Psalms 21:11

21:11 Yes, ¹  they intend to do you harm; ² 

they dream up a scheme, ³  but they do not succeed. ⁴ 

Psalms 37:32-33

37:32 Evil men set an ambush for the godly

and try to kill them. ⁵ 

37:33 But the Lord does not surrender the godly,

or allow them to be condemned in a court of law. ⁶ 

¹ tn Or “for.”

² tn Heb “they extend against you harm.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 11 are taken as generalizing, stating factually what the king’s enemies typically do. Another option is to translate with the past tense (“they intended…planned”).

³ sn See Ps 10:2.

⁴ tn Heb “they lack ability.”

⁵ tn Heb “an evil [one] watches the godly [one] and seeks to kill him.” The singular forms are used in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and godly individual are in view. The active participles describe characteristic behavior.

⁶ tn Heb “the Lord does not abandon him into his hand or condemn him when he is judged.” The imperfects draw attention to the Lord’s characteristic behavior in this regard.