Discovery BoxPsalms 59:5-13
Context59:5 You, O Lord God, the invincible warrior, 1 the God of Israel,
rouse yourself and punish 2 all the nations!
Have no mercy on any treacherous evildoers! (Selah)
59:6 They return in the evening;
they growl 3 like a dog
and prowl around outside 4 the city.
59:7 Look, they hurl insults at me
and openly threaten to kill me, 5
for they say, 6
“Who hears?”
59:8 But you, O Lord, laugh in disgust at them; 7
you taunt 8 all the nations.
59:9 You are my source of strength! I will wait for you! 9
For God is my refuge. 10
59:10 The God who loves me will help me; 11
God will enable me to triumph over 12 my enemies. 13
59:11 Do not strike them dead suddenly,
because then my people might forget the lesson. 14
Use your power to make them homeless vagabonds and then bring them down,
O Lord who shields us! 15
59:12 They speak sinful words. 16
So let them be trapped by their own pride
and by the curses and lies they speak!
59:13 Angrily wipe them out! Wipe them out so they vanish!
Let them know that God rules
in Jacob and to the ends of the earth! (Selah)
Psalms 69:27
Context69:27 Hold them accountable for all their sins! 17
Do not vindicate them! 18
Psalms 109:14
Context109:14 May his ancestors’ 19 sins be remembered by the Lord!
May his mother’s sin not be forgotten! 20
Jeremiah 18:23
Context18:23 But you, Lord, know
all their plots to kill me.
Do not pardon their crimes!
Do not ignore their sins as though you had erased them! 21
Let them be brought down in defeat before you!
Deal with them while you are still angry! 22
Jeremiah 18:2
Context18:2 “Go down at once 23 to the potter’s house. I will speak to you further there.” 24
Jeremiah 4:14
Context4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil 25
so that you may yet be delivered.
How long will you continue to harbor up
wicked schemes within you?
[59:5] 1 tn Heb “
[59:5] 2 tn Heb “wake up to punish” (see Pss 35:23; 44:23).
[59:6] 3 tn Or “howl”; or “bark.”
[59:7] 5 tn Heb “look, they gush forth with their mouth, swords [are] in their lips.”
[59:7] 6 tn The words “for they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The following question (“Who hears?”) is spoken by the psalmist’s enemies, who are confident that no one else can hear their threats against the psalmist. They are aggressive because they feel the psalmist is vulnerable and has no one to help him.
[59:8] 7 sn Laugh in disgust. See Pss 2:4; 37:13.
[59:8] 8 tn Or “scoff at”; or “deride”; or “mock” (see Ps 2:4).
[59:9] 9 tc Heb “his strength, for you I will watch.” “His strength” should be emended to “my strength” (see v. 17). Some also emend אֶשְׁמֹרָה (’eshmorah, “I will watch”) to אֱזַמֵּרָה (’ezammerah, “I will sing praises [to you]”) See v. 17.
[59:9] 10 tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).
[59:10] 11 tn Heb “the God of my [Qere (marginal reading); the Kethib (consonantal text) has “his”] loyal love will meet me.”
[59:10] 12 tn Heb “will cause me to look upon.”
[59:10] 13 tn Heb “those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 56:2.
[59:11] 14 tn Heb “do not kill them, lest my people forget.”
[59:11] 15 tn Heb “make them roam around by your strength and bring them down, O our shield, the Lord.”
[59:12] 16 tn Heb “the sin of their mouth [is] the word of their lips.”
[69:27] 17 tn Heb “place sin upon their sin.”
[69:27] 18 tn Heb “let them not come into your vindication.”
[109:14] 19 tn Or “fathers’ sins.”
[109:14] 20 tn Heb “not be wiped out.”
[18:23] 21 sn Heb “Do not blot out their sins from before you.” For this anthropomorphic figure which looks at God’s actions as though connected with record books, i.e., a book of wrongdoings to be punished, and a book of life for those who are to live, see e.g., Exod 32:32, 33, Ps 51:1 (51:3 HT); 69:28 (69:29 HT).
[18:23] 22 tn Heb “in the time of your anger.”
[18:2] 23 tn Heb “Get up and go down.” The first verb is not literal but is idiomatic for the initiation of an action. See 13:4, 6 for other occurrences of this idiom.
[18:2] 24 tn Heb “And I will cause you to hear my word there.”
[4:14] 25 tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”
