Psalms 35:16

35:16 When I tripped, they taunted me relentlessly, ¹ 

and tried to bite me. ² 

Psalms 37:12

37:12 Evil men plot against the godly ³ 

and viciously attack them. ⁴ 

Psalms 124:6

124:6 The Lord deserves praise, ⁵ 

for ⁶  he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth.

[35:16]  ¹ tc The MT reads “as profane [ones] of mockers of food,” which is nonsensical. The present translation assumes (1) an emendation of בְּחַנְפֵי (bÿkhanfey, “as profane men”) to בְּחַנְפִי (bekhanfiy, “when I tripped”; preposition + Qal infinitive construct from II חָנַף [“limp”] + first common singular pronominal suffix) and (2) an emendation of לַעֲגֵי מָעוֹג (la’agey ma’og, “mockers of food”) to עָגוּ[ם]לַעְגָּ (la’gam ’agu, “[with] taunting they taunted”; masculine plural noun with enclitic mem + Qal perfect third common plural from לַּעַג [la’ag, “taunt”]).

[35:16]  ² tn Heb “gnashing at me with their teeth.” The infinitive absolute adds a complementary action – they gnashed with their teeth as they taunted.

[37:12]  ³ tn Or “innocent.” The singular is used here in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and the typical godly individual are in view.

[37:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “and gnashes at him with his teeth” (see Ps 35:16). The language may picture the evil men as wild animals. The active participles in v. 12 are used for purposes of dramatic description.

[124:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”

[124:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “[the one] who.”