Psalms 10:1

Psalm 10 ¹ 

10:1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you pay no attention during times of trouble? ² 

Psalms 18:33

18:33 He gives me the agility of a deer; ³ 

he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. ⁴ 

Psalms 31:8

31:8 You do not deliver me over to the power of the enemy;

you enable me to stand ⁵  in a wide open place.

Psalms 33:9

33:9 For he spoke, and it ⁶  came into existence,

he issued the decree, ⁷  and it stood firm.

Psalms 33:11

33:11 The Lord’s decisions stand forever;

his plans abide throughout the ages. ⁸ 

Psalms 104:6

104:6 The watery deep covered it ⁹  like a garment;

the waters reached ¹⁰  above the mountains. ¹¹ 

Psalms 109:6

109:6 ¹² Appoint an evil man to testify against him! ¹³ 

May an accuser stand ¹⁴  at his right side!

Psalms 109:31

109:31 because he stands at the right hand of the needy,

to deliver him from those who threaten ¹⁵  his life.

Psalms 130:3

130:3 If you, O Lord, were to keep track of ¹⁶  sins,

O Lord, who could stand before you? ¹⁷ 

Psalms 147:17

147:17 He throws his hailstones ¹⁸  like crumbs.

Who can withstand the cold wind he sends? ¹⁹ 

Psalms 148:6

148:6 He established them so they would endure; ²⁰ 

he issued a decree that will not be revoked. ²¹ 

[10:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 10. Many Hebrew mss and the ancient Greek version (LXX) combine Psalms 9 and 10 into a single psalm. Taken in isolation, Psalm 10 is a petition for help in which the psalmist urges the Lord to deliver him from his dangerous enemies, whom he describes in vivid and terrifying detail. The psalmist concludes with confidence; he is certain that God’s justice will prevail.

[10:1]  ² tn Heb “you hide for times in trouble.” The interrogative “why” is understood by ellipsis; note the preceding line. The Hiphil verbal form “hide” has no expressed object. Some supply “your eyes” by ellipsis (see BDB 761 s.v. I עָלַם Hiph and HALOT 835 s.v. I עלם hif) or emend the form to a Niphal (“you hide yourself,” see BHS, note c; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[18:33]  ³ tn Heb “[the one who] makes my feet like [those of ] a deer.”

[18:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “and on my high places he makes me walk.” The imperfect verbal form emphasizes God’s characteristic provision. The psalmist compares his agility in battle to the ability of a deer to negotiate rugged, high terrain without falling or being injured.

[31:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “you cause my feet to stand.”

[33:9]  ⁷ tn That is, “all the earth” in the first line of v. 8. The apparent antecedent of the masculine subject of the verbs in v. 9 (note וַיֶּהִי [vayyehiy] and וַיַּעֲמֹד [vayya’amod]) is “earth” or “world,” both of which are feminine nouns. However, כָּל (kol, “all”) may be the antecedent, or the apparent lack of agreement may be explained by the collective nature of the nouns involved here (see GKC 463 §145.e).

[33:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “he commanded.”

[33:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “the thoughts of his heart for generation to generation.” The verb “abides” is supplied in the translation. The Lord’s “decisions” and “plans” here refer to his decrees and purposes.

[104:6]  ¹¹ tc Heb “you covered it.” The masculine suffix is problematic if the grammatically feminine noun “earth” is the antecedent. For this reason some emend the form to a feminine verb with feminine suffix, כִּסַּתָּה (kisattah, “[the watery deep] covered it [i.e., the earth]”), a reading assumed by the present translation.

[104:6]  ¹² tn Heb “stood.”

[104:6]  ¹³ sn Verse 6 refers to the condition described in Gen 1:2 (note the use of the Hebrew term תְּהוֹם [tÿhom, “watery deep”] in both texts).

[109:6]  ¹³ sn In vv. 6-19 the psalmist calls on God to judge his enemies severely. Some attribute this curse-list to the psalmist’s enemies rather than the psalmist. In this case one should paraphrase v. 6: “They say about me, ‘Appoint an evil man, etc.’” Those supporting this line of interpretation point out that vv. 2-5 and 20 refer to the enemies’ attack on the psalmist being a verbal one. Furthermore in vv. 1-5, 20 the psalmist speaks of his enemies in the plural, while vv. 6-19 refer to an individual. This use of the singular in vv. 6-19 could be readily explained if this is the psalmist’s enemies’ curse on him. However, it is much more natural to understand vv. 6-19 as the psalmist’s prayer against his enemies. There is no introductory quotation formula in v. 6 to indicate that the psalmist is quoting anyone, and the statement “may the Lord repay my accusers in this way” in v. 20 most naturally appears to be a fitting conclusion to the prayer in vv. 6-19. But what about the use of the singular in vv. 6-19? Often in the psalms the psalmist will describe his enemies as a group, but then speak of them as an individual as well, as if viewing his adversaries collectively as one powerful foe. See, for example, Ps 7, where the psalmist uses both the plural (vv. 1, 6) and the singular (vv. 2, 4-5) in referring to enemies. Perhaps by using the singular in such cases, the psalmist wants to single out each enemy for individual attention, or perhaps he has one especially hostile enemy in mind who epitomizes the opposition of the whole group. This may well be the case in Ps 109. Perhaps we should understand the singular throughout vv. 6-19 in the sense of “each and every one.” For a lengthy and well-reasoned defense of the opposite view – that vv. 6-19 are a quotation of what the enemies said about the psalmist – see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 72-73.

[109:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “appoint against him an evil [man].”

[109:6]  ¹⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive here (note the imperative in the preceding line).

[109:31]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “judge.”

[130:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “observe.”

[130:3]  ¹⁸ tn The words “before you” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist must be referring to standing before God’s judgment seat. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one.”

[147:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his ice.”

[147:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Before his cold, who can stand?”

[148:6]  ²¹ tn Or “forever and ever.”

[148:6]  ²² tn Heb “and it will not pass away.”