Psalms 10:14

10:14 You have taken notice, ¹ 

for ²  you always see ³  one who inflicts pain and suffering. ⁴ 

The unfortunate victim entrusts his cause to you; ⁵ 

you deliver ⁶  the fatherless. ⁷ 

Psalms 31:11

31:11 Because of all my enemies, people disdain me; ⁸ 

my neighbors are appalled by my suffering ⁹  –

those who know me are horrified by my condition; ¹⁰ 

those who see me in the street run away from me.

Psalms 40:12

40:12 For innumerable dangers ¹¹  surround me.

My sins overtake me

so I am unable to see;

they outnumber the hairs of my head

so my strength fails me. ¹² 

Psalms 41:6

41:6 When someone comes to visit, ¹³  he pretends to be friendly; ¹⁴ 

he thinks of ways to defame me, ¹⁵ 

and when he leaves he slanders me. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 48:8

48:8 We heard about God’s mighty deeds, now we have seen them, ¹⁷ 

in the city of the Lord, the invincible Warrior, ¹⁸ 

in the city of our God.

God makes it permanently secure. ¹⁹  (Selah)

Psalms 53:2

53:2 God looks down from heaven ²⁰  at the human race, ²¹ 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ²²  and seeks God. ²³ 

Psalms 142:4

142:4 Look to the right and see!

No one cares about me. ²⁴ 

I have nowhere to run; ²⁵ 

no one is concerned about my life. ²⁶ 

[10:14]  ¹ tn Heb “you see.” One could translate the perfect as generalizing, “you do take notice.”

[10:14]  ² tn If the preceding perfect is taken as generalizing, then one might understand כִּי (ki) as asseverative: “indeed, certainly.”

[10:14]  ³ tn Here the imperfect emphasizes God’s typical behavior.

[10:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “destruction and suffering,” which here refers metonymically to the wicked, who dish out pain and suffering to their victims.

[10:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “to give into your hand, upon you, he abandons, [the] unfortunate [one].” The syntax is awkward and the meaning unclear. It is uncertain who or what is being given into God’s hand. Elsewhere the idiom “give into the hand” means to deliver into one’s possession. If “to give” goes with what precedes (as the accentuation of the Hebrew text suggests), then this may refer to the wicked man being delivered over to God for judgment. The present translation assumes that “to give” goes with what follows (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). The verb יַעֲזֹב (ya’azov) here has the nuance “entrust” (see Gen 39:6; Job 39:11); the direct object (“[his] cause”) is implied.

[10:14]  ⁶ tn Or “help.”

[10:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “[for] one who is fatherless, you are a deliverer.” The noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9).

[31:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “because of all my enemies I am a reproach.”

[31:11]  ⁹ tc Heb “and to my neighbors, exceedingly.” If the MT is retained, then these words probably go with what precedes. However the syntactical awkwardness of the text suggests it is textually corrupt. P. C. Craigie (Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 258) suggests that the initial mem (מ) on מְאֹד (me’od, “exceedingly”) be understood as an enclitic mem (ם) which was originally suffixed to the preceding form and then later misinterpreted. The resulting form אֵד (’ed) can then be taken as a defectively written form of אֵיד (’ed, “calamity”). If one follows this emendation, then the text reads literally, “and to my neighbors [I am one who experiences] calamity.” The noun פַחַד (fakhad, “[object of] horror”) occurs in the next line; אֵיד and פַחַד appear in parallelism elsewhere (see Prov 1:26-27).

[31:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and [an object of ] horror to those known by me.”

[40:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “sinful deeds.” The Hebrew term used here can have a nonmoral nuance (“dangers”) or a moral one (“sinful deeds”) depending on the context. The next line (see “my sins”) seems to favor the moral sense, but the psalmist also speaks of enemies shortly after this (v. 14).

[40:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and my heart abandons me.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of emotional strength and courage. For a similar idea see Ps 38:10.

[41:6]  ²² tn Heb “to see.”

[41:6]  ²³ tn Heb “he speaks deceitfully.”

[41:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “his heart gathers sin to itself.”

[41:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he goes outside and speaks.”

[48:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “As we have heard, so we have seen.” The community had heard about God’s mighty deeds in the nation’s history. Having personally witnessed his saving power with their own eyes, they could now affirm that the tradition was not exaggerated or inaccurate.

[48:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Pss 24:10; 46:7, 11).

[48:8]  ³¹ tn Or “God makes it secure forever.” The imperfect highlights the characteristic nature of the generalizing statement.

[53:2]  ³⁶ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

[53:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”

[53:2]  ³⁸ tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[53:2]  ³⁹ tn That is, who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.

[142:4]  ⁴³ tn Heb “there is no one who recognizes me.”

[142:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “ a place of refuge perishes from me.”

[142:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “there is no one who seeks for the sake of my life.”