Psalms 26:9

26:9 Do not sweep me away ¹  with sinners,

or execute me along with violent people, ² 

Psalms 27:2

27:2 When evil men attack me ³ 

to devour my flesh, ⁴ 

when my adversaries and enemies attack me, ⁵ 

they stumble and fall. ⁶ 

Psalms 55:23

55:23 But you, O God, will bring them ⁷  down to the deep Pit. ⁸ 

Violent and deceitful people ⁹  will not live even half a normal lifespan. ¹⁰ 

But as for me, I trust in you.

Psalms 139:19

139:19 If only ¹¹  you would kill the wicked, O God!

Get away from me, you violent men! ¹² 

[26:9]  ¹ tn Heb “do not gather up my life with.”

[26:9]  ² tn Heb “or with men of bloodshed my life.” The verb is supplied; it is understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[27:2]  ³ tn Heb “draw near to me.”

[27:2]  ⁴ sn To devour my flesh. The psalmist compares his enemies to dangerous, hungry predators (see 2 Kgs 9:36; Ezek 39:17).

[27:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “my adversaries and my enemies against me.” The verb “draw near” (that is, “attack”) is understood by ellipsis; see the previous line.

[27:2]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew verbal forms are perfects. The translation assumes the psalmist is generalizing here, but another option is to take this as a report of past experience, “when evil men attacked me…they stumbled and fell.”

[55:23]  ⁷ tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).

[55:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).

[55:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”

[55:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”

[139:19]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (see Pss 81:8; 95:7, as well as GKC 321 §109.b).

[139:19]  ¹² tn Heb “men of bloodshed.”