2 Samuel 22:49

22:49 He delivers me from my enemies;

you snatch me away from those who attack me;

you rescue me from violent men.

Psalms 55:9

55:9 Confuse them, O Lord!

Frustrate their plans!

For I see violence and conflict in the city.

Psalms 72:14

72:14 From harm and violence he will defend them;

he will value their lives.

Psalms 86:14

86:14 O God, arrogant men attack me;

a gang of ruthless men, who do not respect you, seek my life. 10 

Psalms 140:1

Psalm 140 11 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

140:1 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men! 12 

Protect me from violent men, 13 

Psalms 140:4

140:4 O Lord, shelter me from the power 14  of the wicked!

Protect me from violent men,

who plan to knock me over. 15 

Psalms 140:11

140:11 A slanderer 16  will not endure on 17  the earth;

calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down. 18 


tn Heb “and [the one who] brings me out from my enemies.”

tn Heb “you lift me up.” In light of the preceding and following references to deliverance, the verb רוּם (rum) probably here refers to being rescued from danger (see Ps 9:13). However, it could mean “exalt; elevate” here, indicating that the Lord has given him victory over his enemies and forced them to acknowledge the psalmist’s superiority.

tn Heb “from those who rise against me.”

tn Traditionally בַּלַּע (bala’) has been taken to mean “swallow” in the sense of “devour” or “destroy” (cf. KJV), but this may be a homonym meaning “confuse” (see BDB 118 s.v. בַּלַּע; HALOT 135 s.v. III *בֶּלַע). “Their tongue” is the understood object of the verb (see the next line).

tn Heb “split their tongue,” which apparently means “confuse their speech,” or, more paraphrastically, “frustrate the plans they devise with their tongues.”

tn Or “redeem their lives.” The verb “redeem” casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Pss 19:14; 69:18).

tn Heb “their blood will be precious in his eyes.”

tn Heb “rise up against me.”

tn Or “assembly.”

10 tn Heb “seek my life and do not set you before them.” See Ps 54:3.

11 sn Psalm 140. The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his deadly enemies, calls judgment down upon them, and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.

12 tn Heb “from a wicked man.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).

13 tn Heb “a man of violent acts.” The Hebrew uses the singular in a representative or collective sense (note the plural verbs in v. 2).

14 tn Heb “hands.”

15 tn Heb “to push down my steps.”

16 tn Heb “a man of a tongue.”

17 tn Heb “be established in.”

18 tn Heb “for blows.” The Hebrew noun מַדְחֵפֹה (madkhefoh, “blow”) occurs only here in the OT.