Psalms 21:10-13

21:10 You destroy their offspring ¹  from the earth,

their descendants ²  from among the human race. ³ 

21:11 Yes, ⁴  they intend to do you harm; ⁵ 

they dream up a scheme, ⁶  but they do not succeed. ⁷ 

21:12 For you make them retreat ⁸ 

when you shoot your arrows at them. ⁹ 

21:13 Rise up, O Lord, in strength! ¹⁰ 

We will sing and praise ¹¹  your power!

[21:10]  ¹ tn Heb “fruit.” The next line makes it clear that offspring is in view.

[21:10]  ² tn Heb “seed.”

[21:10]  ³ tn Heb “sons of man.”

[21:11]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

[21:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “they extend against you harm.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 11 are taken as generalizing, stating factually what the king’s enemies typically do. Another option is to translate with the past tense (“they intended…planned”).

[21:11]  ⁶ sn See Ps 10:2.

[21:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “they lack ability.”

[21:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “you make them a shoulder,” i.e., “you make them turn and run, showing the back of their neck and shoulders.”

[21:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “with your bowstrings you fix against their faces,” i.e., “you fix your arrows on the bowstrings to shoot at them.”

[21:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in your strength,” but English idiom does not require the pronoun.

[21:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “sing praise.”