20:2 May he send you help from his temple; 1
from Zion may he give you support!
50:19 You do damage with words, 2
and use your tongue to deceive. 3
55:20 He 4 attacks 5 his friends; 6
he breaks his solemn promises to them. 7
78:45 He sent swarms of biting insects against them, 8
as well as frogs that overran their land. 9
81:12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; 10
they did what seemed right to them. 11
104:10 He turns springs into streams; 12
they flow between the mountains.
104:30 When you send your life-giving breath, they are created,
and you replenish the surface of the ground.
105:17 He sent a man ahead of them 13 –
Joseph was sold as a servant.
105:20 The king authorized his release; 14
the ruler of nations set him free.
106:15 He granted their request,
then struck them with a disease. 15
107:20 He sent them an assuring word 16 and healed them;
he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped. 17
144:6 Hurl lightning bolts and scatter them!
Shoot your arrows and rout them! 18
1 tc Heb “from [the] temple.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix (ן, nun) has probably been accidentally omitted by haplography. Note that the following word begins with a prefixed vav (ו). See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 184.
2 tn Heb “your mouth you send with evil.”
3 tn Heb “and your tongue binds together [i.e., “frames”] deceit.”
3 sn He. This must refer to the psalmist’s former friend, who was addressed previously in vv. 12-14.
4 tn Heb “stretches out his hand against.”
5 tc The form should probably be emended to an active participle (שֹׁלְמָיו, sholÿmayv) from the verbal root שָׁלַם (shalam, “be in a covenant of peace with”). Perhaps the translation “his friends” suggests too intimate a relationship. Another option is to translate, “he attacks those who made agreements with him.”
6 tn Heb “he violates his covenant.”
4 tn Heb “and he sent an insect swarm against them and it devoured them.”
5 tn Heb “and a swarm of frogs and it destroyed them.”
5 tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”
6 tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).
6 tn Heb “[the] one who sends springs into streams.” Another option is to translate, “he sends streams [i.e., streams that originate from springs] into the valleys” (cf. NIV).
7 tn After the reference to the famine in v. 16, v. 17 flashes back to events that preceded the famine (see Gen 37).
8 tn Heb “[the] king sent and set him free.”
9 tn Heb “and he sent leanness into their being.”
10 tn Heb “he sent his word.” This probably refers to an oracle of assurance which announced his intention to intervene (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 59).
11 tn Heb “he rescued from their traps.” The Hebrew word שְׁחִית (shekhit, “trap”) occurs only here and in Lam 4:20, where it refers to a trap or pit in which one is captured. Because of the rarity of the term and the absence of an object with the verb “rescued,” some prefer to emend the text of Ps 107:20, reading מִשַׁחַת חַיָּתָם (mishakhat khayyatam, “[he rescued] their lives from the pit”). Note also NIV “from the grave,” which interprets the “pit” as Sheol or the grave.
11 sn Arrows and lightning bolts are associated in other texts (see Pss 18:14; 77:17-18; Zech 9:14), as well as in ancient Near Eastern art (see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” [Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983], 187).