Psalms 3:2

3:2 Many say about me,

“God will not deliver him.” ¹  (Selah) ² 

Psalms 5:9

5:9 For ³  they do not speak the truth; ⁴ 

their stomachs are like the place of destruction, ⁵ 

their throats like an open grave, ⁶ 

their tongues like a steep slope leading into it. ⁷ 

Psalms 6:5

6:5 For no one remembers you in the realm of death, ⁸ 

In Sheol who gives you thanks? ⁹ 

Psalms 10:4

10:4 The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks,

“God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.” ¹⁰ 

Psalms 22:11

22:11 Do not remain far away from me,

for trouble is near and I have no one to help me. ¹¹ 

Psalms 33:16

33:16 No king is delivered by his vast army;

a warrior is not saved by his great might.

Psalms 34:9

34:9 Remain loyal to ¹²  the Lord, you chosen people of his, ¹³ 

for his loyal followers ¹⁴  lack nothing!

Psalms 38:10

38:10 My heart beats quickly;

my strength leaves me;

I can hardly see. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 74:9

74:9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence; ¹⁶ 

there are no longer any prophets ¹⁷ 

and we have no one to tell us how long this will last. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 88:4

88:4 They treat me like ¹⁹  those who descend into the grave. ²⁰ 

I am like a helpless man, ²¹ 

Psalms 135:17

135:17 and ears, but cannot hear.

Indeed, they cannot breathe. ²² 

Psalms 144:14

144:14 Our cattle will be weighted down with produce. ²³ 

No one will break through our walls,

no one will be taken captive,

and there will be no terrified cries in our city squares. ²⁴ 

[3:2]  ¹ tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”

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

[5:9]  ³ tn Or “certainly.”

[5:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “for there is not in his mouth truthfulness.” The singular pronoun (“his”) probably refers back to the “man of bloodshed and deceit” mentioned in v. 6. The singular is collective or representative, as the plural in the next line indicates, and so has been translated “they.”

[5:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “their inward part[s] [is] destruction.” For a discussion of the extended metaphor in v. 9b, see the note on the word “it” at the end of the verse.

[5:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “their throat is an open grave.” For a discussion of the extended metaphor in v. 9b, see the note on the word “it” at the end of the verse. The metaphor is suggested by the physical resemblance of the human throat to a deeply dug grave; both are dark chasms.

[5:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “they make smooth their tongue.” Flattering, deceitful words are in view. See Ps 12:2. The psalmist’s deceitful enemies are compared to the realm of death/Sheol in v. 9b. Sheol was envisioned as a dark region within the earth, the entrance to which was the grave with its steep slopes (cf. Ps 88:4-6). The enemies’ victims are pictured here as slipping down a steep slope (the enemies’ tongues) and falling into an open grave (their throat) that terminates in destruction in the inner recesses of Sheol (their stomach). The enemies’ קרב (“inward part”) refers here to their thoughts and motives, which are destructive in their intent. The throat is where these destructive thoughts are transformed into words, and their tongue is what they use to speak the deceitful words that lead their innocent victims to their demise.

[6:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “for there is not in death your remembrance.” The Hebrew noun זֵכֶר (zekher, “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the Lord as invoked in liturgy and praise. Cf. Pss 30:4; 97:12. “Death” here refers to the realm of death where the dead reside. See the reference to Sheol in the next line.

[6:5]  ⁶ tn The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”

[10:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “the wicked [one], according to the height of his nose, he does not seek, there is no God, all his thoughts.” The phrase “height of his nose” probably refers to an arrogant or snooty attitude; it likely pictures one with his nose turned upward toward the sky in pride. One could take the “wicked” as the subject of the negated verb “seek,” in which case the point is that the wicked do not “seek” God. The translation assumes that this statement, along with “there is no God,” is what the wicked man thinks to himself. In this case God is the subject of the verb “seek,” and the point is that God will not hold the wicked man accountable for his actions. Verse 13 strongly favors this interpretation. The statement “there is no God” is not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see v. 11).

[22:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “and there is no helper.”

[34:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fear.”

[34:9]  ¹² tn Heb “O holy ones of his.”

[34:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[38:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the light of my eyes, even they, there is not with me.” The “light of the eyes” may refer to physical energy (see 1 Sam 14:27, 29), life itself (Ps 13:3), or the ability to see (Prov 29:23).

[74:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “our signs we do not see.” Because of the reference to a prophet in the next line, it is likely that the “signs” in view here include the evidence of God’s presence as typically revealed through the prophets. These could include miraculous acts performed by the prophets (see, for example, Isa 38:7-8) or object lessons which they acted out (see, for example, Isa 20:3).

[74:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “there is not still a prophet.”

[74:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and [there is] not with us one who knows how long.”

[88:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I am considered with.”

[88:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[88:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I am like a man [for whom] there is no help.”

[135:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “indeed, there is not breath in their mouth.” For the collocation אַף אֵין (’af ’en, “indeed, there is not”) see Isa 41:26. Another option is to take אַף as “nose” (see Ps 115:6), in which case one might translate, “a nose, [but] they have no breath in their mouths.”

[144:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “weighted down.” This probably refers (1) to the cattle having the produce from the harvest placed on their backs to be transported to the storehouses (see BDB 687 s.v. סָבַל). Other options are (2) to take this as reference to the cattle being pregnant (see HALOT 741 s.v. סבל pu) or (3) to their being well-fed or fattened (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 288).

[144:14]  ²² tn Heb “there [will be] no breach, and there [will be] no going out, and there [will be] no crying out in our broad places.”