Psalms 118:1

Psalm 118 ¹ 

118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good

and his loyal love endures! ² 

Psalms 118:12

118:12 They surrounded me like bees.

But they disappeared as quickly ³  as a fire among thorns. ⁴ 

Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.

[118:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 118. The psalmist thanks God for his deliverance and urges others to join him in praise.

[118:1]  ² tn Or “is forever.”

[118:12]  ³ tn Heb “were extinguished.”

[118:12]  ⁴ tn The point seems to be that the hostility of the nations (v. 10) is short-lived, like a fire that quickly devours thorns and then burns out. Some, attempting to create a better parallel with the preceding line, emend דֹּעֲכוּ (do’akhu, “they were extinguished”) to בָּעֲרוּ (ba’aru, “they burned”). In this case the statement emphasizes their hostility.