Psalms 140:4

140:4 O Lord, shelter me from the power ¹  of the wicked!

Protect me from violent men,

who plan to knock me over. ² 

Psalms 140:11

140:11 A slanderer ³  will not endure on ⁴  the earth;

calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down. ⁵ 

Psalms 18:48

18:48 He delivers me ⁶  from my enemies;

you snatch me away ⁷  from those who attack me; ⁸ 

you rescue me from violent men.

Habakkuk 1:2-3

1:2 How long, Lord, must I cry for help?

But you do not listen!

I call out to you, “Violence!”

But you do not intervene! ⁹ 

1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice? ¹⁰ 

Why do you put up with wrongdoing? ¹¹ 

Destruction and violence confront ¹²  me;

conflict is present and one must endure strife. ¹³ 

[140:4]  ¹ tn Heb “hands.”

[140:4]  ² tn Heb “to push down my steps.”

[140:11]  ³ tn Heb “a man of a tongue.”

[140:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “be established in.”

[140:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “for blows.” The Hebrew noun מַדְחֵפֹה (madkhefoh, “blow”) occurs only here in the OT.

[18:48]  ⁶ tn Heb “[the one who] delivers me.” 2 Sam 22:49 reads “and [the one who] brings me out.”

[18:48]  ⁷ tn Heb “lifts me up.” In light of the preceding and following references to deliverance, the verb רום probably here refers to being rescued from danger (see Ps 9:13). However, it could mean “exalt, elevate” here, indicating that the Lord has given the psalmist victory over his enemies and forced them to acknowledge the psalmist’s superiority (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[18:48]  ⁸ tn Heb “from those who rise against me.”

[1:2]  ⁹ tn Or “deliver.”

[1:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Why do you make me see injustice?”

[1:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Why do you look at wrongdoing?”

[1:3]  ¹² tn Heb “are before.”

[1:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “and there is conflict and strife he lifts up.” The present translation takes the verb יִשָּׂא (yisa’) in the sense of “carry, bear,” and understands the subject to be indefinite (“one”).