Mazmur 7:2-3

7:2 Otherwise they will rip ¹  me ²  to shreds like a lion;

they will tear me to bits and no one will be able to rescue me. ³ 

7:3 O Lord my God, if I have done what they say, ⁴ 

or am guilty of unjust actions, ⁵ 

Mazmur 7:7

7:7 The countries are assembled all around you; ⁶ 

take once more your rightful place over them! ⁷ 

[7:2]  ¹ tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew text, even though “all who chase me” in v. 1 refers to a whole group of enemies. The singular is also used in vv. 4-5, but the psalmist returns to the plural in v. 6. The singular is probably collective, emphasizing the united front that the psalmist’s enemies present. This same alternation between a collective singular and a plural referring to enemies appears in Pss 9:3, 6; 13:4; 31:4, 8; 41:6, 10-11; 42:9-10; 55:3; 64:1-2; 74:3-4; 89:22-23; 106:10-11; 143:3, 6, 9.

[7:2]  ² tn Heb “my life.” The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.

[7:2]  ³ tn Heb “tearing and there is no one rescuing.” The verbal form translated “tearing” is a singular active participle.

[7:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “if I have done this.”

[7:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “if there is injustice in my hands.” The “hands” figuratively suggest deeds or actions.

[7:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the assembly of the peoples surrounds you.” Some understand the prefixed verbal form as a jussive, “may the assembly of the peoples surround you.”

[7:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “over it (the feminine suffix refers back to the feminine noun “assembly” in the preceding line) on high return.” Some emend שׁוּבָה (shuvah, “return”) to שֵׁבָה (shevah, “sit [in judgment]”) because they find the implication of “return” problematic. But the psalmist does not mean to imply that God has abandoned his royal throne and needs to regain it. Rather he simply urges God, as sovereign king of the world, to once more occupy his royal seat of judgment and execute judgment, as the OT pictures God doing periodically.