Psalms 18:42

18:42 I grind them as fine windblown dust; ¹ 

I beat them underfoot ²  like clay ³  in the streets.

Psalms 89:23

89:23 I will crush his enemies before him;

I will strike down those who hate him.

Psalms 78:66

78:66 He drove his enemies back;

he made them a permanent target for insults. ⁴ 

Psalms 89:32

89:32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club, ⁵ 

their sin by inflicting them with bruises. ⁶ 

Psalms 38:10

38:10 My heart beats quickly;

my strength leaves me;

I can hardly see. ⁷ 

Psalms 55:4

55:4 My heart beats violently ⁸  within me;

the horrors of death overcome me. ⁹ 

Psalms 81:2

81:2 Sing ¹⁰  a song and play the tambourine,

the pleasant sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument!

Psalms 109:22

109:22 For I am oppressed and needy,

and my heart beats violently within me. ¹¹ 

Psalms 18:38

18:38 I beat them ¹²  to death; ¹³ 

they fall at my feet. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 68:25

68:25 Singers walk in front;

musicians follow playing their stringed instruments, ¹⁵ 

in the midst of young women playing tambourines. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 52:5

52:5 Yet ¹⁷  God will make you a permanent heap of ruins. ¹⁸ 

He will scoop you up ¹⁹  and remove you from your home; ²⁰ 

he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)

[18:42]  ¹ tn Heb “I pulverize them like dust upon the face of the wind.” The phrase “upon the face of” here means “before.” 2 Sam 22:43 reads, “like dust of the earth.”

[18:42]  ² tc Ps 18:42 reads, “I empty them out” (Hiphil of ריק), while 2 Sam 22:43 reads, “I crush them, I stomp on them” (juxtaposing the synonyms דקק and רקע). It is likely that the latter is a conflation of variants. One, but not both, of the verbs in 2 Sam 22:43 is probably original; “empty out” does not form as good a parallel with “grind, pulverize” in the parallel line.

[18:42]  ³ tn Or “mud.”

[78:66]  ⁴ tn Heb “a permanent reproach he made them.”

[89:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will punish with a club their rebellion.”

[89:32]  ⁸ tn Heb “with blows their sin.”

[38:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the light of my eyes, even they, there is not with me.” The “light of the eyes” may refer to physical energy (see 1 Sam 14:27, 29), life itself (Ps 13:3), or the ability to see (Prov 29:23).

[55:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “shakes, trembles.”

[55:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the terrors of death have fallen on me.”

[81:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “lift up.”

[109:22]  ¹⁹ tc The verb in the Hebrew text (חָלַל, khalal) appears to be a Qal form from the root חלל meaning “pierced; wounded.” However, the Qal of this root is otherwise unattested. The translation assumes an emendation to יָחִיל (yakhil), a Qal imperfect from חוּל (khul, “tremble”) or to חֹלַל (kholal), a polal perfect from חוּל (khul). See Ps 55:4, which reads לִבִּי יָחִיל בְּקִרְבִּי (libbiy yakhil bÿqirbbiy, “my heart trembles [i.e., “beats violently”] within me”).

[18:38]  ²² tn Or “smash them.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “and I wiped them out and smashed them.”

[18:38]  ²³ tn Heb “until they are unable to rise.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “until they do not rise.”

[18:38]  ²⁴ sn They fall at my feet. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 294-97.

[68:25]  ²⁵ tn Heb “after [are] the stringed instrument players.”

[68:25]  ²⁶ sn To celebrate a military victory, women would play tambourines (see Exod 15:20; Judg 11:34; 1 Sam 18:6).

[52:5]  ²⁸ tn The adverb גַּם (gam, “also; even”) is translated here in an adversative sense (“yet”). It highlights the contrastive correspondence between the evildoer’s behavior and God’s response.

[52:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “will tear you down forever.”

[52:5]  ³⁰ tn This rare verb (חָתָה, khatah) occurs only here and in Prov 6:27; 25:22; Isa 30:14.

[52:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “from [your] tent.”