Psalms 22:6

22:6 But I ¹  am a worm, ²  not a man; ³ 

people insult me and despise me. ⁴ 

Psalms 69:9

69:9 Certainly ⁵  zeal for ⁶  your house ⁷  consumes me;

I endure the insults of those who insult you. ⁸ 

Psalms 69:19-20

69:19 You know how I am insulted, humiliated and disgraced;

you can see all my enemies. ⁹ 

69:20 Their insults are painful ¹⁰  and make me lose heart; ¹¹ 

I look ¹²  for sympathy, but receive none, ¹³ 

for comforters, but find none.

Psalms 71:13

71:13 May my accusers be humiliated and defeated!

May those who want to harm me ¹⁴  be covered with scorn and disgrace!

Psalms 74:22

74:22 Rise up, O God! Defend your honor! ¹⁵ 

Remember how fools insult you all day long! ¹⁶ 

Psalms 79:12

79:12 Pay back our neighbors in full! ¹⁷ 

May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord! ¹⁸ 

Psalms 89:50

89:50 Take note, O Lord, ¹⁹  of the way your servants are taunted, ²⁰ 

and of how I must bear so many insults from people! ²¹ 

[22:6]  ¹ tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s experience and that of his ancestors. When he considers God’s past reliability, it only heightens his despair and confusion, for God’s present silence stands in stark contrast to his past saving acts.

[22:6]  ² tn The metaphor expresses the psalmist’s self-perception, which is based on how others treat him (see the following line).

[22:6]  ³ tn Or “not a human being.” The psalmist perceives himself as less than human.

[22:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “a reproach of man and despised by people.”

[69:9]  ⁵ tn Or “for.” This verse explains that the psalmist’s suffering is due to his allegiance to God.

[69:9]  ⁶ tn Or “devotion to.”

[69:9]  ⁷ sn God’s house, the temple, here represents by metonymy God himself.

[69:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “the insults of those who insult you fall upon me.”

[69:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “before you [are] all my enemies.”

[69:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “break my heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the origin of the psalmist’s emotions.

[69:20]  ¹⁴ tn The verb form appears to be a Qal preterite from an otherwise unattested root נוּשׁ (nush), which some consider an alternate form of אָנַשׁ (’anash, “be weak; be sick”; see BDB 60 s.v. I אָנַשׁ). Perhaps the form should be emended to a Niphal, וָאֵאָנְשָׁה (va’e’onshah, “and I am sick”). The Niphal of אָנַשׁ occurs in 2 Sam 12:15, where it is used to describe David’s sick child.

[69:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “wait.”

[69:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and I wait for sympathy, but there is none.” The form נוּד (nud) is an infinitive functioning as a verbal noun:, “sympathizing.” Some suggest emending the form to a participle נָד (nad, “one who shows sympathy”). The verb נוּד (nud) also has the nuance “show sympathy” in Job 2:11; 42:11 and Isa 51:19.

[71:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “those who seek my harm.”

[74:22]  ²¹ tn Or “defend your cause.”

[74:22]  ²² tn Heb “remember your reproach from a fool all the day.”

[79:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.

[79:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”

[89:50]  ²⁹ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read here יְהוָה (yehvah, “the Lord”).

[89:50]  ³⁰ tn Heb “remember, O Lord, the taunt against your servants.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the singular here, “your servant” (that is, the psalmist).

[89:50]  ³¹ tn Heb “my lifting up in my arms [or “against my chest”] all of the many, peoples.” The term רַבִּים (rabbim, “many”) makes no apparent sense here. For this reason some emend the text to רִבֵי (rivey, “attacks by”), a defectively written plural construct form of רִיב (riv, “dispute; quarrel”).