Psalms 31:5

31:5 Into your hand I entrust my life; ¹ 

you will rescue ²  me, O Lord, the faithful God.

Psalms 111:9

111:9 He delivered his people; ³ 

he ordained that his covenant be observed forever. ⁴ 

His name is holy and awesome.

Job 6:23

6:23 Or ‘Deliver me ⁵  from the enemy’s power, ⁶ 

and from the hand of tyrants ⁷  ransom ⁸  me’?

[31:5]  ¹ tn Heb “my spirit.” The noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) here refers to the animating spirit that gives the psalmist life.

[31:5]  ² tn Or “redeem.” The perfect verbal form is understood here as anticipatory, indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer that he can describe his deliverance as if it had already happened. Another option is to take the perfect as precative, expressing a wish or request (“rescue me”; cf. NIV). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[111:9]  ³ tn Heb “redemption he sent for his people.”

[111:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “he commanded forever his covenant.”

[6:23]  ⁵ tn The verse now gives the ultimate reason why Job might have urged his friends to make a gift – if it were possible. The LXX, avoiding the direct speech in the preceding verse and this, does make this verse the purpose statement – “to deliver from enemies….”

[6:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “hand,” as in the second half of the verse.

[6:23]  ⁷ tn The עָרִיצִים (’aritsim) are tyrants, the people who inspire fear (Job 15:20; 27:13); the root verb עָרַץ (’arats) means “to terrify” (Job 13:25).

[6:23]  ⁸ tn The verb now is the imperfect; since it is parallel to the imperative in the first half of the verse it is imperfect of instruction, much like English uses the future for instruction. The verb פָּדָה (padah) means “to ransom, redeem,” often in contexts where payment is made.