Psalms 35:15

35:15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together;

they gathered together to ambush me. ¹ 

They tore at me without stopping to rest. ² 

Psalms 94:21

94:21 They conspire against ³  the blameless, ⁴ 

and condemn to death the innocent. ⁵ 

Acts 4:27

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ⁶  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ⁷ 

[35:15]  ¹ tn Heb “they gathered together against me, stricken [ones], and I did not know.” The Hebrew form נֵכִים (nekhim, “stricken ones” ?) is problematic. Some suggest an emendation to נָכְרִים[כְ] (kÿnokhÿrim, “foreigners”) or “like foreigners,” which would fit with what follows, “[like] foreigners that I do not recognize.” Perhaps the form should be read as a Qal active participle, נֹכִים (nokhim, “ones who strike”) from the verbal root נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike”). The Qal of this verb is unattested in biblical Hebrew, but the peal (basic) stem appears in Old Aramaic (J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire [BibOr], 114; DNWSI 1:730.) In this case one might translate, “attackers gathered together against me though I was not aware of it” (cf. NASB “smiters”; NEB, NRSV “ruffians”; NIV “attackers”).

[35:15]  ² tn Heb “they tore and did not keep quiet.” By using the verb “tear,” the psalmist likens his enemies to a wild animal (see Hos 13:8). In v. 17 he compares them to hungry young lions.

[94:21]  ³ tn Or “attack.”

[94:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “the life of the blameless.”

[94:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the blood of the innocent they declare guilty.”

[4:27]  ⁶ sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

[4:27]  ⁷ sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”