Psalms 7:12-14

7:12 If a person ¹  does not repent, God sharpens his sword ² 

and prepares to shoot his bow. ³ 

7:13 He prepares to use deadly weapons against him; ⁴ 

he gets ready to shoot flaming arrows. ⁵ 

7:14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,

who conceives destructive plans,

and gives birth to harmful lies – ⁶ 

Psalms 7:1

Psalm 7 ⁷ 

A musical composition ⁸  by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning ⁹  a Benjaminite named Cush. ¹⁰ 

7:1 O Lord my God, in you I have taken shelter. ¹¹ 

Deliver me from all who chase me! Rescue me!

Psalms 5:3

5:3 Lord, in the morning ¹²  you will hear ¹³  me; ¹⁴ 

in the morning I will present my case to you ¹⁵  and then wait expectantly for an answer. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 5:2

5:2 Pay attention to my cry for help,

my king and my God,

for I am praying to you!

Psalms 2:3

2:3 They say, ¹⁷  “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! ¹⁸ 

Let’s free ourselves from ¹⁹  their ropes!”

[7:12]  ¹ tn Heb “If he”; the referent (a person who is a sinner) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The subject of the first verb is understood as the sinner who fails to repent of his ways and becomes the target of God’s judgment (vv. 9, 14-16).

[7:12]  ² tn Heb “if he does not return, his sword he sharpens.” The referent (God) of the pronominal subject of the second verb (“sharpens”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:12]  ³ tn Heb “his bow he treads and prepares it.” “Treading the bow” involved stepping on one end of it in order to string it and thus prepare it for battle.

[7:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “and for him he prepares the weapons of death.”

[7:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “his arrows into flaming [things] he makes.”

[7:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he conceives harm and gives birth to a lie.”

[7:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 7. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from his enemies. He protests his innocence and declares his confidence in God’s justice.

[7:1]  ⁸ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שִׁגָּיוֹן (shiggayon; translated here “musical composition”) is uncertain. Some derive the noun from the verbal root שָׁגָה (shagah, “swerve, reel”) and understand it as referring to a “wild, passionate song, with rapid changes of rhythm” (see BDB 993 s.v. שִׁגָּיוֹן). But this proposal is purely speculative. The only other appearance of the noun is in Hab 3:1, where it occurs in the plural.

[7:1]  ⁹ tn Or “on account of.”

[7:1]  ¹⁰ sn Apparently this individual named Cush was one of David’s enemies.

[7:1]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[5:3]  ¹² sn In the morning is here viewed as the time of prayer (Pss 59:16; 88:13) and/or of deliverance (Ps 30:5).

[5:3]  ¹³ tn The imperfect is here understood in a specific future sense; the psalmist is expressing his confidence that God will be willing to hear his request. Another option is to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s wish or request. In this case one could translate, “Lord, in the morning hear me.”

[5:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my voice.”

[5:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will arrange for you.” Some understand a sacrifice or offering as the implied object (cf. NEB “I set out my morning sacrifice”). The present translation assumes that the implied object is the psalmist’s case/request. See Isa 44:7.

[5:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and I will watch.”

[2:3]  ¹⁷ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.

[2:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “their (i.e., the Lord’s and the king’s) shackles.” The kings compare the rule of the Lord and his vice-regent to being imprisoned.

[2:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “throw off from us.”