Psalms 10:15

10:15 Break the arm ¹  of the wicked and evil man!

Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds, ² 

which he thought you would not discover. ³ 

Psalms 105:16

105:16 He called down a famine upon the earth;

he cut off all the food supply. ⁴ 

Psalms 107:16

107:16 For he shattered the bronze gates,

and hacked through the iron bars. ⁵ 

Psalms 29:5

29:5 The Lord’s shout breaks ⁶  the cedars,

the Lord shatters ⁷  the cedars of Lebanon. ⁸ 

Psalms 76:3

76:3 There he shattered the arrows, ⁹ 

the shield, the sword, and the rest of the weapons of war. ¹⁰  (Selah)

[10:15]  ¹ sn The arm symbolizes the strength of the wicked, which they use to oppress and exploit the weak.

[10:15]  ² tn Heb “you seek his wickedness.” As in v. 13, the verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as describing a fact, “you hold him accountable,” or as anticipating divine judgment, “you will hold him accountable.” However, since the verb is in apparent parallelism with the preceding imperative (“break”), it is better to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s desire or request.

[10:15]  ³ tn Heb “you will not find.” It is uncertain how this statement relates to what precedes. Some take בַל (bal), which is used as a negative particle in vv. 4, 6, 11, 18, as asseverative here, “Indeed find (i.e., judge his wickedness).” The translation assumes that the final words are an asyndetic relative clause which refers back to what the wicked man boasted in God’s face (“you will not find [i.e., my wickedness]”). See v. 13.

[105:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “and every staff of food he broke.” The psalmist refers to the famine that occurred in Joseph’s time (see v. 17 and Gen 41:53-57).

[107:16]  ⁷ sn The language of v. 16 recalls Isa 45:2.

[29:5]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew participial form draws attention to the durative nature of the action being described.

[29:5]  ¹¹ tn The prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive here and in v. 6a carry on the descriptive function of the preceding participle (see GKC 329 §111.u). The verb שָׁבַר (shavar) appears in the Qal in the first line of the verse, and in the Piel in the second line. The verb, which means “break” in the Qal, appears thirty-six times in the Piel, always with multiple objects (the object is either a collective singular or grammatically plural or dual form). The Piel may highlight the repetition of the pluralative action, or it may suggest an intensification of action, indicating repeated action comprising a whole, perhaps with the nuance “break again and again, break in pieces.” Another option is to understand the form as resultative: “make broken” (see IBHS 404-7 §24.3).

[29:5]  ¹² sn The cedars of the Lebanon forest were well-known in ancient Israel for their immense size. Here they may symbolize the arrogant enemies of God (see Isa 2:12-13).

[76:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “flames of the bow,” i.e., arrows.

[76:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “shield and sword and battle.” “Battle” probably here stands by metonymy for the weapons of war in general.