35:21 They are ready to devour me; 1
they say, “Aha! Aha! We’ve got you!” 2
49:6 They trust 3 in their wealth
and boast 4 in their great riches.
For the music director; a well-written song 6 by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.” 7
52:1 Why do you boast about your evil plans, 8 O powerful man?
God’s loyal love protects me all day long! 9
73:8 They mock 10 and say evil things; 11
they proudly threaten violence. 12
73:9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,
and lay claim to the earth. 13
94:4 They spew out threats 14 and speak defiantly;
all the evildoers boast. 15
15:9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, 16 I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil;
my desire 17 will be satisfied on them.
I will draw 18 my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ 19
10:7 But he does not agree with this,
his mind does not reason this way, 20
for his goal is to destroy,
and to eliminate many nations. 21
10:8 Indeed, 22 he says:
“Are not my officials all kings?
10:9 Is not Calneh like Carchemish?
Hamath like Arpad?
Samaria like Damascus? 23
10:10 I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols, 24
whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem’s 25 or Samaria’s.
10:11 As I have done to Samaria and its idols,
so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols.” 26
37:23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted
and looked so arrogantly? 27
At the Holy One of Israel! 28
4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town 29 and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.”
1 tn Heb “and they cause their mouth to be wide against me.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries on the generalizing mood of the previous verse. For other examples of this use of the prefixed verbal form with vav consecutive, see GKC 329 §111.t.
2 tn Heb “our eye sees.” Apparently this is an idiom meaning to “look in triumph” or “gloat over” (see Ps 54:7).
3 tn Heb “the ones who trust.” The substantival participle stands in apposition to “those who deceive me” (v. 5).
4 tn The imperfect verbal form emphasizes their characteristic behavior.
5 sn Psalm 52. The psalmist confidently confronts his enemy and affirms that God will destroy evildoers and vindicate the godly.
6 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
7 tn Heb “when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.’”
8 tn Heb “Why do you boast in evil?”
9 tn Heb “the loyal love of God [is] all the day.” In this context, where the psalmist is threatened by his enemy, the point seems to be that the psalmist is protected by God’s loyal love at all times.
10 tn The verb מוּק (muq, “mock”) occurs only here in the OT.
11 tn Heb “and speak with evil.”
12 tn Heb “oppression from an elevated place they speak.” The traditional accentuation of the MT places “oppression” with the preceding line. In this case, one might translate, “they mock and speak with evil [of] oppression, from an elevated place [i.e., “proudly”] they speak.” By placing “oppression” with what follows, one achieves better poetic balance in the parallelism.
13 tn Heb “they set in heaven their mouth, and their tongue walks through the earth.” The meaning of the text is uncertain. Perhaps the idea is that they lay claim to heaven (i.e., speak as if they were ruling in heaven) and move through the earth declaring their superiority and exerting their influence. Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) the first line as adversative and translate, “they set their mouth against heaven,” that is, they defy God.
14 tn Heb “they gush forth [words].”
15 tn The Hitpael of אָמַר (’amar) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6).
16 sn W. C. Kaiser observes the staccato phrases that almost imitate the heavy, breathless heaving of the Egyptians as, with what reserve of strength they have left, they vow, “I will…, I will…, I will…” (“Exodus,” EBC 2:395).
17 tn The form is נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”). But this word refers to the whole person, the body and the soul, or better, a bundle of appetites in a body. It therefore can figuratively refer to the desires or appetites (Deut 12:15; 14:26; 23:24). Here, with the verb “to be full” means “to be satisfied”; the whole expression might indicate “I will be sated with them” or “I will gorge myself.” The greedy appetite was to destroy.
18 tn The verb רִיק (riq) means “to be empty” in the Qal, and in the Hiphil “to empty.” Here the idea is to unsheathe a sword.
19 tn The verb is יָרַשׁ (yarash), which in the Hiphil means “to dispossess” or “root out.” The meaning “destroy” is a general interpretation.
20 tn Heb “but he, not so does he intend, and his heart, not so does it think.”
21 tn Heb “for to destroy [is] in his heart, and to cut off nations, not a few.”
22 tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
23 sn Calneh … Carchemish … Hamath … Arpad … Samaria … Damascus. The city states listed here were conquered by the Assyrians between 740-717
24 tn Heb “Just as my hand found the kingdoms of the idol[s].” The comparison is expanded in v. 11a (note “as”) and completed in v. 11b (note “so”).
25 map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
26 tn The statement is constructed as a rhetorical question in the Hebrew text: “Is it not [true that] just as I have done to Samaria and its idols, so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols?”
27 tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?” Cf. NIV “lifted your eyes in pride”; NRSV “haughtily lifted your eyes.”
28 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
29 tn Or “city.”
30 tn Grk “but now.”