35:7 I did not harm them, but they hid a net to catch me
and dug a pit to trap me. 1
35:8 Let destruction take them by surprise! 2
Let the net they hid catch them!
Let them fall into destruction! 3
35:9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord
and be happy because of his deliverance. 4
35:10 With all my strength I will say, 5
“O Lord, who can compare to you?
You rescue 6 the oppressed from those who try to overpower them; 7
the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them.” 8
35:11 Violent men perjure themselves, 9
and falsely accuse me. 10
35:12 They repay me evil for the good I have done; 11
I am overwhelmed with sorrow. 12
17:13 As for the one who repays 17 evil for good,
evil will not leave 18 his house. 19
1 tc Heb “for without cause they hid for me a pit of their net, without cause they dug for my life.” It appears that the words “pit” and “net” have been transposed. “Net” goes with the verb “hid” in the first line (see v. 8, as well as Pss 9:15; 31:4), while “pit” goes with the verb “dug” in the second line (see Ps 7:15).
2 tn Heb “let destruction [which] he does not know come to him.” The singular is used of the enemy in v. 8, probably in a representative or collective sense. The psalmist has more than one enemy, as vv. 1-7 make clear.
3 tn The psalmist’s prayer for his enemies’ demise continues. See vv. 4-6.
4 tn Heb “then my soul will rejoice in the
5 tn Heb “all my bones will say.”
6 tn Heb “[the one who] rescues.” The substantival participle in the Hebrew text characterizes God as one who typically rescues the oppressed.
7 tn Heb “from [the one who is] too strong for him.” The singular forms are used in a representative sense. The typical oppressed individual and typical oppressor are in view.
8 tn Heb “the oppressed [one] and needy [one] from [the one who] robs him.” As in the previous line, the singular forms are used in a representative sense.
9 tn Heb “witnesses of violence rise up.”
10 tn Heb “[that] which I do not know they ask me.”
11 tn Heb “they repay me evil instead of good.”
12 tn Heb “[there is] bereavement to my soul.”
13 tn Heb “they left the city, they were not far,” meaning “they had not gone very far.”
14 tn Heb “and Joseph said.” This clause, like the first one in the verse, has the subject before the verb, indicating synchronic action.
15 tn Heb “arise, chase after the men.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.
16 tn After the imperative this perfect verbal form with vav consecutive has the same nuance of instruction. In the translation it is subordinated to the verbal form that follows (also a perfect with vav consecutive): “and overtake them and say,” becomes “when you overtake them, say.”
17 tn The sentence begins with the participle מֵשִׁיב (meshiv, “the one who repays”). The whole first colon may be taken as an independent nominative absolute, with the formal sentence to follow. Some English versions have made the first colon a condition by supplying “if” (NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT).
18 tn The verb מוּשׁ (mush) means “to depart; to remove.” The Kethib is a Hiphil, which would yield a meaning of “to take away”; so the Qere, which is the Qal, makes more sense in the line.
19 sn The proverb does not explain whether God will turn evil back on him directly or whether people will begin to treat him as he treated others.