118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
and his loyal love endures! 2
118:12 They surrounded me like bees.
But they disappeared as quickly 3 as a fire among thorns. 4
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
1 sn Psalm 118. The psalmist thanks God for his deliverance and urges others to join him in praise.
2 tn Or “is forever.”
3 tn Heb “were extinguished.”
4 tn The point seems to be that the hostility of the nations (v. 10) is short-lived, like a fire that quickly devours thorns and then burns out. Some, attempting to create a better parallel with the preceding line, emend דֹּעֲכוּ (do’akhu, “they were extinguished”) to בָּעֲרוּ (ba’aru, “they burned”). In this case the statement emphasizes their hostility.