3:2 Many say about me,
“God will not deliver him.” 8 (Selah) 9
For the music director; by David.
11:1 In the Lord I have taken shelter. 11
How can you say to me, 12
“Flee to a mountain like a bird! 13
11:2 For look, the wicked 14 prepare 15 their bows, 16
they put their arrows on the strings,
to shoot in the darkness 17 at the morally upright. 18
11:3 When the foundations 19 are destroyed,
what can the godly 20 accomplish?” 21
22:8 They say, 22
“Commit yourself 23 to the Lord!
Let the Lord 24 rescue him!
Let the Lord 25 deliver him, for he delights in him.” 26
42:10 My enemies’ taunts cut into me to the bone, 27
as they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” 28
71:11 They say, 29 “God has abandoned him.
Run and seize him, for there is no one who will rescue him!”
1 tn Heb “how much less.”
2 tn The verb is plural, suggesting that the preceding אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (’elohekhem) be translated “your gods,” rather than “your God.”
3 tn Heb “and his face was for war against Jerusalem.”
4 tn Heb “small or great.”
5 tn Heb “and every case which comes to you from your brothers who live in their cities.”
6 tn Heb “between blood pertaining to blood.”
7 tn Heb “and anger will be upon you and your brothers; do this and you will not be guilty.”
8 tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”
9 sn The function of the Hebrew term סֶלָה (selah), transliterated here “Selah,” is uncertain. It may be a musical direction of some kind.
10 sn Psalm 11. The psalmist rejects the advice to flee from his dangerous enemies. Instead he affirms his confidence in God’s just character and calls down judgment on evildoers.
11 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.
12 tn The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.
13 tc The MT is corrupt here. The Kethib (consonantal text) reads: “flee [masculine plural!] to your [masculine plural!] mountain, bird.” The Qere (marginal reading) has “flee” in a feminine singular form, agreeing grammatically with the addressee, the feminine noun “bird.” Rather than being a second masculine plural pronominal suffix, the ending כֶם- (-khem) attached to “mountain” is better interpreted as a second feminine singular pronominal suffix followed by an enclitic mem (ם). “Bird” may be taken as vocative (“O bird”) or as an adverbial accusative of manner (“like a bird”). Either way, the psalmist’s advisers compare him to a helpless bird whose only option in the face of danger is to fly away to an inaccessible place.
14 tn In the psalms the “wicked” (רְשָׁעִים, rÿsha’im) are typically proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and threaten his people (Ps 3:8).
15 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form depicts the enemies’ hostile action as underway.
16 tn Heb “a bow.”
17 sn In the darkness. The enemies’ attack, the precise form of which is not indicated, is compared here to a night ambush by archers; the psalmist is defenseless against this deadly attack.
18 tn Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).
19 tn The precise meaning of this rare word is uncertain. An Ugaritic cognate is used of the “bottom” or “base” of a cliff or mountain (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47, 159). The noun appears in postbiblical Hebrew with the meaning “foundation” (see Jastrow 1636 s.v. שָׁת).
20 tn The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense. Note the plural form “pure [of heart]” in the previous verse.
21 sn The quotation of the advisers’ words (which begins in 11:1c) ends at this point. They advise the psalmist to flee because the enemy is poised to launch a deadly attack. In such a lawless and chaotic situation godly people like the psalmist can accomplish nothing, so they might as well retreat to a safe place.
22 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons. The psalmist here quotes the sarcastic taunts of his enemies.
23 tn Heb “roll [yourself].” The Hebrew verb גלל here has the sense of “commit” (see Prov 16:3). The imperatival form in the Hebrew text indicates the enemies here address the psalmist. Since they refer to him in the third person in the rest of the verse, some prefer to emend the verb to a perfect, “he commits himself to the
24 tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the
25 tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the
26 tn That is, “for he [the
27 tc Heb “with a shattering in my bones my enemies taunt me.” A few medieval Hebrew
28 sn “Where is your God?” The enemies ask this same question in v. 3.
29 tn Heb “saying.”
30 sn An allusion to Ps 22:8.