Psalms 32:4

32:4 For day and night you tormented me; ¹ 

you tried to destroy me ²  in the intense heat ³  of summer. ⁴  (Selah)

Psalms 44:2

44:2 You, by your power, ⁵  defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; ⁶ 

you crushed ⁷  the people living there ⁸  and enabled our ancestors to occupy it. ⁹ 

Psalms 80:17

80:17 May you give support to the one you have chosen, ¹⁰ 

to the one whom you raised up for yourself! ¹¹ 

Psalms 89:13

89:13 Your arm is powerful,

your hand strong,

your right hand ¹²  victorious. ¹³ 

Psalms 138:7

138:7 Even when I must walk in the midst of danger, ¹⁴  you revive me.

You oppose my angry enemies, ¹⁵ 

and your right hand delivers me.

[32:4]  ¹ tn Heb “your hand was heavy upon me.”

[32:4]  ² tc Heb “my [?] was turned.” The meaning of the Hebrew term לְשַׁד (lÿshad) is uncertain. A noun לָשָׁד (lashad, “cake”) is attested in Num 11:8, but it would make no sense to understand that word in this context. It is better to emend the form to לְשֻׁדִּי (lÿshuddiy, “to my destruction”) and understand “your hand” as the subject of the verb “was turned.” In this case the text reads, “[your hand] was turned to my destruction.” In Lam 3:3 the author laments that God’s “hand” was “turned” (הָפַךְ, hafakh) against him in a hostile sense.

[32:4]  ³ tn The translation assumes that the plural form indicates degree. If one understands the form as a true plural, then one might translate, “in the times of drought.”

[32:4]  ⁴ sn Summer. Perhaps the psalmist suffered during the hot season and perceived the very weather as being an instrument of divine judgment. Another option is that he compares his time of suffering to the uncomfortable and oppressive heat of summer.

[44:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “you, your hand.”

[44:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “dispossessed nations and planted them.” The third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1). See Ps 80:8, 15.

[44:2]  ⁷ tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Hiphil preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive) from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil; be bad”). If retained it apparently means, “you injured; harmed.” Some prefer to derive the verb from רָעַע (“break”; cf. NEB “breaking up the peoples”), in which case the form must be revocalized as Qal (since this verb is unattested in the Hiphil).

[44:2]  ⁸ tn Or “peoples.”

[44:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and you sent them out.” The translation assumes that the third masculine plural pronoun “them” refers to the fathers (v. 1), as in the preceding parallel line. See Ps 80:11, where Israel, likened to a vine, “spreads out” its tendrils to the west and east. Another option is to take the “peoples” as the referent of the pronoun and translate, “and you sent them away,” though this does not provide as tight a parallel with the corresponding line.

[80:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “may your hand be upon the man of your right hand.” The referent of the otherwise unattested phrase “man of your right hand,” is unclear. It may refer to the nation collectively as a man. (See the note on the word “yourself” in v. 17b.)

[80:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “upon the son of man you strengthened for yourself.” In its only other use in the Book of Psalms, the phrase “son of man” refers to the human race in general (see Ps 8:4). Here the phrase may refer to the nation collectively as a man. Note the use of the statement “you strengthened for yourself” both here and in v. 15, where the “son” (i.e., the branch of the vine) refers to Israel.

[89:13]  ¹³ sn The Lord’s arm, hand, and right hand all symbolize his activities, especially his exploits in war.

[89:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “is lifted up.” The idiom “the right hand is lifted up” refers to victorious military deeds (see Pss 89:42; 118:16).

[138:7]  ¹⁷ tn Or “distress.”

[138:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “against the anger of my enemies you extend your hand.”