17:8 Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye! 1
Hide me in the shadow of your wings! 2
17:9 Protect me from 3 the wicked men who attack 4 me,
my enemies who crowd around me for the kill. 5
17:13 Rise up, Lord!
Confront him! 6 Knock him down! 7
Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man! 8
71:10 For my enemies talk about me;
those waiting for a chance to kill me plot my demise. 9
71:11 They say, 10 “God has abandoned him.
Run and seize him, for there is no one who will rescue him!”
71:12 O God, do not remain far away from me!
My God, hurry and help me! 11
142:6 Listen to my cry for help,
for I am in serious trouble! 12
Rescue me from those who chase me,
for they are stronger than I am.
143:3 Certainly 13 my enemies 14 chase me.
They smash me into the ground. 15
They force me to live 16 in dark regions, 17
like those who have been dead for ages.
143:12 As a demonstration of your loyal love, 18 destroy my enemies!
Annihilate 19 all who threaten my life, 20
for I am your servant.
15:20 I will make you as strong as a wall to these people,
a fortified wall of bronze.
They will attack you,
but they will not be able to overcome you.
For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you,” 21
says the Lord.
15:21 “I will deliver you from the power of the wicked.
I will free you from the clutches of violent people.”
1 tc Heb “Protect me like the pupil, a daughter of an eye.” The noun בַּת (bat, “daughter”) should probably be emended to בָּבַת (bavat, “pupil”). See Zech 2:12 HT (2:8 ET) and HALOT 107 s.v. *בָּבָה.
2 sn Your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.
3 tn Heb “from before”; or “because.” In the Hebrew text v. 9 is subordinated to v. 8. The words “protect me” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “destroy.” The psalmist uses the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of danger. He describes the wicked as being already in the process of destroying him.
5 tn Heb “my enemies, at the risk of life they surround me.” The Hebrew phrase בְּנֶפֶשׁ (bÿnefesh) sometimes has the nuance “at the risk of [one’s] life” (see 1 Kgs 2:23; Prov 7:23; Lam 5:9).
6 tn Heb “Be in front of his face.”
7 tn Or “bring him to his knees.”
8 tn Heb “rescue my life from the wicked [one] [by] your sword.”
9 tn Heb “those who watch for my life consult together.”
10 tn Heb “saying.”
11 tn Heb “hurry to my help.”
12 tn Heb “for I am very low.”
13 tn Or “for.”
14 tn Heb “an enemy.” The singular is used in a representative sense to describe a typical member of the larger group of enemies (note the plural “enemies” in vv. 9, 12).
15 tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”
16 tn Or “sit.”
17 sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).
18 tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”
19 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect.
20 tn Heb “all the enemies of my life.”
21 sn See 1:18. The