object (in the Hebrew text) as subject (in the translation).

[63:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “they will be [the] portion of jackals”; traditionally, “of foxes.”

[83:10]  ⁵ sn Endor is not mentioned in the accounts of Gideon’s or Barak’s victories, but both battles took place in the general vicinity of the town. (See Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas, 46, 54.) Because Sisera and Jabin are mentioned in v. 9b, many understand them to be the subject of the verbs in v. 10, though they relate v. 10 to Gideon’s victory, which is referred to in v. 9a, 11. (See, for example, Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 263.)

[83:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “they were manure.” In addition to this passage, corpses are compared to manure in 2 Kgs 9:37; Jer 8:2; 9:21; 16:4; 25:33.

[139:11]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb שׁוּף (shuf), which means “to crush; to wound,” in Gen 3:15 and Job 9:17, is problematic here. For a discussion of attempts to relate the verb to Arabic roots, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 251. Many emend the form to יְשׂוּכֵּנִי (yesukkeniy), from the root שׂכך (“to cover,” an alternate form of סכך), a reading assumed in the present translation.

[139:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “and night, light, around me.”