Mazmur 64:1

Psalm 64 ¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

64:1 Listen to me, ²  O God, as I offer my lament!

Protect ³  my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks. ⁴ 

Mazmur 78:49

78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them, ⁵ 

He sent fury, rage, and trouble

as messengers who bring disaster. ⁶ 

Mazmur 83:15

83:15 chase them with your gale winds,

and terrify ⁷  them with your windstorm.

Mazmur 85:3

85:3 You withdrew all your fury;

you turned back from your raging anger. ⁸ 

Mazmur 88:15

88:15 I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth. ⁹ 

I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 89:10

89:10 You crushed the Proud One ¹¹  and killed it; ¹² 

with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.

[64:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 64. The psalmist asks God to protect him from his dangerous enemies and then confidently affirms that God will destroy his enemies and demonstrate his justice in the sight of all observers.

[64:1]  ² tn Heb “my voice.”

[64:1]  ³ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s request.

[64:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the terror of [the] enemy.” “Terror” is used here metonymically for the enemy’s attacks that produce fear because they threaten the psalmist’s life.

[78:49]  ⁵ tn Heb “he sent against them the rage of his anger.” The phrase “rage of his anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[78:49]  ⁶ tn Heb “fury and indignation and trouble, a sending of messengers of disaster.”

[83:15]  ⁷ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 15 express the psalmist’s wish or prayer.

[85:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81. See Pss 69:24; 78:49.

[88:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “and am dying from youth.”

[88:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I carry your horrors [?].” The meaning of the Hebrew form אָפוּנָה (’afunah), which occurs only here in the OT, is unclear. It may be an adverb meaning “very much” (BDB 67 s.v.), though some prefer to emend the text to אָפוּגָה (’afugah, “I am numb”) from the verb פוּג (pug; see Pss 38:8; 77:2).

[89:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Rahab.” The name “Rahab” means “proud one.” Since it is sometimes used of Egypt (see Ps 87:4; Isa 30:7), the passage may allude to the exodus. However, the name is also used of the sea (or the mythological sea creature) which symbolizes the disruptive forces of the world that seek to replace order with chaos (see Job 9:13; 26:12). Isa 51:9 appears to combine the mythological and historical referents. The association of Rahab with the sea in Ps 89 (see v. 9) suggests that the name carries symbolic force in this context. In this case the passage may allude to creation (see vv. 11-12), when God overcame the great deep and brought order out of chaos.

[89:10]  ¹² tn Heb “like one fatally wounded.”