6:10 May all my enemies be humiliated 1 and absolutely terrified! 2
May they turn back and be suddenly humiliated!
31:17 O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,
for I call out to you!
May evil men be humiliated!
May they go wailing to the grave! 3
35:26 May those who want to harm me be totally embarrassed and ashamed! 4
May those who arrogantly taunt me be covered with shame and humiliation! 5
40:14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life
be totally embarrassed and ashamed! 6
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed! 7
40:15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
be humiliated 8 and disgraced! 9
70:2 May those who are trying to take my life
be embarrassed and ashamed! 10
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed! 11
70:3 May those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
be driven back 12 and disgraced! 13
71:13 May my accusers be humiliated and defeated!
May those who want to harm me 14 be covered with scorn and disgrace!
132:18 I will humiliate his enemies, 15
and his crown will shine.
20:11 But the Lord is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior. 16
Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me.
They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed.
Their disgrace will never be forgotten.
1 tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling judgment down on his enemies.
2 tn Heb “and may they be very terrified.” The psalmist uses the same expression in v. 3 to describe the terror he was experiencing. Now he asks the
3 tn The verb יִדְּמוּ (yiddÿmu) is understood as a form of דָּמַם (damam, “wail, lament”). Another option is to take the verb from דָּמַם (“be quiet”; see BDB 198-99 s.v. I דָּמַם), in which case one might translate, “May they lie silent in the grave.”
4 tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed together, the ones who rejoice over my harm.”
5 tn Heb “may they be clothed with shame and humiliation, the ones who magnify [themselves] against me.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 26 are understood as jussives (see vv. 24b-25, where the negative particle אַל (’al) appears before the prefixed verbal forms, indicating they are jussives). The psalmist is calling down judgment on his enemies.
6 tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed together, the ones seeking my life to snatch it away.”
7 tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse (“may those…be…embarrassed and ashamed…may those…be turned back and ashamed”) are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.
8 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive in this imprecation.
9 tn Heb “May they be humiliated according to their shame, those who say to me, ‘Aha! Aha!’”
10 tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed, the ones seeking my life.” Ps 40:14 has “together” after “ashamed,” and “to snatch it away” after “my life.”
11 tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.
12 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive in this imprecation.
13 tn Heb “May they be turned back according to their shame, those who say, ‘Aha! Aha!’” Ps 40:15 has the verb “humiliated” instead of “turned back” and adds “to me” after “say.”
14 tn Heb “those who seek my harm.”
15 tn Heb “his enemies I will clothe [with] shame.”
16 sn This line has some interesting ties with Jer 15:20-21 where Jeremiah is assured by God that he is indeed with him as he promised him when he called him (1:8, 19) and will deliver him from the clutches of wicked and violent people. The word translated here “awe-inspiring” is the same as the word “violent people” there. Jeremiah is confident that his “awe-inspiring” warrior will overcome “violent people.” The statement of confidence here is, by the way, a common element in the psalms of petition in the Psalter. The common elements of that type of psalm are all here: invocation (v. 7), lament (vv. 7-10), confession of trust/confidence in being heard (v. 11), petition (v. 12), thanksgiving or praise (v. 13). For some examples of this type of psalm see Pss 3, 7, 26.