Psalms 21:11

21:11 Yes, ¹  they intend to do you harm; ² 

they dream up a scheme, ³  but they do not succeed. ⁴ 

Psalms 44:22

44:22 Yet because of you ⁵  we are killed all day long;

we are treated like ⁶  sheep at the slaughtering block. ⁷ 

Psalms 71:6

71:6 I have leaned on you since birth; ⁸ 

you pulled me ⁹  from my mother’s womb.

I praise you continually. ¹⁰ 

[21:11]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[21:11]  ² 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]  ³ sn See Ps 10:2.

[21:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “they lack ability.”

[44:22]  ⁵ tn The statement “because of you” (1) may simply indicate that God is the cause of the Israelites’ defeat (see vv. 9-14, where the nation’s situation is attributed directly to God’s activity, and cf. NEB, NRSV), or (2) it may suggest they suffer because of their allegiance to God (see Ps 69:7 and Jer 15:15). In this case one should translate, “for your sake” (cf. NASB, NIV). The citation of this verse in Rom 8:36 follows the LXX (Ps 43:23 LXX), where the Greek term ἕνεκεν (Jeneken; LXX ἕνεκα) may likewise mean “because of” or “for the sake of” (BDAG 334 s.v. ἕνεκα 1).

[44:22]  ⁶ tn Or “regarded as.”

[44:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “like sheep of slaughtering,” that is, sheep destined for slaughter.

[71:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “from the womb.”

[71:6]  ¹⁰ tc The form in the MT is derived from גָזָה (gazah, “to cut off”), perhaps picturing God as the one who severed the psalmist’s umbilical cord. Many interpreters and translators prefer to emend the text to גֹחִי (gokhiy), from גוּח (gukh) or גִיח, (gikh, “pull out”; see Ps 22:9; cf. the present translation) or to עוּזִּי (’uzziy, “my strength”; cf. NEB “my protector since I left my mother’s womb”).

[71:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in you [is] my praise continually.”