Psalms 10:2

10:2 The wicked arrogantly chase the oppressed; ¹ 

the oppressed are trapped ²  by the schemes the wicked have dreamed up. ³ 

Psalms 17:9

17:9 Protect me from ⁴  the wicked men who attack ⁵  me,

my enemies who crowd around me for the kill. ⁶ 

Psalms 32:8

32:8 I will instruct and teach you ⁷  about how you should live. ⁸ 

I will advise you as I look you in the eye. ⁹ 

Psalms 9:15

9:15 The nations fell ¹⁰  into the pit they had made;

their feet were caught in the net they had hidden. ¹¹ 

Psalms 12:7

12:7 You, Lord, will protect them; ¹² 

you will continually shelter each one from these evil people, ¹³ 

Psalms 31:4

31:4 You will free me ¹⁴  from the net they hid for me,

for you are my place of refuge.

Psalms 62:11

62:11 God has declared one principle;

two principles I have heard: ¹⁵ 

God is strong, ¹⁶ 

Psalms 68:28

68:28 God has decreed that you will be powerful. ¹⁷ 

O God, you who have acted on our behalf, demonstrate your power,

Psalms 132:12

132:12 If your sons keep my covenant

and the rules I teach them,

their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”

Psalms 142:3

142:3 Even when my strength leaves me, ¹⁸ 

you watch my footsteps. ¹⁹ 

In the path where I walk

they have hidden a trap for me.

Psalms 143:8

143:8 May I hear about your loyal love in the morning, ²⁰ 

for I trust in you.

Show me the way I should go, ²¹ 

because I long for you. ²² 

[10:2]  ¹ tn Heb “because of the pride of [the] wicked he burns [i.e. hotly pursues] [the] oppressed.” The singular forms רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) and עָנִי (’aniy, “oppressed”) are collective and representative, as indicated in the next line, which uses plural verb forms to describe the actions of both.

[10:2]  ² tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 2 describe either what typically happens (from the psalmist’s perspective) or what the psalmist was experiencing at the time he offered this prayer.

[10:2]  ³ tn Heb “they are trapped in the schemes which they have thought up.” The referents of the two pronominal suffixes on the verbs have been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent of the first suffix (“they”) is taken as the oppressed, while the referent of the second (“they”) is taken to be the wicked (cf. NIV, which renders “wicked” in the previous line as a collective singular). Others take the referent of both occurrences of “they” in the line to be the wicked (cf. NRSV, “let them be caught in the schemes they have devised”).

[17:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “from before”; or “because.” In the Hebrew text v. 9 is subordinated to v. 8. The words “protect me” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “destroy.” The psalmist uses the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of danger. He describes the wicked as being already in the process of destroying him.

[17:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “my enemies, at the risk of life they surround me.” The Hebrew phrase בְּנֶפֶשׁ (bÿnefesh) sometimes has the nuance “at the risk of [one’s] life” (see 1 Kgs 2:23; Prov 7:23; Lam 5:9).

[32:8]  ⁷ tn The second person pronominal forms in this verse are singular. The psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually (see also the note on the word “eye” in the next line). A less likely option (but one which is commonly understood) is that the Lord addresses the psalmist in vv. 8-9 (cf. NASB “I will instruct you and teach you…I will counsel you with My eye upon you”).

[32:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will instruct you and I will teach you in the way [in] which you should walk.”

[32:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “I will advise, upon you my eye,” that is, “I will offer advice [with] my eye upon you.” In 2 Chr 20:12 the statement “our eye is upon you” means that the speakers are looking to the Lord for intervention. Here the expression “my eye upon you” may simply mean that the psalmist will teach his pupils directly and personally.

[9:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sank down.”

[9:15]  ¹¹ sn The hostility of the nations against God’s people is their downfall, for it prompts God to intervene and destroy them. See also Ps 7:15-16.

[12:7]  ¹³ tn The third person plural pronominal suffix on the verb is masculine, referring back to the “oppressed” and “needy” in v. 5 (both of those nouns are plural in form), suggesting that the verb means “protect” here. The suffix does not refer to אִמֲרוֹת (’imarot, “words”) in v. 6, because that term is feminine gender.

[12:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you will protect him from this generation permanently.” The third masculine singular suffix on the verb “protect” is probably used in a distributive sense, referring to each one within the group mentioned previously (the oppressed/needy, referred to as “them” in the preceding line). On this grammatical point see GKC 396 §123.f (where the present text is not cited). (Some Hebrew mss and ancient textual witnesses read “us,” both here and in the preceding line.) The noun דוֹר (dor, “generation”) refers here to the psalmist’s contemporaries, who were characterized by deceit and arrogance (see vv. 1-2). See BDB 189-90 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.

[31:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “bring me out.” The translation assumes that the imperfect verbal form expresses the psalmist’s confidence about the future. Another option is to take the form as expressing a prayer, “free me.”

[62:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “one God spoke, two which I heard.” This is a numerical saying utilizing the “x” followed by “x + 1” pattern to facilitate poetic parallelism. (See W. M. W. Roth, Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament [VTSup], 55-56.) As is typical in such sayings, a list corresponding to the second number (in this case “two”) follows. Another option is to translate, “God has spoken once, twice [he has spoken] that which I have heard.” The terms אַחַת (’akhat, “one; once”) and שְׁתַּיִם (shÿtayim, “two; twice”) are also juxtaposed in 2 Kgs 6:10 (where they refer to an action that was done more than “once or twice”) and in Job 33:14 (where they refer to God speaking “one way” and then in “another manner”).

[62:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “that strength [belongs] to God.”

[68:28]  ²² tn Heb “God has commanded your strength.” The statement is apparently addressed to Israel (see v. 26).

[142:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”

[142:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “you know my path.”

[143:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “cause me to hear in the morning your loyal love.” Here “loyal love” probably stands metonymically for an oracle of assurance promising God’s intervention as an expression of his loyal love.

[143:8]  ²⁹ sn The way probably refers here to God’s moral and ethical standards and requirements (see v. 10).

[143:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “for to you I lift up my life.” The Hebrew expression נָאָשׂ נֶפֶשׁ (na’as nefesh, “to lift up [one’s] life”) means “to desire; to long for” (see Deut 24:15; Prov 19:18; Jer 22:27; 44:14; Hos 4:8, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 16).