Psalms 22:9

22:9 Yes, you are the one who brought me out ¹  from the womb

and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.

Psalms 139:13

139:13 Certainly ²  you made my mind and heart; ³ 

you wove me together ⁴  in my mother’s womb.

Psalms 50:20

50:20 You plot against your brother; ⁵ 

you slander your own brother. ⁶ 

[22:9]  ¹ tn Or “the one who pulled me.” The verb is derived from either גָחָה (gakhah; see HALOT 187 s.v. גחה) or גִּיחַ (giyakh; see BDB 161 s.v. גִּיחַ) and seems to carry the nuance “burst forth” or “pull out.”

[139:13]  ² tn Or “for.”

[139:13]  ³ tn Heb “my kidneys.” The kidneys were sometimes viewed as the seat of one’s emotions and moral character (cf. Pss 7:9; 26:2). A number of translations, recognizing that “kidneys” does not communicate this idea to the modern reader, have generalized the concept: “inmost being” (NAB, NIV); “inward parts” (NASB, NRSV); “the delicate, inner parts of my body” (NLT). In the last instance, the focus is almost entirely on the physical body rather than the emotions or moral character. The present translation, by using a hendiadys (one concept expressed through two terms), links the concepts of emotion (heart) and moral character (mind).

[139:13]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb סָכַךְ (sakhakh, “to weave together”) is an alternate form of שָׂכַךְ (sakhakh, “to weave”) used in Job 10:11.

[50:20]  ³ tn Heb “you sit, against your brother you speak.” To “sit” and “speak” against someone implies plotting against that person (see Ps 119:23).

[50:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “against the son of your mother you give a fault.”