Psalms 13:4

13:4 Then ¹  my enemy will say, “I have defeated him!”

Then ²  my foes will rejoice because I am upended.

Psalms 25:2

25:2 My God, I trust in you.

Please do not let me be humiliated;

do not let my enemies triumphantly rejoice over me!

Psalms 35:19

35:19 Do not let those who are my enemies for no reason ³  gloat ⁴  over me!

Do not let those who hate me without cause carry out their wicked schemes! ⁵ 

Psalms 35:24-25

35:24 Vindicate me by your justice, O Lord my God!

Do not let them gloat ⁶  over me!

35:25 Do not let them say to themselves, ⁷  “Aha! We have what we wanted!” ⁸ 

Do not let them say, “We have devoured him!”

Psalms 41:11

41:11 By this ⁹  I know that you are pleased with me,

for my enemy does ¹⁰  not triumph ¹¹  over me.

Psalms 79:4

79:4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. ¹² 

Psalms 79:10

79:10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants

be avenged among the nations! ¹³ 

Psalms 89:41-46

89:41 All who pass by ¹⁴  have robbed him;

he has become an object of disdain to his neighbors.

89:42 You have allowed his adversaries to be victorious, ¹⁵ 

and all his enemies to rejoice.

89:43 You turn back ¹⁶  his sword from the adversary, ¹⁷ 

and have not sustained him in battle. ¹⁸ 

89:44 You have brought to an end his splendor, ¹⁹ 

and have knocked ²⁰  his throne to the ground.

89:45 You have cut short his youth, ²¹ 

and have covered him with shame. (Selah)

89:46 How long, O Lord, will this last?

Will you remain hidden forever? ²² 

Will your anger continue to burn like fire?

Psalms 140:8

140:8 O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way! ²³ 

Do not allow their ²⁴  plan to succeed when they attack! ²⁵  (Selah)

Lamentations 2:15

ס (Samek)

2:15 All who passed by on the road

clapped their hands to mock you. ²⁶ 

They sneered and shook their heads

at Daughter Jerusalem.

“Ha! Is this the city they called ²⁷ 

‘The perfection of beauty, ²⁸ 

the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” ²⁹ 

[13:4]  ¹ tn Heb “or else.”

[13:4]  ² tn Heb “or else.”

[35:19]  ³ tn Heb “[with] a lie.” The Hebrew noun שֶׁקֶר (sheqer, “lie”) is used here as an adverb, “falsely, wrongfully” (see Ps 38:19).

[35:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “rejoice.”

[35:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “[do not let] those who hate me without cause pinch [i.e., wink] an eye.” The negative particle is understood in the second line by ellipsis (see the preceding line). In the Book of Proverbs “winking an eye” is associated with deceit and trickery (see 6:13; 10:10; 16:30).

[35:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “rejoice.”

[35:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “in their heart[s].”

[35:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “Aha! Our desire!” The “desire” of the psalmist’s enemies is to triumph over him.

[41:11]  ⁹ sn By this. Having recalled his former lament and petition, the psalmist returns to the confident mood of vv. 1-3. The basis for his confidence may be a divine oracle of deliverance, assuring him that God would intervene and vindicate him. The demonstrative pronoun “this” may refer to such an oracle, which is assumed here, though its contents are not included. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 319, 321.

[41:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “will.” One may translate the imperfect verbal form as descriptive (present, cf. NIV) or as anticipatory (future, cf. NEB).

[41:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “shout.”

[79:4]  ¹² tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.

[79:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”

[89:41]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all the passersby on the road.”

[89:42]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you have lifted up the right hand of his adversaries.” The idiom “the right hand is lifted up” refers to victorious military deeds (see Pss 89:13; 118:16).

[89:43]  ¹⁶ tn The perfect verbal form predominates in vv. 38-45. The use of the imperfect in this one instance may be for rhetorical effect. The psalmist briefly lapses into dramatic mode, describing the king’s military defeat as if it were happening before his very eyes.

[89:43]  ¹⁷ tc Heb “you turn back, rocky summit, his sword.” The Hebrew term צוּר (tsur, “rocky summit”) makes no sense here, unless it is a divine title understood as vocative, “you turn back, O Rocky Summit, his sword.” Some emend the form to צֹר (tsor, “flint”) on the basis of Josh 5:2, which uses the phrase חַרְבוֹת צֻרִים (kharvot tsurim, “flint knives”). The noun צֹר (tsor, “flint”) can then be taken as “flint-like edge,” indicating the sharpness of the sword. Others emend the form to אָחוֹר (’akhor, “backward”) or to מִצַּר (mitsar, “from the adversary”). The present translation reflects the latter, assuming an original reading תָּשִׁיב מִצָּר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv mitsar kharbo), which was corrupted to תָּשִׁיב צָר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv tsar kharbo) by virtual haplography (confusion of bet/mem is well-attested) with צָר (tsar, “adversary”) then being misinterpreted as צוּר in the later tradition.

[89:43]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and you have not caused him to stand in the battle.”

[89:44]  ¹⁹ tc The Hebrew text appears to read, “you have brought to an end from his splendor,” but the form מִטְּהָרוֹ (mittÿharo) should be slightly emended (the daghesh should be removed from the tet [ת]) and read simply “his splendor” (the initial mem [מ] is not the preposition, but a nominal prefix).

[89:44]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew verb מָגַר (magar) occurs only here and perhaps in Ezek 21:17.

[89:45]  ²¹ tn Heb “the days of his youth” (see as well Job 33:25).

[89:46]  ²² tn Heb “How long, O Lord, will hide yourself forever?”

[140:8]  ²³ tn Heb “do not grant the desires of the wicked.”

[140:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “his.” The singular is used in a representative sense (see v. 1).

[140:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “his plot do not promote, they rise up.” The translation understands the final verb as being an unmarked temporal clause. Another option is to revocalize the verb as a Hiphil and take the verb with the next verse, “those who surround me lift up [their] head,” which could refer to their proud attitude as they anticipate victory (see Ps 27:6).

[2:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “clap their hands at you.” Clapping hands at someone was an expression of malicious glee, derision and mockery (Num 24:10; Job 27:23; Lam 2:15).

[2:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “of which they said.”

[2:15]  ²⁸ tn Heb “perfection of beauty.” The noun יֹפִי (yofi, “beauty”) functions as a genitive of respect in relation to the preceding construct noun: Jerusalem was perfect in respect to its physical beauty.

[2:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the joy of all the earth.” This is similar to statements found in Pss 48:2 and 50:2.