Psalms 27:2

27:2 When evil men attack me ¹ 

to devour my flesh, ² 

when my adversaries and enemies attack me, ³ 

they stumble and fall. ⁴ 

Psalms 31:10

31:10 For my life nears its end in pain;

my years draw to a close as I groan. ⁵ 

My strength fails me because of ⁶  my sin,

and my bones become brittle. ⁷ 

[27:2]  ¹ tn Heb “draw near to me.”

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

[27:2]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.”

[31:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “and my years in groaning.”

[31:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “stumbles in.”

[31:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “grow weak.”