Psalms 20:8

20:8 They will fall down, ¹ 

but we ²  will stand firm. ³ 

Psalms 38:2

38:2 For your arrows pierce ⁴  me,

and your hand presses me down. ⁵ 

Psalms 38:6

38:6 I am dazed ⁶  and completely humiliated; ⁷ 

all day long I walk around mourning.

Psalms 73:18

73:18 Surely ⁸  you put them in slippery places;

you bring them down ⁹  to ruin.

Psalms 89:40

89:40 You have broken down all his ¹⁰  walls;

you have made his strongholds a heap of ruins.

Psalms 104:22

104:22 When the sun rises, they withdraw

and sleep ¹¹  in their dens.

Psalms 107:23

107:23 ¹² Some traveled on ¹³  the sea in ships,

and carried cargo over the vast waters. ¹⁴ 

[20:8]  ¹ tn Or “stumble and fall down.”

[20:8]  ² tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronominal subject) highlights the contrast between God’s victorious people and the defeated enemies mentioned in the previous line. The perfect verbal forms either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle. They describe the demise of the enemy as being as good as done.

[20:8]  ³ tn Or “rise up and remain upright.” On the meaning of the Hitpolel of עוּד (’ud), see HALOT 795 s.v. I עוד. The verbal forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [ו] consecutive) either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle.

[38:2]  ⁴ tn The verb Hebrew נָחַת (nakhat) apparently here means “penetrate, pierce” (note the use of the Qal in Prov 17:10). The psalmist pictures the Lord as a warrior who shoots arrows at him (see Ps 7:12-13).

[38:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and your hand [?] upon me.” The meaning of the verb נָחַת (nakhat) is unclear in this context. It is preferable to emend the form to וַתָּנַח (vattanakh) from the verb נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”). In this case the text would read literally, “and your hand rests upon me” (see Isa 25:10, though the phrase is used in a positive sense there, unlike Ps 38:2).

[38:6]  ⁷ tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”

[38:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[73:18]  ¹⁰ tn The use of the Hebrew term אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) here literarily counteracts its use in v. 13. The repetition draws attention to the contrast between the two statements, the first of which expresses the psalmist’s earlier despair and the second his newly discovered confidence.

[73:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “cause them to fall.”

[89:40]  ¹³ tn The king here represents the land and cities over which he rules.

[104:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “lie down.”

[107:23]  ¹⁹ sn Verses 23-30, which depict the Lord rescuing sailors from a storm at sea, do not seem to describe the exiles’ situation, unless the word picture is metaphorical. Perhaps the psalmist here broadens his scope and offers an example of God’s kindness to the needy beyond the covenant community.

[107:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “those going down [into].”

[107:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “doers of work on the mighty waters.”