Mazmur 9:18

9:18 for the needy are not permanently ignored, ¹ 

the hopes of the oppressed are not forever dashed. ² 

Mazmur 17:1

Psalm 17 ³ 

A prayer of David.

17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! ⁴ 

Pay attention to my cry for help!

Listen to the prayer

I sincerely offer! ⁵ 

Mazmur 39:6

39:6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. ⁶ 

Surely they accumulate worthless wealth

without knowing who will eventually haul it away.” ⁷ 

Mazmur 94:10

94:10 Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish?

He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings!

[9:18]  ¹ tn Or “forgotten.”

[9:18]  ² tn Heb “the hope of the afflicted does [not] perish forever.” The negative particle is understood by ellipsis; note the preceding line. The imperfect verbal forms express what typically happens.

[17:1]  ³ sn Psalm 17. The psalmist asks God to intervene on his behalf because his life is threatened by dangerous enemies. He appeals to divine justice, for he is certain of his own innocence. Because he is innocent, he expects to encounter God and receive an assuring word.

[17:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “hear, Lord, what is just.”

[17:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”

[39:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “surely, as an image man walks about.” The preposition prefixed to “image” indicates identity here.

[39:6]  sn People go through life (Heb “man walks about”). “Walking” is here used as a metaphor for living. The point is that human beings are here today, gone tomorrow. They have no lasting substance and are comparable to mere images or ghosts.

[39:6]  ⁷ tc Heb “Surely [in] vain they strive, he accumulates and does not know who gathers them.” The MT as it stands is syntactically awkward. The verb forms switch from singular (“walks about”) to plural (“they strive”) and then back to singular (“accumulates and does not know”), even though the subject (generic “man”) remains the same. Furthermore there is no object for the verb “accumulates” and no plural antecedent for the plural pronoun (“them”) attached to “gathers.” These problems can be removed if one emends the text from הֶבֶל יֶהֱמָיוּן (hevel yehemaun, “[in] vain they strive”) to הֶבְלֵי הָמוֹן (hevley hamon, “vain things of wealth”). This assumes a misdivision in the MT and a virtual dittography of vav (ו) between the mem and nun of המון. The present translation follows this emendation.