Psalms 3:1-2

Psalm 3 ¹ 

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. ² 

3:1 Lord, how ³  numerous are my enemies!

Many attack me. ⁴ 

3:2 Many say about me,

“God will not deliver him.” ⁵  (Selah) ⁶ 

Psalms 27:2

27:2 When evil men attack me ⁷ 

to devour my flesh, ⁸ 

when my adversaries and enemies attack me, ⁹ 

they stumble and fall. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 27:12

27:12 Do not turn me over to my enemies, ¹¹ 

for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me. ¹² 

Psalms 38:19

38:19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous; ¹³ 

those who hate me without cause outnumber me. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 56:2

56:2 Those who anticipate my defeat ¹⁵  attack me all day long.

Indeed, ¹⁶  many are fighting against me, O Exalted One. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 57:4

57:4 I am surrounded by lions;

I lie down ¹⁸  among those who want to devour me; ¹⁹ 

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are a sharp sword. ²⁰ 

Psalms 138:7

138:7 Even when I must walk in the midst of danger, ²¹  you revive me.

You oppose my angry enemies, ²² 

and your right hand delivers me.

Psalms 143:3

143:3 Certainly ²³  my enemies ²⁴  chase me.

They smash me into the ground. ²⁵ 

They force me to live ²⁶  in dark regions, ²⁷ 

like those who have been dead for ages.

Psalms 143:2

143:2 Do not sit in judgment on ²⁸  your servant,

for no one alive is innocent before you. ²⁹ 

Psalms 16:11

16:11 You lead me in ³⁰  the path of life; ³¹ 

I experience absolute joy in your presence; ³² 

you always give me sheer delight. ³³ 

Psalms 17:2-4

17:2 Make a just decision on my behalf! ³⁴ 

Decide what is right! ³⁵ 

17:3 You have scrutinized my inner motives; ³⁶ 

you have examined me during the night. ³⁷ 

You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin.

I am determined I will say nothing sinful. ³⁸ 

17:4 As for the actions of people ³⁹  –

just as you have commanded,

I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men. ⁴⁰ 

Luke 22:2

22:2 The ⁴¹  chief priests and the experts in the law ⁴²  were trying to find some way ⁴³  to execute ⁴⁴  Jesus, ⁴⁵  for they were afraid of the people. ⁴⁶ 

Luke 23:5

23:5 But they persisted ⁴⁷  in saying, “He incites ⁴⁸  the people by teaching throughout all Judea. It started in Galilee and ended up here!” ⁴⁹ 

Luke 23:21-23

23:21 But they kept on shouting, ⁵⁰  “Crucify, crucify ⁵¹  him!” 23:22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done? I have found him guilty ⁵²  of no crime deserving death. ⁵³  I will therefore flog ⁵⁴  him and release him.” 23:23 But they were insistent, ⁵⁵  demanding with loud shouts that he be crucified. And their shouts prevailed.

[3:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).

[3:1]  ² sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).

[3:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “many rise up against me.”

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”

[3:2]  ⁶ sn The function of the Hebrew term סֶלָה (selah), transliterated here “Selah,” is uncertain. It may be a musical direction of some kind.

[27:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “draw near to me.”

[27:2]  ⁸ sn To devour my flesh. The psalmist compares his enemies to dangerous, hungry predators (see 2 Kgs 9:36; Ezek 39:17).

[27:2]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.”

[27:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “do not give me over to the desire of my enemies.”

[27:12]  ¹² tn Heb “for they have risen up against me, lying witnesses and a testifier of violence.” The form יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) is traditionally understood as a verb meaning “snort, breathe out”: “for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty” (KJV; cf. BDB 422 s.v.). A better option is to take the form as a noun meaning “a witness” (or “testifier”). See Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3.

[38:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “and my enemies, life, are many.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “life”) fits very awkwardly here. The translation assumes an emendation to חִנָּם (khinam, “without reason”; note the parallelism with שֶׁקֶר [sheqer, “falsely”] and see Pss 35:19; 69:4; Lam 3:52). The verb עָצַם (’atsam) can sometimes mean “are strong,” but here it probably focuses on numerical superiority (note the parallel verb רָבַב, ravav, “be many”).

[38:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “are many.”

[56:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 59:10.

[56:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “for.”

[56:2]  ¹⁷ tn Some take the Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “on high; above”) as an adverb modifying the preceding participle and translate, “proudly” (cf. NASB; NIV “in their pride”). The present translation assumes the term is a divine title here. The Lord is pictured as enthroned “on high” in Ps 92:8. (Note the substantival use of the term in Isa 24:4 and see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:34), who prefer to place the term at the beginning of the next verse.)

[57:4]  ¹⁸ tn The cohortative form אֶשְׁכְּבָה (’eshkÿvah, “I lie down”) is problematic, for it does not seem to carry one of the normal functions of the cohortative (resolve or request). One possibility is that the form here is a “pseudo-cohortative” used here in a gnomic sense (IBHS 576-77 §34.5.3b).

[57:4]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew verb לָהַט (lahat) is here understood as a hapax legomenon meaning “devour” (see HALOT 521 s.v. II להט), a homonym of the more common verb meaning “to burn.” A more traditional interpretation takes the verb from this latter root and translates, “those who are aflame” (see BDB 529 s.v.; cf. NASB “those who breathe forth fire”).

[57:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “my life, in the midst of lions, I lie down, devouring ones, sons of mankind, their teeth a spear and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword.” The syntax of the verse is difficult. Another option is to take “my life” with the preceding verse. For this to make sense, one must add a verb, perhaps “and may he deliver” (cf. the LXX), before the phrase. One might then translate, “May God send his loyal love and faithfulness and deliver my life.” If one does take “my life” with v. 4, then the parallelism of v. 5 is altered and one might translate: “in the midst of lions I lie down, [among] men who want to devour me, whose teeth….”

[138:7]  ²¹ tn Or “distress.”

[138:7]  ²² tn Heb “against the anger of my enemies you extend your hand.”

[143:3]  ²³ tn Or “for.”

[143:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “an enemy.” The singular is used in a representative sense to describe a typical member of the larger group of enemies (note the plural “enemies” in vv. 9, 12).

[143:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”

[143:3]  ²⁶ tn Or “sit.”

[143:3]  ²⁷ sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).

[143:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”

[143:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”

[16:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “cause me to know”; or “cause me to experience.”

[16:11]  ³¹ tn This is a metaphorical way of saying, “you preserve my life.” The phrase “path of life” stands in contrast to death/Sheol in Prov 2:18-19; 5:5-6; 15:24.

[16:11]  ³² tn Heb “abundance of joy [is] with your face.” The plural form of the noun שִׂמְחָה (simkhah, “joy”) occurs only here and in Ps 45:15. It may emphasize the degree of joy experienced.

[16:11]  ³³ tn Heb “delight [is] in your right hand forever.” The plural form of the adjective נָעִים (na’im, “pleasant, delightful”) may here emphasize the degree of delight experienced (see Job 36:11).

[17:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “From before you may my justice come out.” The prefixed verbal form יָצָא (yatsa’) could be taken as an imperfect, but following the imperatives in v. 1, it is better understood as a jussive of prayer.

[17:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “May your eyes look at what is right.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as jussive. (See also the preceding note on the word “behalf.”)

[17:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “you tested my heart.”

[17:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “you visited [at] night.”

[17:3]  ³⁸ tc Heb “you tested me, you do not find, I plan, my mouth will not cross over.” The Hebrew verbal form זַמֹּתִי (zammotiy) is a Qal perfect, first person singular from the root זָמַם (zamam, “plan, plan evil”). Some emend the form to a suffixed form of the noun, זִמָּתִי (zimmatiy, “my plan/evil plan”), and take it as the object of the preceding verb “find.” However, the suffix seems odd, since the psalmist is denying that he has any wrong thoughts. If one takes the form with what precedes, it might make better sense to read זִמּוֹת (zimmot, “evil plans”). However, this emendation leaves an unclear connection with the next line. The present translation maintains the verbal form found in the MT and understands it in a neutral sense, “I have decided” (see Jer 4:28). The words “my mouth will not cross over” (i.e., “transgress, sin”) can then be taken as a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb.

[17:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “with regard to the deeds of man[kind].”

[17:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “by the word of your lips, I, I have watched the paths of the violent” (i.e., “watched” in the sense of “watched for the purpose of avoiding”).

[22:2]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:2]  ⁴² tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[22:2]  ⁴³ tn Grk “were seeking how.”

[22:2]  ⁴⁴ tn The Greek verb here means “to get rid of by execution” (BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω 2; cf. also L&N 20.71, which states, “to get rid of someone by execution, often with legal or quasi-legal procedures”).

[22:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ⁴⁶ sn The suggestion here is that Jesus was too popular to openly arrest him. The verb were trying is imperfect. It suggests, in this context, that they were always considering the opportunities.

[23:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “were adamant.” For “persisted in saying,” see L&N 68.71.

[23:5]  ⁴⁸ sn He incites the people. The Jewish leadership claimed that Jesus was a political threat and had to be stopped. By reiterating this charge of stirring up rebellion, they pressured Pilate to act, or be accused of overlooking political threats to Rome.

[23:5]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “beginning from Galilee until here.”

[23:21]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated here.

[23:21]  ⁵¹ tn This double present imperative is emphatic.

[23:22]  ⁵² tn Grk “no cause of death I found in him.”

[23:22]  ⁵³ sn The refrain of innocence comes once again. Pilate tried to bring some sense of justice, believing Jesus had committed no crime deserving death.

[23:22]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “scourge” (BDAG 749 s.v. παιδεύω 2.b.γ). See the note on “flogged” in v. 16.

[23:23]  ⁵⁵ tn Though a different Greek term is used here (BDAG 373 s.v. ἐπίκειμαι), this remark is like 23:5.