Psalms 25:15

25:15 I continually look to the Lord for help, ¹ 

for he will free my feet from the enemy’s net. ² 

Psalms 38:16

38:16 I have prayed for deliverance, because otherwise they will gloat over me; ³ 

when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me. ⁴ 

Psalms 40:2

40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit, ⁵ 

out of the slimy mud. ⁶ 

He placed my feet on a rock

and gave me secure footing. ⁷ 

Psalms 116:8

116:8 Yes, ⁸  Lord, ⁹  you rescued my life from death,

and kept my feet from stumbling.

[25:15]  ¹ tn Heb “my eyes continually [are] toward the Lord.”

[25:15]  ² tn Heb “for he will bring out from a net my feet.” The hostility of the psalmist’s enemies is probably in view (see v. 19).

[38:16]  ³ tn Heb “For I said, ‘Lest they rejoice over me.’” The psalmist recalls the motivating argument of his petition. He probably prefaced this statement with a prayer for deliverance (see Pss 7:1-2; 13:3-4; 28:1).

[38:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “they will magnify against me.” See Pss 35:26; 55:13.

[40:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (sha’on, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).

[40:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[40:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”

[116:8]  ⁷ tn Or “for.”

[116:8]  ⁸ tn “Lord” is supplied here in the translation for clarification.