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 34:20

34:20 He protects ⁴  all his bones; ⁵ 

not one of them is broken. ⁶ 

Psalms 37:17

37:17 for evil men will lose their power, ⁷ 

but the Lord sustains ⁸  the godly.

Psalms 104:11

104:11 They provide water for all the animals in the field;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

Psalms 105:16

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

he cut off all the food supply. ⁹ 

Psalms 107:16

107:16 For he shattered the bronze gates,

and hacked through the iron bars. ¹⁰ 

[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.

[34:20]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew participial form suggests such protection is characteristic.

[34:20]  ⁵ tn That is, he protects the godly from physical harm.

[34:20]  ⁶ sn Not one of them is broken. The author of the Gospel of John saw a fulfillment of these words in Jesus’ experience on the cross (see John 19:31-37), for the Roman soldiers, when they saw that Jesus was already dead, did not break his legs as was customarily done to speed the death of crucified individuals. John’s use of the psalm seems strange, for the statement in its original context suggests that the Lord protects the godly from physical harm. Jesus’ legs may have remained unbroken, but he was brutally and unjustly executed by his enemies. John seems to give the statement a literal sense that is foreign to its original literary context by applying a promise of divine protection to a man who was seemingly not saved by God. However, John saw in this incident a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ultimate deliverance and vindication. His unbroken bones were a reminder of God’s commitment to the godly and a sign of things to come. Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of the story; God vindicated him, as John goes on to explain in the following context (John 19:38-20:18).

[37:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “for the arms of the evil ones will be broken.”

[37:17]  ⁸ tn The active participle here indicates this is characteristically true.

[105:16]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹³ sn The language of v. 16 recalls Isa 45:2.